United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

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 compete in one of two semi-finals, and qualify in order to participate in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big 5", the United Kingdom automatically qualified to compete in the final on 26 May 2012. In addition to their participation in the final, the United Kingdom is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 25 January 2012, the United Kingdom was assigned to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final on 24 May 2012.^[10]

In the United Kingdom, the semi-finals were broadcast on BBC Three with commentary by Scott Mills and Sara Cox. The final was televised on BBC One with commentary by Graham Norton and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 with commentary by Ken Bruce. The British spokesperson, who announced the British votes during the final, was Scott Mills.

Engelbert Humperdinck took part in technical rehearsals on 19 and 20 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 25 and 26 May. This included the jury final on 25 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. During the running order draw on 20 March which determined the running order of the British entry in the final, United Kingdom was drawn to perform first in position 1, before the entry from Hungary.^[11]

The British performance featured Engelbert Humperdinck performing on stage with the LED screens displaying lighting that transitioned from black and white to a blaze of red. The performance began with Humperdinck performing on a dimly lit stage silhouetted in the spotlight before the lighting gradually increased to reveal a male and female classical ballet dancer, Shem Jacobs and Bethany-Rose Harrison, and a guitarist, James Bryan, who sat on a stool behind Humperdinck.^[12][13][14] The performance was concluded with several effects including spinning fireworks and a pyrotechnic waterfall. The United Kingdom placed twenty-fifth in the final, scoring 12 points.^[15][16]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding points from 1–8, 10 and 12 as determined by a combination of 50% national jury and 50% televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. This jury judged each entry 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 was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The following members comprised the British jury: Kevin Hughes (radio DJ), Doug Flett (songwriter), Daffyd Rhys Evans (singer-songwriter), Kirsten Joy Child (singer-songwriter) and Lynsey de Paul (singer, represented United Kingdom in the 1977 Contest).^[17]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that the United Kingdom had placed twenty-first with the public televote and twenty-sixth (last) with the jury vote. In the public vote, the United Kingdom scored 36 points and in the jury vote the nation scored 11 points.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to the United Kingdom and awarded by United Kingdom in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Malta in the semi-final and to Sweden in the final of the contest.

Points awarded to the United Kingdom (Final)^[18]

Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points	Estonia
4 points	Ireland
3 points
2 points	Latvia
1 point	Belgium

Source:^[20]

The final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was watched by an average of 7.47 million viewers in the United Kingdom with a market share of 36.2%, 2 million less than the previous year although the show faced additional competition from an England friendly football match.^[21] After the contest, several British media personalities had called upon the BBC for a withdrawal, including Phillip Schofield who described the competition as "political".^[22][23]