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.

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.
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. These rumours were later denied by all individual members of Atomic Kitten themselves.

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.
It was revealed later that day that Engelbert Humperdinck was to represent the UK in Baku.
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.

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.

Points awarded by the United Kingdom

Semi-final 2

Final

Jury points awarded by the United Kingdom

Semi-final 2

Jury points awarded in second semi-final:
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Final

Jury points awarded in the final:
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points
5 points4 points3 points2 points1 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".
    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.