in
Baku, Azerbaijan According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "
Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 25 January 2012, an allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Norway was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 24 May 2012, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. The running order for the semi-finals was decided through another draw on 20 March 2012 and Norway was set to perform in position 16, following the entry from
Slovakia and before the entry from
Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Norway, the two semi-finals and the final were broadcast on
NRK1 with commentary by
Olav Viksmo-Slettan. The Norwegian spokesperson, who announced the Norwegian votes during the final, was
Nadia Hasnaoui who co-hosted the
Eurovision Song Contest 2010.
Semi-final Tooji took part in technical rehearsals on 16 and 20 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 23 and 24 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. The Norwegian performance featured Tooji performing a choreographed routine on stage in a grey top, leather jacket and dark trousers together with four dancers that also performed backing vocals. The stage colours were predominantly red and orange with white strobe lighting and the performance also featured several effects including smoke as well as red fireworks and flames at the end. The four dancers/backing vocalists on stage with Tooji were: Anne-Marit Tynes, Daniel Gill, Maria Karlsen and
Sérgio Benvindo Júnior (BamBam); the Norwegian performance was choreographed by Karlsen together with Mattias Carlsson. An additional backing vocalist, Hans Esben Gihle, was also on stage. At the end of the show, Norway was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Norway had tied for tenth place in the semi-final with
Bulgaria, receiving a total of 45 points, but under tiebreak rules the number of countries that voted for Norway (11) was higher than the number for Bulgaria (10) and therefore Norway qualified to the final over Bulgaria.
Final Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final. This draw was done in the order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Norway was drawn to perform in position 12, following the entry from
Estonia and before the entry from
Azerbaijan. Tooji once again took part in dress rehearsals on 25 and 26 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Tooji performed a repeat of his semi-final performance during the final on 26 May. Norway placed twenty-sixth (last) in the final, scoring 7 points. This was the eleventh time Norway finished in last place at the contest.
Voting Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Norway had placed twenty-fourth with both the public televote and the jury vote in the final. In the public vote, Norway scored 16 points, while with the jury vote, Norway scored 24 points. In the second semi-final, Norway placed sixth with the public televote with 72 points and eighteenth (last) with the jury vote, scoring 25 points. Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Norway and awarded by Norway in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Sweden in the semi-final and the final of the contest.
Points awarded to Norway Points awarded by Norway ==References==