• Date: Saturday 26th May 2012
• Time: 6pm
• Place: 34/3 Dalkeith Road

Rules:

1) Each person must choose a country to represent before the date of the contest. Once a country is selected, it must be marked on the wiki. Only one person per country and only one country per person. The semi-finals are on 22nd and 24th May (as in previous years we'll try and do some CoverItLive action for those!) so all countries should be chosen, at the very latest, by 25th May please.

2) You must bring a dish to exemplify this country's cuisine. Remember, you are representing your country to the rest of Europe, so choose (and cook) well.

3) If able, you should build a wiki page for your country. If you are not able to build a page, let us know when you have chosen a country and we will mark it for you on the wiki. Build well and build often because there will be a prize for the best wiki page as judged by the hosts and in 2011 there were some seriously bad ass pages! 

Choosing a country is serious business so we want to do all we can to help: 

There are several ways one can go about choosing a country:

• One could choose a country with which they have a natural affinity through birth, a family member or a really fabulous holiday. This could be risky if one is looking to win but it does mean that you will be a convincing supporter.
• One could choose a country because one likes the food. This is also a risky option but it does mean that you are guaranteed a good dinner.
• One could choose a country based on past performance. Once again, this could be a risky option.  Past performance is no indicator of future performance. Eurovision performance could go down as well as up. Possibly the new BBC interactive Eurovision history website will help!
  
• One could choose a country based on the video. However, the video may not be a fair representation of the performance on the night. One can never predict what a well placed firework display or a prosthetic head can do for a performer.
• One could choose a country based on the novelty of the act/performer. Although that would mean you may be stuck with Jedward.
  
• One could choose a country based on the sexual allure of the performer. Again, not necessarily a safe bet but in these phone voting days, it does hold sway.
• One could choose a country based on the song (novel!) This might be the safest choice if you are a fan of Europop and particular, based on this year's titles, retro eurovision lyric-free kitsch. Glitch hop fans (or, indeed anyone with musical taste) should avoid this option. 
  

When you are ready to choose a country, mark your choice here.