2012: An Overview
"LIGHT YOUR FIRE!" IN BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
The most eastern host of the Eurovision Song Contest, the oil rich country of Azerbaijan was ready to show the world who they were. The 2012 contest was the most exciting yet, filled with controversy and brought about the most popular winner to date. But could an international festival, largely followed by the LGBT community, be held in a country with so many human rights violations? When it was announced that the show would be hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan began construction on a giant new stadium. However, the Azeri government forcibly evicted the people who lived on that land. That the Azeri's were hosting such a contest even caused tensions with Iran, who claimed that Eurovision was just a "gay parade," leading to protests outside the Azerbaijan embassy in Tehran.
Despite the controversy, the Crystal Hall was built and the shows went on. The three hosts included last years winner, Eldar, and they proved to be very capable and welcoming hosts. The new stadium they presided over was a true marvel. The outside of the hall would glow in the colors of the flag of the country performing and the stage was the best to be seen since Moscow. The Eurovision entries in 2012 were either excellent or extremely poor. This made the semi-finals tense, as worry began to set, that all the bad songs would qualify. In the end, it was a 50/50 of the good and bad that made it to the final. Unlike Germany the year before, the Azerbaijani people were ready to show off their culture. The opening and interval acts showcased the many musical instruments and dance of the Eastern nation. The second semi-final interval act is notable for featuirng the past 5 Eurovision winners singing versions of their songs using Azeri accompaniament followed by a strange performance of ABBA's Waterloo.
For the final they presented the same kind of big opening we got from Greece, Russia and Norway. After a deluge of Azeri dance and music, last year's winners Ell and Nikki performed their winning a song. It was a big showing of past and modern Azeri culture, with their new biggest stars doing what they do. The postcards in 2012, were also all about Azerbaijan. They were essentially just that, postcards that showed off the beauty of their country and culture.
The competition this year was all about two artists - Russia and Sweden. They both won their respective semi-finals and all the excitement revolved around these two completely different acts. An adorable novelty tune versus a moody, atmospheric synth dance song. Hilarious versus artistic. While there were plenty of good performances the night of the final, nothing could beat the power of these two performances. By the time voting opened, I had my fingers crossed that Sweden could beat Russia. Before the results, though, Azerbaijan had time to present their interval act. I was already familiar with the artist they presented - a popular Azeri singer who was very popular in Russia named Emin. He presented a new song and while his performance was fine, I was so certain that Azerbaijan would've presented something much bigger.
Right out the gate for the voting, Sweden took a lead. Sweden was getting douze points from almost every other country. While it wasn't quite the landslide Norway experienced in 2009, it was clear Sweden would win. Russia wasn't even close, they ended up fighting with Serbia over the 2nd place spot. Eventually by the end of voting, Russia had come 2nd by 45 points whereas Sweden beat Russia by 113 points. I was ecstatic and so was the rest of Europe. The winning song became a massive global hit charting in over 30 countries, including Japan. The song was number one in 18 European countries, a feat not accomplished by a Eurovision winner since ABBA. Those Swedes know how to make a great Eurovision song.
The Picks of 2012
2012: The Best (Hungary)
2012: The Worst (San Marino)
2012: The Guilty (Cyprus)
2012: The Weird (Austria)
2012: The Hilarious (Russia)
2012: The Honorable (Albania)
2012: The Winner (Sweden)
Semi-Final One Song Recap May 22, 2012:
Semi-Final Two Song Recap May 24, 2012:
Grand Final Song Recap May 26, 2012: