Eurovision'12

Baku 2012: Light your fire!

Baku, Azerbaijan - The motto for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest is Light your fire! Along with the slogan, the theme art for the contest was presented in a spectacular show coming live from Baku, Azerbaijan, the Host City of the upcoming edition of Europe's favourite TV show.

If the 2011 contest took place under the slogan Feel your heart beat!, Baku 2012 will go into the history books under the motto Light your fire!

 Azerbaijan has been known as the Land Of Fire for a while now and the symbol of fire and flames is used extensively across the country. The people of Azerbaijan also take great pride in this association with fire.

"Since the dawn of time, mankind has come together around fire to communicate through the telling of stories, song and dance. The Eurovision Song Contest is where people come together to celebrate and communicate through song and dance," the creators explained the idea behind the theme art.

 All of that can be seen visually in the theme art of the 2012 edition of Europe's favourite TV show. By the way, if you look at the main symbol closely, you can see much more in it, than you'd expect at first glance. See for yourself below!

Since 2004, the Eurovision Song Contest has a generic logo where in the heart of it the flag of the host country is displayed. However, every year the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) invites the Host Broadcaster to create the visual identity to support the logo.

The visual side of this year's contest was designed by London-based branding company Turquoise.

                              Results of the Semi-Final allocation draw

Baku, Azerbaijan - Moments ago, the Semi-Final Allocation Draw for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. Under the scrutiny of the contest's Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand, on behalf of the EBU, and Thomas Niedermayer, Project Manager Voting from the official voting partner Digame, which handles the pan-European response platform over which the contest's voting runs.

This year there was a big show to kick-off the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest season in the Buta Palace in Baku. The hosts Leyla Alieva and Nazim Huseynov introduced the Mayors of Baku and Düsseldorf, last year's host city for the traditional Key Exchange ceremony.

To assure maximum suspense, the 37 countries represented in the Semi-Finals were drawn from six pots, based on voting patterns from the past years. Remember that, viewers can only vote for the other countries that take part in that respective Semi-Final.

It was also decided if a country participates in the first or second half of the respective Semi-Final, so that delegations know well in advance on which day they are expected in Baku for their first stage rehearsal.

After Jon Ola Sand and Thomas Niedermayer were invited on-stage, the draw took place and this is how the countries will perform in each Semi-Final (and in which half):

First Semi-Final, Tuesday 22nd of May (18 countries):
First half     
Montenegro
Iceland
Romania
Albania
Belgium
Latvia
Switzerland
Finland
Greece
Second half
Moldova
Cyprus
Austria
Denmark
Russia
San Marino
Israel
Ireland
Hungary

Second Semi-Final, Thursday 24th of May (19 countries):
First half
Serbia
The Netherlands
Portugal
FYR Macedonia
Belarus
Malta
Ukraine
Armenia
Bulgaria
Second half
Sweden
Georgia
Slovenia
Estonia
Turkey
Slovakia
Croatia
Norway
Lithuania
Bosnia & Herzegovina

Six countries have already qualified for the Final of the Eurovision Song Contest, being United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Host Country Azerbaijan. As a total of 26 countries will take part in the Final on the 26th of May, then 10 from each Semi-Final will qualify for it. They are obliged to broadcast and vote in (as drawn):

Italy (first Semi-Final)
Azerbaijan (first Semi-Final)
Spain (first Semi-Final)
United Kingdom (second Semi-Final)
France (second Semi-Final)
Germany (second Semi-Final)
German Television NDR asked the EBU to allocate them to broadcast and vote in the second Semi-Final for scheduling reasons, and the request was granted.

To decide the starting order of the songs in each Semi-Final and the Final, there will be another draw to be conducted at the Heads of Delegation meeting in March.

The show went on after the draw with the orchestra playing classical music, some impressive dancing and live performances from Eurovision stars Ruslana, Aysel, Alexander Rybak, Safura, Lena, and Ell/Nikki!!!


                              43 countries represented at Eurovision 2012

43 countries have applied to take part in the 57th Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan this May, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced today.

In 2012, more than 40 countries will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest, including the countries that made their return last year. Most notably, Italy, Hungary and Austria are set to take part also in the contest this year.

Joining them is Montenegro, which has been absent from the past 3 editions of Europe’s favourite TV show. This brings the number of participating broadcasters on par with the record of 43 from last year and 2008.

Jon Ola Sand, the Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest: "We are excited to once again see over 40 countries at the Eurovision Song Contest. They will gather in Baku in May, get to know the country and its people, and most of all, be part of the most spectacular music entertainment show on earth."
The 43 represented countries and their respective broadcasters are:
Albania (RTVSH)
Armenia (AMPTV)
Austria (ORF)
Azerbaijan (Ictimai TV) (Host Broadcaster)
Belarus (BTRC)
Belgium (VRT)
Bosnia & Herzegovina (BHRT)
Bulgaria (BNT)
Croatia (HRT)
Cyprus (CyBC)
Denmark (DR)
Estonia (ERR)
Finland (YLE)
France (France TV)
FYR Macedonia (MKRTV)
Georgia (GTVR)
Germany (NDR/ARD)
Greece (ERT)
Hungary (MTV)
Iceland (RÚV)
Ireland (RTÉ)
Israel (IBA)
Italy (RAI)
Latvia (LTV)
Lithuania (LRT)
Malta (PBS)
Moldova (TRM)
Montenegro (RTCG)
The Netherlands (TROS)
Norway (NRK)
Portugal (RTP)
Romania (TVR)
Russia (RTR)
San Marino (SMRTV)
Serbia (RTS)
Slovakia (STV)
Slovenia (RTVSLO)
Spain (RTVE)
Sweden (SVT)
Switzerland (SRG/SSR)
Turkey (TRT)
Ukraine (NTU)
United Kingdom (BBC)
Unfortunately, the Polish national broadcaster TVP has decided not to join Europe’s favourite TV show this year. "As host broadcaster of Euro2012, TVP has a challenging year ahead. We truly hope to welcome TVP back again in 2013," Sand explained.

The Semi-Final Allocation Draw, which determines in which Semi-Final each country will participate in, will be held on the 25th of January in Baku, during the Host City Insignia Exchange.

37 countries will be represented in the two Semi-Finals, whereas only 20 of them will qualify for the Grand Final, 10 from each Semi-Final. The draw that determines the running order in each Semi-Final will be determined during the traditional Heads of Delegation meeting in the host city, set to take place in March.
                                          About Baku

The historical centre of Baku reveals its past, from its roots as an ancient city, through its oil boom to its Soviet occupation. The old city is a maze of alleys, mosques, historic buildings and remnants of fortification, including the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower, now listed among UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Much more than a historic site, the city hosts vibrant arts and cultural activities, as well as a bustling modern business sector. In 2012, it's the Host City of the Eurovision Song Contest.

 Baku, also known as Baky or Bakı, is the largest city in the Caucasus and is the capital of Azerbaijan. It's situated on the western coast of Caspian Sea and thus there are a number of mud volcanoes and salt lakes around it. The first written evidence for Baku dates to the 1st century and the population of the city is now around 3,7 million.

There are three major districts in Baku: İçəri Şəhər (the old town), the Soviet built city, and the newest part of the city. The old town is under UNESCO World Heritage Sites protection.

Baku is one of Caucasus most important tourist destinations and many sizeable world hotel chains have presence in the city.

 Baku boasts many popular tourist and entertainment spots, such as the downtown Fountains Square, the One and Thousand Nights Beach, Shikhov Beach and Oil Rocks. Baku's vicinities feature Yanar Dag, an ever-blazing spot of natural gas.

 On the 2nd of September 2010, with the innauguration of National Flag Square, Baku became home to world's tallest flagpole, included to the Guinness Book of Records.

Climate
Baku has a semi-arid climate with hot and dry summers and cold and occasionally wet winters and strong winds all year long. However, unlike many other cities with this climate, Baku does not see extremely hot summers. This is basically due to its northerly latitude and the fact that it is located on a peninsula on the shore of the Caspian Sea.

 A curious fact about Baku is that its average year-round temperature (14.2 Centigrade) matches the average temperature of the entire landmass of the earth to within a tenth of degree. Summers are hot and humid, winters cool, wet and breezy.