4 months ago

Dates: Semi-final 1 22 May 2012 - Semi-final 2 24 May 2012 - Final 26 May 2012 - Host venue: Baku Crystal Hall, Baku, Azerbaijan
Presenters: Leyla Aliyeva Quliyeva, Eldar Gasimov, Nargiz Birk-Petersen
Directed by Ladislaus Kiraly - Executive supervisor: Jon Ola Sand
Executive producer Adil Kerimli - Host broadcaster: İctimai Television (İTV)

The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the 2011 contest with the song "Running Scared" by Ell and Nikki. It was the first time Azerbaijan hosted the contest – only four years after the country made its debut. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV), the contest was held at the Baku Crystal Hall, and consisted of two semi-finals on 22 and 24 May, and a final on 26 May 2012. The three live shows were presented by Azerbaijani television presenter Leyla Aliyeva, newsreader Nargiz Birk-Petersen and singer Eldar Gasimov, the latter of whom was one of the previous edition's winners.

Forty-two countries participated in the contest. Montenegro returned to the contest for the first time since 2009. Meanwhile, Armenia withdrew due to security concerns in relation to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. Poland also did not participate due to financial concerns.
The winner was Sweden with the song "Euphoria", performed by Loreen and written by Thomas G:son and Peter Boström. The song won both the jury vote and televote and received 372 points out of a maximum of 492. Russia, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Albania rounded out the top five, with Albania achieving their best result to date. Out of the "Big Five" countries, Germany, Italy and Spain all managed to rank within the top 10, finishing eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively.

The lead-up to the contest was met with political concerns and protests surrounding the host country, including its human rights record and allegations by advocacy groups that Baku was carrying out forced evictions in the construction of the contest's venue, along with objections to the contest's presence by Iranian officials – who felt that the event was anti-Islamic because it was, according to them, a "gay parade". The 57th edition saw the return of Montenegro, who was last represented by Andrea Demirović in 2009. Poland decided not to participate, due to the financial burden of the UEFA Euro 2012 (which Poland co-hosted with Ukraine) and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Armenia, who had originally planned to participate, later withdrew their application due to security concerns related to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, subsequently reducing the number of participating countries to 42.

Semi-final 1

Azerbaijan, Italy and Spain voted in the first semi-final. The EBU allowed the Albanian broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) to defer transmission and only use jury votes due to the Qafa e Vishës bus accident.

Results of the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1 Montenegro Rambo Amadeus "Euro Neuro" 20 15
2 Iceland Greta Salóme and Jónsi "Never Forget" 75 8
3 Greece Eleftheria Eleftheriou "Aphrodisiac" 116 4
4 Latvia Anmary "Beautiful Song" 17 16
5 Albania Rona Nishliu "Suus" 146 2
6 Romania Mandinga "Zaleilah" 120 3
7 Switzerland Sinplus "Unbreakable" 45 11
8 Belgium Iris "Would You?" 16 17
9 Finland Pernilla "När jag blundar" 41 12
10 Israel Izabo "Time" 33 13
11 San Marino Valentina Monetta "The Social Network Song (Oh Oh – Uh – Oh Oh)" 31 14
12 Cyprus Ivi Adamou "La La Love" 91 7
13 Denmark Soluna Samay "Should've Known Better" 63 9
14 Russia Buranovskiye Babushki "Party for Everybody" 152 1
15 Hungary Compact Disco "Sound of Our Hearts" 52 10
16 Austria Trackshittaz "Woki mit deim Popo" 8 18
17 Moldova Pasha Parfeny "Lăutar" 100 5
18 Ireland Jedward "Waterline" 92 6