United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The British entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Engelbert Humperdinck represented United Kingdom with the song "Love Will Set You Free" composed by Martin Terefe and Sacha Skarbek. Humperdinck finished in 25th place with a score of 12 points in the final.

Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processInternal selection[1]
Selection date(s)Artist: 1 March 2012
Song presentation: 19 March 2012
Selected entrantEngelbert Humperdinck[2]
Selected song"Love Will Set You Free[3]"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result25th, 12 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2011 • 2012 • 2013►

Before Eurovision

Early rumours

On 24 August 2011, the Daily Star reported that the BBC were taking an internal selection and that they were targeting Charlotte Church, JLS, The Saturdays, Pixie Lott and Katherine Jenkins. In August 2011, Geri Halliwell proposed that the Spice Girls should reunite to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.[4] On 26 February 2012, it was reported by the Daily Star Sunday that girl band Atomic Kitten were to be the year's entry for Eurovision.[5] These rumours were later denied by all individual members of Atomic Kitten themselves.[6]

Internal selection

On 1 March 2012, following speculation from fans as to when the news would be announced, BBC revealed the announcement of the chosen representative would be later that day, with Eurovision.tv also confirming they would release the news simultaneously.[7] It was revealed later that day that Engelbert Humperdinck was to represent the UK in Baku.[2]

The song was presented on 19 March 2012 at 10:00am UTC, on eurovision.tv and BBC's own official Eurovision website at the same time.[8]

At Eurovision

As a member of the Big Five, the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final held on 26 May. Humperdinck was drawn to perform first in the line-up. At the end of the contest, the song finished in 25th place with only 12 points, ahead of only Norway, who came last.

On 18 June the EBU revealed the split televoting and jury results of the contest. In the final it was revealed that the United Kingdom had placed 21st in the televoting with 36 points, however placed last with the juries with only 11 points, leading to a combined finish of 25th place.[9]

Points awarded by the United Kingdom

Jury points awarded by the United Kingdom
Points awarded to the United Kingdom (final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

After Eurovision

After the contest there were calls by several media personalities for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the contest, with Phillip Schofield describing the competition as "political".[10][11]

The finals got an average of 7.47 million viewers, peaking at 9.6 million viewers, down on the previous year, although the show faced additional competition from an England friendly football match.[12]

See also

References
  1. Busa, Will (23 August 2011). "United Kingdom: The BBC's plans for Baku 2012". ESCToday. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  2. "Engelbert Humperdinck UK 2012". BBC. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  3. "'Love Will Set You Free' for the United Kingdom | News | Eurovision Song Contest - Copenhagen 2014". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  4. "Daily Star: Simply The Best 7 Days A Week :: News :: Eurovision: Charlotte Church on Beeb's hit list". Daily Star. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  5. "Atomic Kitten for United Kingdom?". 26 February 2012. Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  6. "Atomic Kitten deny Eurovision rumours". 27 February 2012. ATVToday. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  7. "United Kingdom artist announced today". 1 March 2012. Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  8. "Countdown to the United Kingdom entry". 18 March 2012. Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  9. Siim, Jarmo (18 June 2012). "Eurovision 2012 split jury-televote results revealed". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  10. "Party's over: Should the UK give up on Eurovision after Engelbert Humperdinck's failure in Baku?". Daily Mirror. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  11. "Eurovision: Phillip Schofield Thinks Britain Should Give Up The Competition". Entertainment Wise. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  12. Millar, Paul. "Eurovision Song Contest overpowers England, Norway match in ratings". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
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