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Azerbaijan votes-for-cash video: men selling votes i…

Continued investigative work from Lithuanian news portal 15min lt has turned up some more clues into the identity of the two men offering cash for Azerbaijan votes.

ESC 2013

Azerbaijan votes-for-cash video: more testimonials

The Lithuanian website 15min lt, has come forward with some new statements after their cash-for-votes undercover video prompted an EBU investigation.

ESC 2013

EBU contacts 15min.lt to aid in votes-for-cash inves…

The European Broadcasting Union seems to be taking the cash-for-votes video by undercover Lithuanian journalists seriously.

ESC 2013

The Azerbaijan votes-for-cash story deepens

We spoke with one of the Lithuanian journalists who was involved in the video where Eurovision votes were being sold in Azerbaijan's name.

ESC 2013

More revelations about Azerbaijan vote fixing

A transcript of the damning video showing how Azerbaijan is buying Eurovision votes has been released.

ESC 2013

Proof of vote rigging by Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan got second place at ESC 2013, but apparently this wasn't an earned victory - more one that was paid for.

ESC 2013

Photo Reports
Video Video
12 Points
Spain calling
CD reviews
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Photo Report: The Final -rehearsal

The final rehearsal - Photos for 12points.

Photo Report: The Second semi final -rehearsal

The second semi final rehearsal - Photos for 12points.

Photo Report: The Big Five rehearsing

Thebig five rehearsing - Photos for 12points.

Photo Report: After the First Semi Final

The ten finalists from the first semi final - Photos for 12points.

Prime Minister - "Northern Girl"

Look out for those preeeety guurlls! The Russian Justin Timberlakes are here to steal their hearts - and maybe yours.

Loreen- "My Heart Is Refusing Me"

Before "Euphoria", ESC 2012 winner Loreen shared her heart in Sweden's national final.

Charlotte Perrelli - "The Girl"

Perrelli's return to the schlager spotlight yielded mixed results for her dedicated fans.

Morten Harket - "Heaven's Not For Saints"

Harket took on this big ballad for the opening of ESC1996 in Norway.

Twelve Points about 2012

We look back at 2012 by having a look at out twelve most popular articles this year This was what made your and our Eurovision year special.

Twelve Points about SVT renewing ESC

SVT has been releasing details about the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, during the last couple of weeks Today the fifth part (out of six) of the plans so far as presented on their site.

Twelve Points about Wonderful Malmö

So now we know our Eurovision destination is going to be Malmö, next year For all those among you that had hoped for Stockholm, here is twelve points to convince you that Malmö is not that bad a destination either.

Twelve Points about Junior ESC

OK, I have to admit it, I don't necessarily like the sound of children singing And I am not a big fan of Eurovision spin-offs in general.

12 positive Points about Baku
We've been quite harsh on Baku and Azerbaijan lately. It might seem we didn't enjoy our time in Baku, but we did. It's time to look at the bright side of Baku! Well, yes, we have been pointing out that we were not too happy about the propaganda in the contest this year, culminating in the kissing of the Azerbaijani flag in the interval act during the final. We also doubted if Azerbaijan has gained their votes in a respectful way during the last three years. The fact that oposition is non-exsisting in the country and the human rights situation is strongly critisized by organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch made us uncomfortable. And yes, we have been critical on some other fields too, and we don't regret that. But we can add some positivity too!

"1" | "The people of Azerbaijan are so friendly!"

A Eurovision circus, was something, the locals in Baku didn't seem prepared for. On the evenings of the semi finals and the final many Eurovision fans crossed the centre of Baku waving flags, dressed in national outfits or wearing feather head dresses when the fans happened to be Dutch. This passage through town wasn't an easy one, because virtually everyone wanted to be photographed together with as many of these wicked fans. On all other days, we couldn't count the many friendly greetings by locals. "Hello, my friend" was a sentence frequently heard. People seemed to be truly proud to welcome us in their town.
12 Points about surviving P.E.D.
We all get it around this time of year. PED - also known as "Post-Eurovision Depression". Here's some tips on how to feel better.
12 Points about the opening party
12points was at the offical opening party to the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku last night. We've summed up our experiences in the twelve points below.

"1" | "The Red Carpet"

All the artists were granted a grand entry, arriving by buss and then walking a red carpet were they were welcomed by the hosts of the contests and a crowd of fans and press. An hour after the start still less than ten of the deleagtions were weldomed, later on it speeded up, but we decided to go in because we were getting a bit hungry....

Twelve Points about 12points.tv
12points.tv is the newest eurovision website around, and hopefully your favourite one to be. We aim to please, but we also aim to communicate with you. We have our opinion, you have yours. 12points.tv, Our vision, your vision.

"1" | "Eurovision Facts"

We're still building up, but eventually we would like to be your Eurovision reference. Wether you are a big fan or just passing by, you should easilly find the answers to your questions about the contest. At some points other sites are just better, so then we kindly refer to them.
Twelve Points about the Eurovision Song Contest
Well what can we say about the contest? Quite a lot actually, where do we start? And where should we end... We could say the contest started back in 1956. That ABBA started their career in the contest back in 1974 by winning it with Waterloo. That even Céline Dion once won the contest, although she isn't even European. That it was our favorite show already when we were kids and were allowed to stay up late that one evening in the year. That at some point countries still had to sing in their own language. That until the late nineties an orchestra was still part of the setup for the evening, etc... etc... But there are quite a lot of prejudices about the contest too. Things we have to explain over and over again. Not that we really care because we remain passionate about the contest anyway, but still, as of now we can refer to this page. Let's look at a hard to beat Eurovision prejudices, or well, some of them might even be true too... Not yet sure if we will admit though.
Twelve Points about Azerbaijan
If Eurovision is one's passion, the contest determines every year where you are going in May for a weekend, a week or even more than two weeks, like we usually do as staff of this website. For us it is about time to get to know this year's winning country: Azerbaijan. We dived into it, these are our Twelve Points about Azerbaijan:

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With you until the end

After the bad -but not unexpected, unfortunately- result of “Contigo hasta el final” in Malmö, Eurovision became a hot issue in Spain and the fans are already asking for changes for 2014.

ESDM prepares for Malmö

The Spanish band gave today a press conference together with the Spanish commentator José María Íñigo, the TV presenter Elena S Sánchez and a member of TVEs management, Federico Llano.

ESDM's live video chat

Today at 13:00 CET an online chat with ESDM took place, organized by Eurovision tv: the band seemed satisfied with the preparations but they did not want to reveal anything about their performance in Malmö.

Spanish postcard filmed

A team from the Swedish broadcaster SVT has been with the 3 members of ESDM-El Sueño de Morfeo filming their postcard for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Loreen heals!

Viva Europa!

Lena's world is turning

Helena, come back!

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With you until the end

After the bad -but not unexpected, unfortunately- result of “Contigo hasta el final” in Malmö, Eurovision became a hot issue in Spain and the fans are already asking for changes for 2014.

Spain calling

Proof of vote rigging by Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan got second place at ESC 2013, but apparently this wasn't an earned victory - more one that was paid for.

ESC 2013

Eurovision 2013: Our Review

You know it was a good contest when you are still picking out glitter and confetti from your chest hair 16 hours after the Final.

ESC 2013

One American's First ESC - DAY 8

Well, as we say, “THAT happened!” The ESC Final was as crazy as I expected I was wearing orange for The Netherlands, but it was easy to cheer for everyone.

General

Today's newsletter!

The Danes have won the 2013 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, winning singer Emmelie de Forrests first response to this was "I'm the luckiest girl in the world " There was a lot of pressure on her as big favourite to win, "But on the other hand, it meant that many people liked the song, they supported me and ultimately voted for me.

ESC 2013

DENMARK WINS!!

Denmark is the winner of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest!!! Azerbaijan came second and Ukraine third Stay tuned for more information and pictures here at 12points.

General

One American's First ESC - DAY 7

It was another beautiful, warm day in Malmö A few more of these, and people might just have to stop wrapping bulky scarves around their necks.

General

Today's newsletter!

The 2013 Eurovision Song Contest final is hosted by Petra Mede The opening tonight consists of a video about a caterpillar in Baku that turns into butterfly in Malmö, the music to go with this is specially written by ABBA's Björn and Benny with DJ Avicii.

ESC 2013

One American's First ESC - DAY 6

With the results in from the second Semi Final, it really sinks in how high the stakes are All of Scandinavia is in.

General

Photo Report: The Final -rehearsal

The final rehearsal - Photos for 12points tv by Mikael Persson.

Photo reports

Today's newsletter!
The 12points.tv was on the Arena floor last night for Semi Final and witnessed the joy and the carnage. Songs that everyone expected would get through - Finland, Norway, Azerbaijan - did the job well. But giant question marks appeared over everyone's heads, like in a cartoon, with Armenia and Romania's passage to the Final. "WHY!??!1!!" the crowd screamed, going as far as booing the Armenia announcement. Well, this is a competition, and like we always say, don't listen to the odds. And poor San Marino - that was crazy that they didn't go through.
Now, stop complaining Western Europe!
In my home country, the Netherlands, and in quite some other countries in the west of our continent there is this myth that in Eurovision all countries from the east vote for each other, leaving all western countries out. This year, with almost all Western countries qualifying, this bit of anti Eurovision propaganda should really be put to a stop: not a single former Yugoslavian country got a ticket to the final, whilst all of Scandinavia did, as well as Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Malta.

Malmö Today - 17 May
Today the rehearsals for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest are starting in the Malmö Arena. Today Euroclub and Euro fan Café also open its doors for all fans that are in town already
Semi Final 2: the qualified countries
We have 10 more finalists for Saturday, so the final list of 26 countries is completed!!

One American's First ESC - DAY 5
First things first: Anouk’s new video for “Birds” has been released. There were a lot of questions about what the song meant, and this video gives one possible interpretation. It is beautifully filmed. But please don’t try this at home (see “Werther effect”).
Semi Final 2: Our expecatations
In just a few hours, Semi Final 2 will begin at Malmö Arena. This one is tricky to predict, but we will try to give you our picks for the winner. In general, Semi Final 2 is filled with more good songs than the Semi from Tuesday. And unless Valentina Monetta suddenly goes dubstep, the whole evening is a little more traditional in its style.

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Did Azerbaijan play things fair?

"1" | "The people of Azerbaijan are so friendly!"

"1" | "The Red Carpet"

"1" | "Eurovision Facts"

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