San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

San Marino participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Sammarinese national broadcaster Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) internally selected Valentina Monetta with "The Social Network Song" to represent the nation in the contest. SMRTV had initially proposed a different version of the song, titled "Facebook Uh, Oh, Oh", but was instructed to modify or replace the entry due to concerns relating to commercial messaging. The entry was promoted through the creation of a music video, a promotional tour throughout Europe, and interviews to the press in the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. San Marino performed 11th in the first semi-final, held on 22 May 2012, and placed 14th, receiving 31 points and failing to qualify for the grand final. This marked their best placing in the contest to this point.

Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Country San Marino
National selection
Selection processInternal selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 14 March 2012
Song: 22 March 2012
Selected entrantValentina Monetta
Selected song"The Social Network Song"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (14th, 31 points)
San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2011 • 2012 • 2013►

Background
Main article: San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2012 contest, San Marino had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twice since their debut at the 2008 contest.[1] For both of these appearances, Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV) hosted internal selection processes, choosing the band Miodio with the song "Complice" for 2008 and Senit with the song "Stand By" for 2011.[2][3] Both songs competed in the semi-finals of their contests, but failed to qualify for the respective grand final.[1] To this point, the nation's best placing at the contest was 16th in the semi-finals, which it achieved in the previous year's contest.[1] San Marino did not compete in the 2009 or 2010 contests, citing financial difficulties.[4][5]

Before Eurovision

Internal selection
Valentina Monetta was internally selected by SMRTV to represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

Similar to their previous two entries, SMRTV opted to once again internally select their entry using an expert jury. On 14 March 2012, they confirmed that Valentina Monetta would represent San Marino in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in May.[6][7] Though not initially under consideration by the broadcaster, Monetta, a Sammarinese singer with multiple collaborations under her belt, was scouted by an SMRTV director by chance when he viewed her performing one night.[7] Because of this, the selected song was not written specifically for the singer.[8] On 16 March, two days after announcing her selection, her song, "Facebook Uh, Oh, Oh", was presented in a special programme by SMRTV that premiered on the network as well as through ESCTV Player on the contest's official website.[9] The satirical-themed track was composed by Ralph Siegel, Jose Rodriguez and Timothy Touchton.[9]

Disqualification

On 18 March, two days after the song's presentation, the reference group in charge of enforcing the rules of the contest determined that the entry was ineligible to participate as written.[10] Specifically, they stated that the inclusion of a reference to the social network site Facebook breached the contest's rule barring commercial messaging.[10] Prior to submitting the song, SMRTV had consulted with their attorneys and believed that they could use the name because it was in a satirical, not commercial nature.[11] Facing potential disqualification, SMRTV was allowed by the European Broadcasting Union to either modify the lyrics of the song or select an alternative no later than 23 March 2012.[10] The broadcaster opted to revise their entry, with the new version titled "The Social Network Song" released on 22 March.[12] In response to the change, composer Seigel stated that it was not easy to accommodate the directive, as they had to record the song again, make a new edit of the music video, and redo much of the promotional material in a very short amount of time.[13]

Promotion

To promote the entry, a music video for "The Social Network Song" was filmed.[14] The broadcaster also hosted a contest where people could create their own music videos of the song and upload them to YouTube to win a cash prize and trip to Munich, Germany.[15]

In mid April, Monetta started a promotional tour in Belgium, where she was a guest on the show Studio TVL and was interviewed by newspaper Dag Allemaal.[16][17] In late April, Monetta was one of several participants of 2012 who took part in the annual Eurovision in Concert series, an event held at club Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands staged to serve as a preview party for the year's entries.[18] Her tour continued with visits to London and Tel Aviv, and an appearance in a programme titled Tribute to Eurovision in Jerusalem.[19] These were followed in early May with an interview in Athens on Greece's Star Channel,[20] as well as appearances on local media in Baku during the week of the contest.[21]

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 took place at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. It consisted of two semi-finals held on 22 and 24 May, respectively, and the grand final on 26 May 2012.[22] Lia Fiorio and Gigi Restivo served as commentators for the television and radio broadcasts, which were also streamed online.[23] According to the Eurovision rules, all participating countries, except the host nation and the "Big Five", consisting of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the grand final; the top 10 countries from the respective semi-finals would proceed to the final.[24]

On 25 January 2012, an allocation draw was held at Buta Palace in Baku that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals; San Marino was placed into the second half of the first semi-final, to be held on 22 May.[25] Once all the competing songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by another draw, which was held on 20 March.[26] The nation was assigned to perform at position 11, following Israel and preceding Cyprus.[26]

Monetta performed "The Social Network Song" in the first semi-final on 22 May 2012, appearing 11th out of the 18 countries.[24] Surrounded by five backing dancers wearing costumes representing several professions,[27] Monetta appeared in a blue leather outfit with a silver blouse and shoes.[28] A laptop computer was placed on a stand and the LED screens that surrounded the ensemble featured thousands of people's faces amongst speech bubbles reading "uh" and "oh".[28][24] Jacqueline Duell was the choreographer for the performance.[29]

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to San Marino in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, as well as by the country in the semi-final and grand final. In the first semi-final, San Marino did not qualify for the grand final, placing 14th with 31 points: the nation was awarded 13th place with 25 points by the public and 14th place with 42 points by the jury.[24] This placement marked the nation's highest placing in the contest to this point.[1] Monica Fabbri was the Sammarinese spokesperson who announced the country's voting results.[24][23]

Points awarded to San Marino
Points awarded to San Marino (Semi-final 1)[30]
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by San Marino

References
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  2. "Eurofestival, saranno i Miodio a rappresentare San Marino a Belgrado" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 11 March 2008. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  3. "Senit to sing "Stand By" - watch the video here!". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 11 March 2011. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  4. Viniker, Barry (18 December 2008). "San Marino leaves Eurovision Song Contest". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  5. Floras, Stella (15 December 2009). "No San Marino either for Eurovision 2010". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  6. Lombardini, Emanuele (14 March 2012). "Valentina Monetta: una sammarinese per il Titano!" (in Italian). Eurofestival News. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  7. "Valentina Monetta to represent San Marino". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  8. Adams, William Lee (16 March 2013). "Valentina Monetta and Ralph Siegel Discuss 'Crisalide'". Wiwibloggs. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  9. "Valentina Monetta to sing 'Facebook Uh,Oh,Oh'". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  10. "EBU: San Marino song lyrics in breach of Rules". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 18 March 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  11. Caliciuri, Stefano (19 March 2012). "La canzone di San Marino per l'Eurofestival dovrà essere modificata. Il riferimento a Facebook è ritenuto commerciale" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  12. "'The Social Network song' for San Marino". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  13. "Oh oh-uh-oh oh... Time for San Marino!". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  14. "The Making of 'The Social Network Song'". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 29 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  15. "Un video concorso per l'Eurofestival" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 12 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  16. "Valentina in Belgio, ospite di Studio TVL" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  17. "Prosegue il tour di Valentina Monetta in Belgio" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 20 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  18. Capicchioni, Alessandro (23 April 2012). "Amsterdam, Eurovision in Concert. C'era anche Valentina Monetta" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  19. "Continua il tour promozionale di Valentina a Londra a Tel Aviv" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 28 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  20. "Valentina Monetta fa tappa in Grecia" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  21. Morosini, Gianmarco (17 May 2012). "Milioni di azeri hanno seguito in tv Valentina Monetta, ospite del primo canale nazionale" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  22. "Eurovision Song Contest–Baku2012". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 30 April 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  23. "SM TV San Marino: confermati i conduttori per l'Eurovision 2013" (in Italian). Eurofestival News. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  24. Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Baku, Azerbaijan: European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 22–26 May 2012.
  25. "Results of the Semi-Final allocation draw". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  26. "Results of the 2012 Running Order Draw!". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 20 March 2012. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  27. "Live report from the First Semi-Final dress rehearsal". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  28. "Tiny country with a big social network". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  29. Morosini, Gianmarco (18 May 2012). "Prove a ciclo continuo per il gruppo di coristi di Valentina Monetta" (in Italian). San Marino RTV (SMRTV). Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  30. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Baku 2012". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  31. "Results of the Grand Final of Baku 2012". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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