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.

Azerbaijan's large investment in hosting the Eurovision contest was widely discussed in Western media as an attempt to "mitigate misgivings about its poor democracy and human rights record". Elnur Majidli, an activist imprisoned during the Arab Spring-inspired 2011 Azerbaijani protests, was released in an apparent effort to soften Azerbaijan's image ahead of the contest, but many political prisoners remained. Human Rights Watch reported a "violent crackdown on protesters" on the eve of the contest, and Amnesty International condemned the "stern crackdown of freedom of expression, dissent, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), critical journalists, in fact anyone who criticised the Aliyev regime too strongly" that continued up to the contest.

Human Rights Watch also criticised the Azerbaijani government and the Baku City Authority for carrying out forced evictions against local residents, in order to allow for the demolition of flats to make way for construction in the neighbourhood where the Baku Crystal Hall was built. The Public Association for Assistance to Free Economy, a transparency and economic rights campaign group, had described the evictions as a "violation of human rights", and as having "no legal authority". However, in a statement to the BBC, the EBU said that on a recent visit to Baku they had observed "that the construction of the concert hall which media reports refer to was already well under way on a clean construction site and thus there are no demolitions needed". The EBU cited the "apolitical" nature of the contest and the Azerbaijani government's claim that the construction was not tied to the contest.

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

Azerbaijan, Italy and Spain voted in the first semi-final.


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" 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

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