Victory is Swede: looking back at a euphoric Eurovision 2012!
Just like that, the 57th contest is over, and the PED (Post-Eurovision Depression) has set in. My strategy to combat it is to keep myself busy, a) by getting back to work on the freaking massive uni assignment I have due this week that I should have been working on all weekend, and b) by writing this post which will be a mighty long one, I’m thinking. Be prepared!
As we all know, it was the fan/bookies’ favourite Sweden that took out the title with a not-so-narrow margin over the Russian grannies (who I think may turn their attentions to MasterChef now. If they can bake a tray of pies while performing in front of thousands, they can certainly produce a ten-layer gateau with deconstructed fruit salad sauce). The more I think about it, the more excited I am that we’re off to Sweden in 2013. Melodifestivalen is one of the highlights of the preselection season, and I imagine the first Swedish Eurovision since 2000 will be just as fabulous, especially if it incorporates ABBA in some way (surely SVT won’t be able to resist).
Anyway, enough about the 58th contest – there’s still plenty of Baku to discuss. I’m mainly going to cover the grand final here, so if you want to read/reread my verdicts on the semis, you can find them just behind this post.
Impressions of the show
I think we all got the impression that Azerbaijan would try to match Moscow in terms of an epic Eurovision. I don’t think they pulled it off, and I don’t think the show quite matched last year’s either, generally. Nonetheless, it was a great show, with one of the strongest fields of competition I’ve ever seen.
There were a few absolutely outstanding things about the production, for me.
– The Crystal Hall: Despite the controversy surrounding its construction, the hall was amazing, outside and in, and will probably serve Baku well in the future (it’ll definitely come in handy if they win their Olympic bid). In particular I loved the way it was lit up in the image of each country’s flag at the end of the corresponding postcard.
– The stage: When I first saw it in photos, I thought it was a bit out there, a bit messy, even. But for the live show, it worked like a ginormous fibreglass charm.
– The green room: Plonking this among the audience instead of behind the stage was a nice idea. I’m sure for the people in the arena there was nothing quite like seeing the facial expressions of joy (e.g. on Sweden) and of horror (e.g. on Norway) up close as the points came in.
– The star power: Lys Assia was dragged out again, the last five contest winners took to the stage together to sing the wrong lyrics, and the Azeri president’s son-in-law descended from the roof like a puppet on a string (get it?) Combine that with artists like Amaury Vassili, Getter Jaani, Safura and Mr. Lordi announcing their respective nations’ voting results, and you’ll find that Baku was one of the most high-caliber contests of all time.
The semi-final scoreboards
I’m moving on now to something I couldn’t cover in my semi wrap-ups – exactly how the qualifiers, and non-qualifiers, were ranked.
Here are the results of the first semi:
- Russia – The Babushki must have found favour with the juries as well as the televoters in winning this round.
- Albania
- Romania
- Greece
- Moldova
- Ireland
- Cyprus
- Iceland – I thought Greta and Jónsi would blitz the competition here, but I was wrong. It happens all the time every now and then.
- Denmark
- Hungary
- Switzerland – Poor Switzerland just missed out on a place in the final with a commendable performance from Sinplus.
- Finland
- Israel
- San Marino
- Montenegro
- Latvia
- Belgium
- Austria – You mean San Marino AND Montenegro managed to pip the popo shakers? What has the world come to?
And now the second:
- Sweden – No surprises here.
- Serbia
- Lithuania – For the second year in a row, Lithuania has put my jaw on the floor by sailing into the final. Perhaps it’s because they’re sensitive to the disabled – first with sign language, and then with a blindfold. A blingtastic blindfold.
- Estonia
- Turkey
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Malta
- Ukraine
- Macedonia
- Norway – How this ranked so low I will never understand. Great song, great performance, great hip movements…it was all there!
- Bulgaria – Sofi scored the same amount of points as Tooji, but obviously received a few less top marks.
- Croatia
- Portugal
- Georgia
- Netherlands
- Belarus
- Slovenia
- Slovakia – Here in Australia we put MJM in our top 5 (I had nothing to do with that). Luckily Europe knows when someone is doing a Jemini, and puts them in their rightful place.
Final highlights
This year’s final was of an incredible standard, which was both a plus and a minus (the constant BAM! BAM! BAM! of one great song after another was exhausting). Here’s a few of my performance picks.
– Albania’s Rona was flawless yet again, and had all the intensity and emotion you could ask for. Amazingly, she got rewarded for it, but I’ll get to that later.
– The host country’s song wasn’t one of my favourites by any means, but boy, do they know how to put on a show with an unforgettable visual! In this case, it was using Sabina as a projector screen. I wonder if she serves the same purpose at family reunions when Grandma Babayeva wants to look through the family photos?
– Spain’s performance was everything I was hoping for, and I’ll readily admit it made me tear up a little. Pastora looked stunning and sang like nobody had ever asked her to deliberately throw the contest. I must also commend their expert timing with the wind machine.
– Serbia drew a good spot in the final which gave us a few minutes to breathe after Ireland and before Ukraine with Željko’s slow-burning Balkan ballad that I fall more in love with every time I hear it.
The final results
- Sweden – Loreen was a deserving winner. I was hoping for a less predictable victory, but ultimately, she was the favourite for a reason, and I don’t think I’ll need a year to get over this one.
- Russia – I assumed that the grannies would sail to the final, and then the novelty would wear off and they’d end up 19th, or something like that. For me, a low top 10 placing would have sufficed.
- Serbia
- Azerbaijan
- Albania – this result made me a very happy camper. The fact that an artist and song so out there, from a country that struggles to succeed in the contest, made the top 5 is just brilliant. This is Albania’s best result ever.
- Estonia – the last time Estonia sent a native-language entry, they also came sixth. As Kuula is one of my most-loved songs this year, I’m super pleased with the position.
- Turkey
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain – Pastora just made it into the top 10, and just missed out on breaking 100 points, but I hope she knows what a great finish this is for her country. The last time Spain made it to 10th place was in 2004.
- Moldova
- Romania
- Macedonia – Again, 13th was a good result for Macedonia. Qualifying alone was a good result for Macedonia, actually.
- Lithuania
- Ukraine
- Cyprus
- Greece– Greece didn’t make the top 10 for the first time since 2003, and I think it’s justified.
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Ireland – I really hope a result like this discourages Jedward from coming back next year. I don’t think I can take any more of those two sober.
- Iceland
- Malta
- France
- Denmark
- Hungary
- United Kingdom – All I can say is, 11th with 100 points doesn’t look so bad now, does it?
- Norway – In 2009, my favourite song came last in the final. I didn’t think I was in any danger of that happening this year, but it turns out I know NOTHING. How on Earth did this happen? And on Tooji’s birthday, of all days. The poor guy! Apparently Europe’s gift to him was an extraordinarily low amount of points.
That’s my overview of Baku done and dusted! But wait – there will be more. There’s still the split results to be dissected, and in the period between now and then I’ve got some annual awards to give out, among other things.
For now I’ll leave you with this year’s winning act: Euphoria, by Loreen, from Sweden with love (and fake snow).
eurovisionbyjaz.com 
6 Responses to “Victory is Swede: looking back at a euphoric Eurovision 2012!”
3…?!
always sooo good but not tje best.
really? europe, what’s going on? i mean okay.. when Serbia had been 11.. or something like that I would say okay, they all think Lane Moje was so great and nithing could be better.. but third?! really isn’t funny. I mean Zeljkos poor heart.
I was and am sad ._. and don’t like the winner song.
I’m sorry.
but:’D russia is sooo great.
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“Zeljko’s poor heart…” aww! I think he’ll survive.
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Well, what can I say, I’m fine with Sweden winning and as you said it won’t take a year to get over it, in fact I’m over it already, but I’m still not over Serbia losing to Russia and Iceland ending so low. And Slovenia’s result, I seriously don’t get it…just as I don’t get the Albania love, but I’ve bashed the song already too much….for today *insert evil laugh here* I think there was too much Azerbaijan propaganda and I loathed the postcards, not becuase they were ugly because they weren’t, but I don’t know, they felt more like a tourism ad kind of thing. Sweden 2013 should be really interesting…can’t wait!
PS: good luck with uni work! 😀
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ZJ coming third to the grannies was definitely the most horrifying result!! It’s even worse than Norway coming last, and you know how much I loved Norway.
I agree about the postcards. I suppose Eurovision is one big tourism campaign in a way, but they didn’t have to be so blatant about it…
Thanks for the luck. I did finish the assignment on time! I’m supposed to be starting exam study now but…ehh.
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Reading your posts is a real treat! You’re writing is exceptional, and it is so much fun to read! And I am so glad we won!
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Thanks so much ❤
I'm glad you won too! Does that mean you'll be going to Eurovision next year?? If so I am very jealous. There's not much chance of the contest coming to Australia. Zero chance, actually!
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