The 2012 Rose of Tralee was the 54th edition of the annual Irish international festival, held on 20–21 August 2012 at the Festival Dome, in Tralee, County Kerry. Dáithí Ó Sé returned as host for the third time, just a matter of weeks after marrying the 2008 New Jersey Rose, Rita Talty. The Luxembourg Rose, 26-year-old Nicola McEvoy, was named as the 2012 International Rose of Tralee. Going into the show, the Dublin and Mayo Roses were tipped as the favourites to win with McEvoy not far behind them. The win for Luxembourg marked the first time they had ever won the event and they became the first European country to win the event in 10 years when Italy Rose Tamara Gervasoni became the 2002 International Rose of Tralee.
The background music for the event was composed by the Garda Síochána Orchestra.
The judges for the 2012 Rose of Tralee were; RTÉ's Mary Kennedy, Michael Kearney, CAO of The Carlton Hotel Group, Denise Murphy O'Sullivan, the 1991 Rose of Tralee, Paul Neeson, Retail Director of Dublin Airport Authority, Jan Dowling, Motivation Weight Management and Tom Curran, Kerry County manager.
Ireland and Munster rugby player Ronan O'Gara was present on the final night and presented the winning Rose with her sash and tiara. Irish band The Coronas also performed their song "Addicted to Progress" during the show.
2012 was the first year that the Denver Rose and the Tyrone Rose made it onto the televised Rose Selection.
List of Roses Regional Title Contestant Age Boston & New England Lissa Bramley 27 Chicago Margaret Rose Keating 23 Cork Brid Ryan 27 Darwin Sheila McAndrew 24 Denver Tiffany Antikainen 22 Down Una Matthews 23 Dublin Arlene O'Neill 25 Germany Bronwyn Sass 24 Kerry Ann-Marie Hayes 24 Kilkenny Aoibhin Murphy 18 London Nóra Ni Fhlannagáin 23 Louth Patricia Marmion 27 Luxembourg Nicola McEvoy 26 Mayo Dervla Kenny 26 Melbourne Claire Lynch 25 New Orleans Lisa Brady 21 New York City Annemarie Lynch 22 New Zealand Alana Marshall 25 Ottawa Avaleigh Eastman 22 Perth Lorna Gallagher 27 Philadelphia Elizabeth Spellman 27 Queensland Ciara Phelan 27 South Australia Sarah Doherty 25 Southern California Erin Kelly 23 Sunderland Talitha Orlandi 21 Sydney Sophia Fitzgerald 25 Texas Kelly Gaetano 24 Toronto Máire Dineen 23 Tyrone Catherine Sherry 19 Washington, D.C. Briana Apgar 21 Waterford Lorna Ferncombe 26 Westmeath Aisling Baker 21 A. Each Rose is accompanied by an Escort whose job it is to look after their Rose and to ensure that her time at the Festival is a memorable and enjoyable experience. Every year the Roses & the Escorts vote on who they believed was the best Escort throughout the festival, the person with the most votes is then crowned Escort of the Year.
Broadcasting The 2012 Rose of Tralee was broadcast live on RTÉ One and it was also streamed live on the RTÉ website for viewers all over the globe. The show received an audience share of 45%, the first time the audience share has dipped below 50% since 2008.
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