Macedonia (officially under the provisional appellation "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", abbreviated "FYR Macedonia") participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Macedonian entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by the Macedonian broadcaster MRT. Kaliopi represented Macedonia with the song "Crno i belo", which qualified from the second semi-final and went on to place 13th in the final, scoring 71 points.[1][2]
On 19 November 2011, MRT announced that they had internally selected Kaliopi to represent Macedonia in Baku.[3] Kaliopi was previously the proposed Macedonian entry with the song "Samo ti" in 1996; however, the entry was eliminated in an audio-only pre-qualifying round. Kaliopi had previously attempted to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest on several occasions. Her earliest attempt was in Yugoslavia when she competed in the Yugoslav national final with the song "Emanuel", which placed tenth. The singer has also competed in several Macedonian national final selections over the years: in 1998 with the song "Ne zaboravaj" which placed ninth, in 2006 with the song "Silna" which placed sixth, and in 2009 with the song "Rum Dum Dum" which she performed in a duet with Naum Petreski and placed second.
On 16 February 2012, it was announced that Kaliopi would perform the song "Crno i belo", written by Kaliopi and Romeo Grill, at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.[4] "Crno i belo" was presented to the public in a special show hosted by Dimitar Atanasovski, which took place on 29 February 2012 at the MRT Studios in Skopje and was broadcast on MRT 1, MRT Sat and online via the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv. "Crno i belo" was also recorded in English, titled "Black & White". In addition to presenting Kaliopi's 2012 Eurovision entry, the show featured performances of songs from her repertoire.[2]
At Eurovision[]
Macedonia competed in the first half of the second semi-final (2nd on stage), on 24 May 2012, following Serbia and preceding the Netherlands. Kaliopi received 53 points and placed 9th, thus qualifying for the final on 26 May.[5] The public awarded Macedonia 8th place with 63 points and the jury awarded 9th place with 58 points.[6]
In the final, Macedonia was drawn to perform 22nd, after Malta and preceding Ireland. The Macedonian entry scored a total of 71 points and placed 13th in the final.[7] The public awarded Macedonia 11th place with 79 points and the jury awarded 17th place with 69 points.[6]
Macedonia
