Eurovision 2012: Semi-Final Allocations Revealed 2
This afternoon in a live draw—similar to the ones at the World Cup but with a lot more glitz and gay men—Eurovision officials allocated countries to the Eurovision 2012 semi-finals.
Semi-Final 1 will feature 18 countries, while Semi-Final 2 will have 19. Ten countries will advance from each semi, joining the Big 5 (Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) + Azerbaijan, the host nation, in the final. See below and let us know which countries are in seriously precarious positions—and who lucked out (how convenient Greece and Cyprus can vote for each other in semi-final #1).
Love, Vebooboo
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
Viewers in the Big 5 and Azerbaijan will have the opportunity to cast their votes in the semis despite their automatic positions in the final. They’ve been assigned as follows:
- 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)
Jan 31, 2012 @ 08:11:59
Agreed! I can’t wait to see what happens with Russia. Given their low placement last year, they can’t just send crap anymore and expect to advance and/or make the Top 10!
Jan 31, 2012 @ 01:25:11
Oooh. This isn’t going to be a fun ride for the friendless nations stuck in semi 2, is it? Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Sweden, Norway and ALL the former Yugoslavians except Montenegro – this doesn’t look too good for the others (and at least one of those will fail in any event, seeing as how I just listed eleven countries). Pity the poor Dutch in particular, but Portugal, Malta, Bulgaria and Slovakia won’t exactly have it easy either. Belarus, Estonia and Lithuania might fall either way. Of course, all of this is pure speculation until the songs are revealed – if the Dutch or the Slovaks manage a jury-winning miracle à la “Me and My Guitar” or “Madness of Love”, it won’t matter that their odds were bad.
Semi 1 looks much more interesting. Russia has no neighbours to vote for them except Azerbaijan and Latvia. On the other hand, Romania have Italy, Spain and Moldova to vote for them, and San Marino lucked out by getting Italy and Albania to vote in their semi.