Celebrating her win
28-year-old Loreen said it was ”A fantastic feeling, I almost started sobbing... but now I want to see what I can do better. Two months of preparation can do miracles!”
Twenty-six entrants made it into the final. A group of Russian grandmothers, Buranovskiye Babushki, took second place, whilst Serbia's Zeljko Joksimovic came third. Representing the U.K. and still swinging at 76 was Engelbert Humperdinck, who placed second to last in the contest.
Greece's Eleftheria Eleftheriou, earlier the butt of insults that Greece could not afford to dress her properly due to economic woes, came seventeenth. The host country Azerbaijan finished in a respectable fourth place. A full list of all the results can be seen on
Focus.
The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest brought attention to Azerbaijan as human rights groups
protested to draw attention to torture and political imprisonment. Neighboring Iran was drawn into a
diplomatic row after it accused Baku of planning to host a gay parade during the contest, resulting in the withdrawal of the Iranian ambassador.