Semi-Final Results at Eurovision 2012

Shortly after Loreen’s victory in the grand final, the European Broadcasting Union released the official results of the semi-finals. We’ll have to wait a few more days for the breakdown of jury votes and televotes, but for now we know the placements for each semi-final.

First semi-final

Russia’s Buranovskiye Babushki lived up to the bookies’ hype by placing first in their semi-final. Denmark’s Soluna Samay did not. She was consistently ranked by the bookies in the Top 3 of her semi. But she barely squeaked through to the final, finishing in ninth place in the semis. Rona Nishliu also defied the bookies—but much to Albania’s delight. She was expected to place around ninth. Instead she landed in second, just eight points behind Russia. Team Wiwi will be shocked if it emerges later that she did not win the jury vote. Her vocals were in a league of their own on Tuesday evening.

1. Russia: Buranovskiye Babushki with “Party for Everybody” (152)

2. Albania: Rona Nishliu with “Suus” (Personal) (146)

3. Romania: Mandinga with “Zaleilah” (120)

4. Greece: Eleftheria Eleftheriou with “Aphrodisiac” (116)

5. Moldova: Pasha Parfeny with “Lautar” (100)

6. Ireland: Jedward with “Waterline” (92)

7. Cyprus: Ivi with “La La Love”  (91)

8. Iceland: Greta Salóme & Jónsi with “Remember Me” (75)

9. Denmark: Soluna Samay with “Should’ve Known Better” (63)

10. Hungary: Compact Disco with “Sound of Our Hearts” (52)

11. Switzerland: Sinplus with “Unbreakable” (45)

12. Finland: Pernilla Karlsson’s with “När jag blundar” (41)

13. Israel: Izabo with “Time” (33)

14. San Marino: Valentina Monetta with “The Social Network” (31)

15. Montenegro: Rambo Amadeus with “Euro Neuro” (20)

16. Latvia: Anmary with “Beautiful Song” (17)

17: Belgium: Iris with “Would You?” (16)

18. Austria: Trackshittaz with “Woki mit deim Popo” (8)

Second semi-final

As predicted by the bookies and by Wiwi’s fan poll, the second semi-final was a two-horse race between Sweden’s Loreen and Serbia’s Zeljko Joksimovic. Norway’s Tooji, who had been predicted by the bookies to crack the top three, ended up qualifying in tenth position. Slovenia’s Eva Boto also disappointed. Bookies expected her to qualify to the final in eighth or ninth position. Instead she finished 17th out of 18 contestants in this semi. Donny Montell surprised everyone by finishing in third position rather than getting knocked out. But it’s Malta’s Kurt Calleja who wins the prize for exceeding expectations. The bookies had ranked him dead last in this semi. But he managed to finish a very respectable seventh.

1. Sweden: Loreen with “Euphoria” (181)

2. Serbia: Zeljko Joksimovic with “Nije ljubav stvar” (159)

3. Lithuania: Donny Montell with “Love Is Blind” (104)

4. Estonia: Ott Lepland with “Kuula” (100)

5. Turkey: Can Bonomo with “Love Me Back” (80)

6. Bosnia: Maya Sar with “Kora ti znam” (77)

7. Malta: Kurt Calleja with “This Is the Night” (70)

8. Ukraine: Gaitana with “Be My Guest” (64)

9. F.Y.R. Macedonia: Kaliopi with “Crno i belo” (53)

10. Norway: Tooji with “Stay” (45)

11. Bulgaria: Sofi Marinova with “Love Unlimited” (45)

12: Croatia: Nina Badric with “Nebo” (42)

13. Portugal: Filipa Sousa with “Vida Minha” (Life of Mine) (39)

14. Georgia: Anri Jokhadze with “I’m a Jocker” (36)

15. The Netherlands: Joan Franka with “You and Me” (35)

16. Belarus: Litesound with “We Are the Heroes” (35)

17. Slovenia: Eva Boto with “Verjamen” (31)

18. Slovakia: Max Jason Mai with “Don’t Close Your Eyes” (22)