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Voting analysis (2): the second semi final
Please note: as eurovision.tv does, we DO take into account the tie-break rule for positions other than the winning one. The use of this rule is disputed but generally does not affect the results too much.
- You can find the analysis of the first semi final here.
- You can find the scoreboard on eurovision.tv here.
Results
- Ukraine – 152
- Portugal – 120
- Denmark – 112
- Croatia – 112
- Georgia – 107
- Latvia – 86
- Turkey – 85
- Iceland – 68
- Albania – 67
- F.Y.R. Macedonia – 65
- Bulgaria – 56
- Sweden – 54
- Switzerland – 45
- Malta – 38
- Cyprus – 36
- Lithuania – 30
- Belarus – 27
- Czech Republic – 9
- Hungary – 6
Quick stats
Sweden only finished 12th according to the televoters but still went forward to the final as a jury joker. #10 would have been F.Y.R. Macedonia, #11 Bulgaria. Without the jury, it would have been the first Eurovision Song Contest final since 1976 without Sweden taking part.
Hungary finished last in the semi final. It is the first last place for the country but the six points Hungary got are not the lowest score: previously, Csaba Szigeti finished second last in 1995 with three points and Charlie finished third last in 1998 with four points.
Portugal finished second in the semi final which marks the first top five finish for the country after 40 years of participation.
After a last place on its debut, the Czech Republic did only finish second last this year. Nevertheless, the amount of points received increased by 900% - sadly only from one point to nine.
All countries got points from at least three other countries.
Lithuania only finished 16th and only got points from three countries, but these were all high marks: 8 from the United Kingdom, 10 from Georgia and 12 from Latvia.
Ukraine won by a margin of 32 points – a pretty high margin with not so many countries voting.
No country in this semi final got points from all other countries. Ukraine and Croatia came the closest getting points from 16 of the other 18 countries.
Four countries got at least once 12 points without qualifying: F.Y.R. Macedonia, Cyprus, Lithuania and Switzerland. On the other hand, Croatia and Hungary qualified without getting any douze points.
The Ukrainian winner got 12 points no less than six times – which means from one third of the other countries. Portugal finished second getting 12 only twice (from France and Switzerland).
The surprises
The biggest surprise might be the third place for the Danish entry, which was hardly predicted to reach the final at all. Denmark had already surprised in the 2005 semi final, where the country also finished third. Croatia, Georgia and Latvia were also not too high in the prediction polls but all finished in the top six. Hungary and Sweden were seen as sure qualifiers by many but Hungary finished last and Sweden had to qualify through the jury wildcard.
The running order
Like in the first semi final, the entry performed last did very well: Portugal finished second (apart from the Greek victory in the first semi final, it would have been the best placing for a song performed last in the Televoting era along with the Danish second place in 2001). Unlike in the first semi final, the song at number two did not too well and only finished 12th (but got the jury wildcard). Curiously enough, Sweden had also finished 12th the last time they got that position in 1988. As we had already known before the complete votes were revealed, only one of the last five songs performed made it to the final. However, the F.Y.R. Macedonian entry would have qualified if only the results of the Televoting had counted.
Some friendly and some friendly not-so-neighbours
The Nordic countries sticked together: Sweden got its highest marks Iceland and Denmark, Iceland got its highest marks from Sweden and Denmark and Denmark got 12 points from both Iceland and Sweden (however, Denmark also got 12 points from Hungary and the Czech Republic). Albania got its only 12 points from F.Y.R. Macedonia, F.Y.R. Macedonia got its 12 points from Croatia and Serbia. Hungary got its highest mark from Serbia (even if only four points). When it comes to the former USSR and former Yugoslav countries, the voting followed the patterns of recent years with only few exceptions. Malta once again proved to see things different than other countries: they were the only ones to give 12 points to Switzerland and were the country apart from the Scandinavians that gave the highest vote to Sweden.
Related polls
- Norway: Vote for your favourite song in the final of Melodi Grand Prix
- Azerbaijan: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Milli Seçim Turu
- Hungary: Vote for your favourite act in the final of A Dal
- Iceland: Vote for your favourite song in the final of Songvakeppni Sjonvarpsins
- Malta: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012
- Hungary: Vote for your favourite act in the second semifinal of A Dal
- Norway: Vote for your favourite song in the third semifinal of Melodi Grand Prix
- Sweden: Vote for your favourite act in the first semifinal of Melodifestivalen
- Malta: Vote for your favourite act in the semifinal of Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012
- Bulgaria: Vote for your favourite act in the Bulgarian national final 2012
- Latvia: Vote for your favourite act in the final of Eirodziesma 2012
- Belarus: Vote for your favourite act in the final of EuroFest 2012
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from the start dima was the hot fave...... 4 obvious reasons.
the winning song is the weakest song to win the esc in many many years.
ukraine had the best of everything.......... a definate winner.
Allan A.
Well done, thanks for the common sense.
neo
WHY do you have to vote 3 times? Who do you think you are, Robert Mugabe?
I am Cypriot and in the semi final i voted:
3 times for Bulgaria
2 times for Ukraine
1 time for Latvia,Sweden and Czech republic....
the Eurovision Song Contest needs new rules!!!
it's too big to see many countries will participating!
43 countries!!! next year it will be 45? - kosovo will maybe enter and maybe uzbekistan or turkmenistan???
is this the Eurovision Song Contest???
NO, NO - STOP!!!
one evening, one Eurovision Song Contest! not more!
it was okay to saw just one semi final to choice the top 10 in the final. but the system with 2 semi finals didn't work...
it's too much!!!
and what should brings europe when in the final can vote all 43 countries???? NOTHING!
we have seen it!
at first:
I would like to see the full program with the points from 1-12 by the spokersperson!
the voting part is the most greatest highlight in the show!
please bring it back!!!
please let just the participating countries in the final to vote!
please bring juries to the event...
50% juries / 50% televoting - this could help against the diaspora!
if we will see next year 2 semi finals again...
the voting should be change!
-the countries from the semi 1 should vote in the final only for these countries from semi 1 + big four and host country AND not more!!!
-the countries from the semi 2 should vote in the final only for these countries from semi 2 + big four and host country AND not more!!!
-the big four should be divide in two... two of them to vote for the participating countrys from one semi final which has passed in the final!
-only the host country should vote for all participating countries in the final.
-countries that has not passed in the final should not have to vote!
I think we will never see an Eurovision Song Contest with only 24 or 26 participating countries!
the idea with the voting like this idea would be perfect!
and when juries come back and we would see 50% juries voting and 50% televoting we would have a real winner without diaspora!
Can we agree on 1 thing, that in no country do the emigrants/diaspora count 4 half of the population? Can we agree that the diaspora in any country is not more than 15% either? In most countries the emigrants count from 2/3-10/15% max and even then it`s not a single nationality that counts 4 so much, the 15% is many different nationalities and many of them aren`t even from European countries (meaning their homeland is not participating in ESC)… can we agree on this so far?
So then u say that it`s normal if let say Danish ppl vote 4 the Norwegian song coz they have similar taste or that UK use 2 vote 4 Ireland b4 coz again they have similar language and cultural taste… so it`s normal that u c this countries share points coz they understand and like each other music better, so then why is it so hard 2 understand that lets say Turks in Germany will like the Turkish music better? Sure they vote 4 it coz of patriotism but can it also be (like the westerners) that they also understand the music better and like it better? Can it be that the Armenians in Belgium really liked and understood the Armenian music much more than the Belgian song? So it`s both ppl, both that they 2 like and understand music and also coz of the patriotic reasons.
Then u go on and complain that Western countries don`t win and eastern countries get more points coz of Diaspora voting (neighbor vote is still more understandable coz of what I mentioned b4… and this seems more fair in this unfair system, but diaspora voting is the worse 4 most of u). But if u so want 2 win or get better place in the final why don’t u just move ur lazes asses and vote? Why don`t u watch it more? Coz I`m sure the 3-15% of the emigrants in Belgium (and I`m sure it`s less than that, it`s 3-15% not just Armenians but Turks, Greeks, Somalia, Iran u name it) couldn`t give 12points 2 Armenia if the native ppl voted 2. U don’t watch it, u don’t talke it seriously, u don’t vote and then u come here and complain that u didn’t get a better place in the final? If u don’t watch, don’t vote ect why do u care if u win or get a better place? WHY? The emigrants watch it and love it and vote 4 it so why shouldn`t they get 2 c their countries in the Finial and have their country win? They r after all most of the active viewers, so why isn`t it fair that all Armenian watching it and being active with voting and then c Belgium win it when Belgian ppl didn’t even watch, didn’t really vote and don’t even care?
The best song which was nice suprise came from Denmark,
Simon u rock...
BTW my country-Macedonia, I personally think didnt deserve to be in the final, but replacing our place with Sweden is just 
Swedish song was pure crap, and why she returned to ESC whe she already had won the contest once, poor Charlotte, she deserved this shame an the place she got (including 12-th in the semi), instead it bulgaria deserved to be in the final, but who knows maybe the jury was from the Scandinavia
greets
@João LuSeNo Galaico-Português
I voted for Portugal, it definitely deserved a top 10 finish, and I almost never vote East because of protest against block and diaspora voting! With a current system, any top 15 result for a Western country is a success, and I congratulate you. I hope that things with the voting will change for the better soon. Welcome back to the ESC finals, Portugal!
Russia wasn't bad, but not for winning, maybe 2nd or 3rd.......
Ukraine was the best, best song, best voice, best dance, best.........
but they lost because east countries were giving 10 or 12 to Russia and only 6-8 for Ukraine, so the difference was growing... : (
Thank you so much Kalomoira fo!!! : )
From the TOP5 last night just Norway diserved the 1st place!
And fortunately, at least, Maria Haukaas Storeng got a 5th place!
(even tough Ukraine performed very very well)
THIS YEAR STRONGEST AND EMTIONAL SONG: "SENHORA DO MAR"
NO OTHER SONG THIS YEAR COME CLOSER TO "SENHORA DO MAR"(*) NO OTHER IS GOOD AS "SENHORA DO MAR"!
I'M HAPPY 'CUZ WE SENT THE BEST SONG SUNG BY THE PERFECT VOICE OF VÂNIA FERNANDES!
(*)(*)(*)
the only way to try and save the contest,is to have only jury,vote.it would simple,say have 100 people in each jury,age from 16 to 65.all linked to pc,and then their vote's would register,right away.the jury,can only be made up of passport holder's of that country.this would stop the migrant worker's hijacking the vote's in numerous country's.prime example,Poland,(yet again)and also Lativa,hijacking Ireland's result's.this has to stop.we would still get block voting,but at least each country's vote would come from citzen's of that country.seriously EBU, something has to be done,before the west withdraw's. do something now before next year's contest.
Ppl I also think that they should let top 5 or at least top 3 go 4ward without any semi coz at least b4, if u`re country didnt win but still was in top 10 (top 10 when we have 43 countries now will be 2 much, so that`s why I say top5 or top3) u would at least get something out of it, do u understand me? at least it wont feel so bad 2 lose, coz ur placing in the final will still mean something ...
but this way as we have now if u`re not the winner or Big 4, u might as well end up as the last place, u know what I mean? what separates the last place from 2nd place? nothing... at least if u get 2 go directly 2 the finials that`ll be some kind of consolation price
ONLY THE COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION SHOULD PARTICIPATE. END OF STORY...
(and for all of you that fight over east-west-north-east, europe has always been divided in West and East NOT by geographical terms BUT by political, historical and cultural terms. For example, Greece is east in geography, but has always been -since the beginning of history- west. It was THE beginning of west. More west than Poland, Check Republic and others (which are central in the map but have always been east in all other terms). I am not Greek, but we can't say whatever we want just because of eurovision! Some of you -especially the ones that want to be in the EU and are not- go open some books !!!
EUROVISION ONLY FOR EU MEMBERS !!!
Dear Europeans,
Last night were the most said and predictable voting ever... Voting is always a very exciting part, but now is coming no exiciting at all! We can guess almost all the 12 points! No matter the song is good or not Cyprus will always give 12 points to Greece. The same in the Balkans. The same in the Baltic. I have to agree with the people that say that Malta is the only fair country voting! I was really surprised with the scandinavia, they were quite fair and they didn't gave all 12 points to Sweden.
I can't believe that someone let this happen: Macedonia diserved to be in the final and it was not!?!?! How they explain that Macedonia got the 10th and went out the contest while Sweden got 12th and passed to the final!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! THIS IS A SCANDAL********** what a shame!
I'm a truly fan of ESC since kid, but now i'm getting very said about it. This is no longer a Europe contest but a Eastern-Europe contest!
~
I hope things can change for BETTER. If not, i am so said to say that but would be better if Portugal come out of the competion! THIS YEAR THE PORTUGUESE SONG WAS THE BEST! WE GOT THE SECOND PLACE IN THE SEMI-FINAL AND WHAT HAPPEN IN THE FINAL?????????? VÂNIA WAS THE BEST ON THE STAGE! SHE'S A TRUE SINGER!
VÂNIA DON'T WORRY! YOU JUST GOT 13th PLACE BUT YOU WERE NOT A SHAME FOR US! YOU WERE THE BEST! YOU SUNG PERFECTLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PORTUGAL FOR ME WAS THE WINNER NO MATTER WHAT HAPPEN! VÂNIA YOU WERE PERFECT!
Like Luxembourg and Italy all western countries should leave ESC and create a new contest since we no longer belong to this competion.
This year UK got a good song and ended up in the last position!
Russia just won because political issues, and because of the points from "neighbours"!
Voting system must be change because this way is NOT FAIR AT ALL.........
I'm sorry but i do not understand how is possibly that silly songs like Azerbaijan and Bosnia got a so high position!
Denmark was brilliant and they ended up in 15th.
And from the TOP 11 Norway was the best performance followed by Georgia, Serbia and Israel.
I don't know what to think about all this unfair issues! That makes me very said!
Sir Terry Wogan is right! EBU must do something now!
THANKS TO ALL THAT FAIRLY VOTED FOR US! THANKS FOR GIVING US A VERY DISERVING SECOND PLACE IN THE SEMI-FINAL!
THANKS YOU ALL!
*******************************************************************************
i realy dont understand this back up jury thing.
Macedonia should go insted of Sweden to the final they earnd it. people loved thier song and not sweden. and why 12 place? Bulgaria were 11 place.
the answer is simple
SWEDEN=MONEY TO THE CONTEST
NO SWEDEN, LESS BUDJET FOR 2009.
if it was to me and i was the head of the Macedonian deligation i would have take EBU heads to court and sew them.
Answer is simple - Big 4 should withdraw - set up a new contest and invite the pre:1993 countries to attend.
Leave the East spoil their own contest if they want to pay for one.
The best song and singer (Hungary) came last with just 6 points....proves that song quality does'nt matter in a contest like this anymore
Good job Simon!. 3rd in semi...noone expected that and 15th in final is great. If someone (before the contest) had told me that we would beat Sweden i wouldn't have believed in it.
the final should include juries as well.
Sweden flopped hard and it was the big favourite like Cyprus 2007 & Belgium 2006. We had predicted it.
At least, juries stopped FYR Macedonia's diaspora voting and didn't let it enter the final for another year. Cyprus got the 15th place in the semifinal again and Czech Republic seems not to have any friends. Scandinavian countries ignored the other countries and gave themselves high pts. Ex-soviet countries made russia winner and malta as always was confused when it came the time for voting.
see you next year
I would like to really thnx
UK-12p
Bulgaria-8p
Hungary-5p
Turkey-4p
Albania,Switzerland,Georgia-2p
Serbia-1p
for voting Cyprus!!!Such a lovely song which didnt make it through
Portugal finished second in the semi final which marks the first top five finish for the country after 40 years of participation. Just too bad that this wasnt reflected in the final, due to this voting system. Portugal deserved TOP 5!!!
yes the voting system is unfair, I`m aware of that and we all know now that ESC is not about the songs, who has the best song ect, coz if it was again Armenia, Greece or Norway would`ve been in 1,2 and 3 places (in no particular order) coz Armenian and Greek song is actually the kind of songs u hear at most European clubs. But no ESC is not about the songs it`s turned out 2 be about Politics, Patriotic and Neighborly feelings.
So why is the diaspora voting any more worse than lets say Scandinavian countries out of some kind of patriotic feeling (that they rather c ESC in Scandinavia) vote 4 each other 1st, giving each other the best points and the rest overs go 2 countries that they know about (nobody here in North really knows or has heard so much about the little Armenia) .... and then maybe they will also vote 4 some songs that they liked... but 1st and foremost most countries vote 4 their Neigbors, than the countries they know of(been 2 vacation at) and then, and maybe then 4 the song...
so it`s unfair but in this unfair system diaspora voting is as fair as the patriotic neighborly voting... so would it been more fair if Netherlands voted 4 Beligum, Germany or UK out of some patriotic neighborly feelings and the wish 2 bring the ESC closer 2 home instead of Armenia??? would`ve this been more fair? No, I dont think so, the fair thing would be 2 vote 4 the song u really like, but come on the name Eurovision song contest is obviously just an ironic name (and that`s sad)
How embarrassing for Sweden! Oh dear, I feel so sorry for Charlotte. I hope she doesn't regret returning to Eurovision. She's a lovely girl and her song was nice, but this is not the same Europe that she conquered in 1999. I hope she will continue to perform and love her "Hero" because it really is quite a nice song. Best of wishes for the future, Charlotte! Don't let it get to you! You rock! 
I will not say that the Macedonian entry was wonderful, great and better than the Swedish (it probably wasn't, and I wasn't too impressed with our entry but it's a matter of taste anyway - I personally think that singing it in English killed the entry completely), but I really do not understand why people think that Macedonia stole places of other countries in finals in the past few years. How exactly did we steal it? By force, or by paying countries to vote for us? Macedonia hardly spends money on promoting their songs, unlike other countries who spend millions, and just the fact that neighbouring countries give points to us makes it a robbery of grandeur proportions is such a cliche and overused statement - I have no idea how people are not ashamed of mentioning it in this context, especially when it comes from ones who benefit from the same! Like, the former Yugoslav countries are deciding the outcome - come on, get real. We did not even invent the strategy, it was in the ESC long before the country split. Please review older ESC voting patterns. But then it was called "neighbouring countries understand their music better". Now it is renamed in order to suit various interests and rude comments. 'Nuff said.
Do not forget that we do not profit from diaspora voting much as well. The country is so small that its diaspora can hardly affect the results of the votes in any country. Even if there is a larger diaspora group living in a particular country, there is always a much larger diaspora group (or groups) from another participating country.
Rules are rules, and we may have been disappointed by not being in the final, but there is always next year, and we'll try to do better. Pity Sweden did not rate higher in the final, at least it would have given some credibility to the jury joker rule. Unfortunately, this year it kind of flopped. Not sure the Macedonian entry would rate much better in the final than the Swedish as well. Eventually it may have been in the range of 12-15 at best. So, no big drama there. (Or, was someone afraid we would steal the ESC contest altogether and run away with the trophy? :-)))
And I feel for every country that did not make it to the final, not just my own. Not because the songs were better or worse, but because it's always fun to participate. And really, saying that "we got what we deserved because of " is not only stupid and rude, but also hateful. I would like to believe that this is not about hate. So, congratulations to the winners. And move on.
Jury is bad idea, as especially they mostly prefer 1 or 2 styles of music as we saw. Eurovision should be open to every music style!
Best solution with nowadays ESC is just to change the voting system, so for example, assuming that Portugal finished 11th to 15th in many televotes, especially because there was not enough room for them in some countries top 10 (as it was already reserved before...), there should be some method which will promote countries which didn't have place due to most top 10 of a country being "reserved" for others, and of course will make the live voting more tight and less obvious. every country should have the right to fight for Eurovision victory, and San Marino isn't guilty for having no friends...
STOP POLITICAL VOTING, WE WANT JURY! JOIN NOW...
http://www.facebook.(...).php?gid=14871713837
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