"Insert Country Here, Douze Points!" is said by the presenter when a country gives 12 points to another. 12 points has been the maximum number of points one country could give since 1975, and it has stuck since Luxembourg was given the first 12 points by the Netherlands.
From 1975 to 1979, the scores were read in the order of performance of the receiving countries. From 1980 to 2005, it was changed so that the points were read in ascending numerical order to increase the excitement for the audience and media as to who would get the 12 points.
Procedure[]
As of 2006, when the EBU decided to allocate points 1-7 automatically to save time, the spokesperson for the voting country would say points 8, 10, 12 themselves, with the host/s repeating them in French, the contest's second official language, or in the official language of the hosting country. French spokespersons usually say the points in French anyway, but are still repeated:
- Spokesperson: "Eight points go to Estonia!"
- Host/s: "L'Estonie! Huit points."
- Spokesperson: "Ten points go to France!"
- Host/s: "La France! Dix points!"
- Spokesperson: "And Twelve points go to ... ... Sweden!"
- Host/s: "La Suède! Douze points!"
Upon giving 12 points and after the scoreboard updates, the cameramen that are situated in the Green Room would go over to the delegation that received 12 points, and what is usually seen is the delegation celebrating, acting silly for the camera or just sitting and smiling if numerous 12 points are given. For television viewers, a graphic would come up saying something along the lines of:
- "
Ireland gets 12 points from the United Kingdom"
With the introduction of the new scoring system in 2016, only the jury points are announced as per usual. The scores 1 through 10 points are shown on screen, with the spokesperson only announcing who got the top score of 12 points. The graphic would then say for example:
- "
France gets 12 points from the Armenian jury" (2016) - "
United Kingdom gets 12 points from Azerbaijan" (2022) - "12
Sweden from Ukraine" (2023) - " Switzerland 12 points from Sweden" (2024)
Trivia[]
- 12points.tv is the name of a news and blogging website on Eurovision.
- Douze Points is a well-used catchphrase among many fans today.
- In an unsuccessful first tiebreaker round, if two delegations have been voted by the same number of countries, the countback method starts with 12 points and goes down to 1.
- The giving of 12 points also reveals jury corruption, voting diaspora and many other relative things to do with voting situations.
- The highest amount of 12-point scores per vote format are as follows:
- Jury (2016-present): 22 (Switzerland 2024)
- Televote (2016-present): 28 (Ukraine 2022)
- 2009-2015 combined format: 18 (Sweden 2012)
- The 2014 hosts performed a tribute song to 12 points during the final, as seen in the video below (which included verses pertaining to Pilou's love of China, a running gag during the actual show itself).
- Australia became the first country outside the European Broadcasting Area to receive 12 points in its first participation in 2015. It received 2 sets of top scores - one from Sweden and the other from host country Austria.
- "Douze Points" was not heard during the 2023 contest.
