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Watch live at 17:00 CET
Live: Insignia Exchange and Semifinal Allocation Draw
The events will take place at the Buta Palace in Baku, Azerbaijan and will start with the traditional Host City Insignia Exchange where the mayor of Düsseldorf will hand over a symbolic key to the mayor of Baku. The Azerbaijani will then officially become the host city of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.
This will be followed by a draw which will determine in which Semi-Final this year's 37 semifinalists will compete in as well as where will France, the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and Azerbaijan - the six countries with a spot in the final already granted - vote in. Also, the host broadcaster Ictimai TV will present the theme art for this year's contest.
There will be several guest performances by former Eurovision representatives that will grace the stage of the Buta Palace - Ruslana, Safura, Aysel, Lena, Alexander Rybak and of course, Ell/Nikki, the winners of the 2011 contest.
How to watch?
The event will be aired live at 17:00 CET (20:00 Baku time) by the host broadcaster Ictimai TV as well as a number of national broadcasters all over Europe. It can followed online as well:
LIVE
The show has just started. A video showing the stay in Düsseldorf of Eldar & Nigar, the 2011 Eurovision winners, is being screened with a version of Running scared as musical background.
The hosts welcome the audience. The theme art has been presented. It is inspired in the traditional cultural features of Azerbaijan, the Land of Fire. The motto: Light your fire!
A video with greetings from Düsseldorf to Baku is now being shown.
The Host City Insignia Exchange is about to take place. The mayor of Düsseldorf, Dirk Elbers, will hand over a symbolic key to the mayor of Baku, Hajybala Abutalybov.
Jon Ola Sand, executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, is now on stage. The Semifinal Allocation Draw is about to take place. He congratulates the host country on building a brand new arena for the 2012 Eurovision: The Crystal Hall, and goes on explaining how the draw will be conducted.
- It has been decided that Italy will vote in the semifinal 1
- The UK will vote in semifinal 2
- Azerbaijan will vote in semifinal 1
- France will vote in semifinal 2
- Spain will vote in semifinal 1
- Germany will vote in semifinal 2 at the country's special request
How many countries will be in each semifinal:
- Semifinal 1 will have 18 countries
- Semifinal 2 will have 19 countries
| Semifinal 1, 22nd May 2012 | Semifinal 2, 24th May 2012 | ||
First half
| First half
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| Second half | Second half | ||
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The Semifinal Allocation Draw has concluded.
Additional facts
- German brand of consumer goods Schwarzkopf continues partnership for Eurovision 2012.
- eurovision.tv has launched a new design for the website.
- Baku 2012 artwork can be found here.
Related polls
- Estonia: Vote for your favourite act in the second semifinal of Eesti Laul
- Ireland: Vote for your favourite act in Eurosong 2012
- Austria: Vote for your favourite act in Österreich rockt dem Song Contest
- Sweden: Vote for your favourite act in the third semifinal of Melodifestivalen
- Georgia: Vote for your favourite act in the Georgian national final
- Ukraine: Vote for your favourite act in the Ukrainian national final
- Estonia: Vote for your favourite act in the first semifinal of Eesti Laul
- Germany: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Unser Star für Baku
- Bulgaria: Vote for your favourite act in the Bulgarian national final 2012
- Latvia: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Eirodziesma 2012
Go directly to the reactions
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@Surrounded i am sorry but even u don't like it u certainly belong to the Balkan bloc both on map and voting , as i typed before more than half of the Balkan population is Romanian and Turkish and most important thing is Turkey generally exchanges points with Bulgaria,Albania,Bosnia,Macedonia,Romania,Croatia and sometimes Greece and Montenegro . Only Serbia doesn't vote for Turkey much but that doesn't exclude u from the sweet Balkan Bloc... But i agree with Darren we saw that any country can fail including the big ones like Turkey and Russia , last year Turkey and Armenia couldn't make it to the final maybe this year Russia won't , it all depends on the song and the performance.
for example ARMENIA was 7th in televoting but with juries it did very bad and failed
I think that FYR Macedonia has a lot of chances to qualify this year, with Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Turkey in the same semi. Contrary to other users, I think the two semis are equally tough, maybe the first is a bit more unpredictable, but the countries that usually fail to qualify would have a hard time in either semi. So now let's wait for the songs
juries can change the results some countries last year did good with televotings but very bad with juries and failed.. so u better stop saying that will qualify and that not!
*Sorry, semi-final and final draw. The running order will be in March, me thinks...
I like the new logo and I find it better than the last one. The fire symbol complements the dark red background. I like it. About the running order, well it's just the running order. No frets.
Car crash television. Hope the real deal will be better. Those hosts must be allowed nowhere near the Contest. Could we have another Italy '91 on our hands LOL!
Lol, the 2nd semifinal includes many countries that generally do well&qualify,such as Sweden,Ukraine,Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia..not to mention Armenia or Norway,who didn't do well last year and they definitely wanna qualify this year!
Looking at the 1st semi, there are some countries as sure qualifiers: Romania, Greece, Moldova, Cyprus. Russia and Ireland should easily pass with the right songs, hope Albania, too (they always send decent entries performed by great voices). I personally like Denmark's song, and with Iceland's and Finland's votes should be secure, depends on the other votes. Poor Montenegro, once again is a sure non-qualifier (since it's stuck without their allays, and since the singer is a weirdo, and I aspect a hell of a song, as well. Bad come back for them, definitely next year they won't participate again)... Also, low chances for San Marino, Belgium, Latvia, Switzerland, Hungary or Finland, but...who knows? With great songs and performances we might be surprised (who thought last year Finland and Switzerland will qualify instead of Turkey and Armenia?)... So, everything is possible... For Semi 2...at a first look Turkey seems a sure qualifier, along with Serbia (Željko is appreciated for his 2004 performance and his good song, look and songs, and besides votes from Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia I'm sure they'll gain points from some other countries, as well)... Also, besides Turkey and Serbia there are some other usual qualifiers: Ukraine, Armenia, Sweden, Georgia, Norway and Bosnia, but let's not forget what happened last year (who ever thought Turkey, Armenia or fan-favorite Norway will ever miss a Final?). As for some countries, seems bad luck this year... The Netherlands, Portugal, FYR Macedonia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia and Lithuania have low chances to qualify, but...some of them might get the ticket to the Final, depending on the song (let's take Bulgaria's example, who seem doomed to stay in the Semifinal, but let's not forget that with a good entry like the one they had in 2007 - "Water", they easily passed and got a good rank in the Final, as well)... Good luck to all!
CYPRUS THIS YEAR!
The logo looks a bit like the flag of Hong Kong
The logo looks awesome with a red or dark maroon background but looks so cheap with a white one!
If Russia doesn't send a good song they could end up out of the final because most of their friends are in semi 2 (only really Lithuania and Moldova and Finland left :s)
Lena with Satellite at the Eurovision Opening Ceremony 2012 in Baku . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQDZRzkNeN0
@ Donnie Darko how can you say that Turkey and Armenia are certain qualifiers????? remember what happened last yr??? Malta passed them and it was only for a SINGLE POINT that they did not pass for the finals!!
Im glad there r juries they can change a lot the results yay :D
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Lol at semi 2.Seriously , what's the point of allocation pots when 5 out of 6 xYugos are allocated into the same semi?I feel sorry for Montenegro left alone in semi 1... Russia looks pretty much in trouble for the 1st time as well since they do have to rely on AZE and Israel only (they also have Latvia and Moldova but to a lesser extent).On the other hand Ukraine , Turkey Serbia and Armenia seem like almost certain qualifiers.Georgia and BiH will most propably follow them as well.Sweden will send Dany and qualify mo matter what song.Poor Malta , Portugal and the Netherlands... Semi 1 looks more intruiging to be honest(result-wise).And we already know 4 songs !
Flower on fire is a better motto :D
[b] Bulgaria deffo belongs to Balkan peninsula. Slovenia, Turkey,Romania and even Italy are partly Balkan countries. Actually more than half of the Balkan population is Romanian and Turkish so despite their small parts are in the Balkan peninsula they have more Balkan people than the total of other 10 countries since Turkey and Romania are very big countries with huge population.[/b] @12 points what does this post mean , i couldn't get why u typed it ?
:) haha I'm not surprised that some Armenians didn't like that they are not in the same semi with France. They are brothers in these days ;) For some politic aims and conflict of interests. I think this one is more normal draw for Turkey if we look to the last years draw, that one is more okay
dont forget that there are 3 western countries in final voting in second semi final 2 :))
yes Matt Feldman you can feel bad , but dont make you crazy , this is just esc , nothing so important
semi 2 is good cuz there r some east countries which vote western semi 1 is the most difficult
It looks as though the Netherlands is screwed with no friends, along with Norway and Sweden who have each other. I feel bad for the westerners in semi 2... :'(
well im glad russia romania greece and moldova are in semi 1 they always qualified!!
wel ..based on this draw N M, i think (or know?) they wil be i just hope there gona be a lot of great songs..
For a fifth year in a row, Ukraine stays in the second, whie Finland stays in the first semi. Same for Russia (although one year they were allocated directly to the final, they had never performed in the second)
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