Events
- 23 March - Ulf Nilsson wins the first season of The Voice Sverige .
- 26 May - Sweden wins the 57th Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. The winning song is "Euphoria", performed by Loreen.
- 1 June - Footballer Anton Hysén and his partner Sigrid Bernson win the seventh season of Let's Dance .
- 3 June - Hanna Johansson wins the sixth season of Big Brother.
- 9 September - Launch of the Swedish version of The X Factor .
- 7 December - Awa Santesson-Sey wins the first season of X Factor .
The Voice Sverige was the Swedish version of the singing competition The Voice of Holland. The Voice Sweden premiered in early January 2012 with its first season. The host was Carina Berg and judges were the singers Carola Häggkvist, Magnus Uggla, Ola Salo and rapper Petter. In January 2013, TV4 announced that Idol, another singing talent show seeking to discover the best singer through nationwide auditions, would return in 2013 and that The Voice Sverige would not continue.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following Ell & Nikki's win at the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany with the song "Running Scared" — marking the first time that the country had won the contest. The contest was held at the newly constructed Baku Crystal Hall, with semi-finals held on 22 and 24 May 2012, followed by the final held on 26 May 2012. Forty-two countries competed in the contest — one less than the record number of 43 set at the previous contest, with Montenegro returning for the first time since 2009, and the withdrawal of Armenia due to security concerns in relation to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan, and Poland due to financial concerns.
Baku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located 28 metres (92 ft) below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world located below sea level. Baku lies on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, alongside the Bay of Baku. At the beginning of 2009, Baku's urban population was estimated at just over two million people. Officially, about 25 percent of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku's metropolitan area. Baku is the sole metropolis in Azerbaijan.
