UK's Engelbert Humperdinck humiliated as Sweden wins Eurovision 2012
Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck said he "did the best for my country" at the Eurovision song contest after the UK's hopes of breaking its competition curse came crashing down when the veteran crooner scraped into last-but-one place.
He opened the show in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday night, with the ballad Love Will Set You Free – but seemed to have been forgotten by the time voting started, 25 songs later. Not even a lucky necklace given to him by Elvis Presley could help Humperdinck, who scored points from only Belgium, Estonia, Latvia and Ireland and ended up languishing at the bottom of the leader board.
The singer, nicknamed "The Hump", scored a total of 12 – ending up just one position above Norway, famous for gaining "nul points" in the annual competition.
Speaking afterwards, Humperdinck congratulated the winner – the Swedish singer Loreen with dance track Euphoria.
"I've had many highs in my career and Eurovision has been a wonderful experience," he said. "I want to thank everybody, especially my fans around the world for their words of support. I did the best for my country, the rest was out of my hands."
Questions will be asked about the decision to hand the baton to a 76-year-old, leading to one of the worst outcomes for the UK. Until 2011, the public had a say in who represented the UK and with which song, but that was abandoned when boy-band Blue were chosen to sing I Can, in the hope an established name could bring home the title. They managed to come 11th last year, a respectable position compared with this year.
The last UK win was in 1997 when Katrina and the Waves – fronted by the American singer Katrina Leskanich – took the honours with Love Shine A Light.
Loreen had been the bookies' favourite and romped home with a landmark victory, scoring 372 points. Speaking after the win, she said: "I want to say that I love you so much. Thank you for believing in me."
Popular act Buranovskiye Babushki – the six-strong group of pensioners nicknamed The Russian Grannies – came second with Party for Everyone and were notable for performing with a revolving oven on the stage.
Irish twins John and Edward Grimes – Jedward – could not improve on their eighth place scored in last year's contest. They came 19th despite an enthusiastic performance of Waterline, which saw them singing around a fountain in the middle of the stage and jumping into it at the end of the song.
Humperdinck, who used the name Gerry Dorsey during the early years of his career, kept The Beatles off the number one spot in the singles chart with Release Me in the 1960s.
[UK Guardian]
