Happy New Year! [Review of 2012]

So 2012 has come to a close. As we begin 2013, we thought it would a good idea to pause and take stock of all that happened in 2012!

2012 was a big year for sport. Spain made footballing history by becoming the first side to win three consecutive major football tournaments, Chelsea defied the odds to win the Champions League after defeating Bayern Munich in their home stadium and of course there was the major success that was the London Olympic and Paralympic games.

Baumgartner also won the daredevil of the year award for freefalling a staggering 24 miles from the edge of space.

It wasn’t a good year for art though with Cecilia Gimenez making a right mess of a Fresco restoration

 though it proved great fun for internet pranksters who began photoshopping the “fiasco” onto other famous pieces of art. Neither was 2012 a good year for Mayan calendar-makers when the end of the world didn’t happen (which is just as well otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this now!)

Politics in 2012 proved to be very sobering. Barack Obama got re-elected after a very close campaign, François Hollande defeated Nicolas Sarkozy in the French presidential elections and Pussy Riot got locked up for protesting in Moscow’s main cathedral against Vladimir Putin. The Arab Spring still simmers throughout the Middle East, in some places peacefully, in others violently. Conflict between Israel and the Palestinians flared up again but Burma has finally opened up to the world, with Aung San Suu Kyi free from house arrest and aiding the transition of Burma to democracy. Meanwhile in Europe, the Greece and the Eurozone more broadly is still under the grip of the financial crisis and a way out of the crisis is still to be found as we go into 2013.

2012 was also a bad year for Britain’s media – The Jimmy Saville affair has left the BBC reeling and the press is facing potential regulation from state in the aftermath of the phone-tapping scandal.

2012 was not all doom and gloom though. YouTube, once again, proved to be the platform for talent around the world to receive global attention. As mentioned in a previous blog entry, a certain K-Pop song got VERY big. We’re still surprised at how successful Gangnam Style became, especially considering still only been around for about 5 months. It has racked up almost 1.1 billion views on YouTube (making it the most seen video on the site ever) and began to be played on radio, on TV, in clubs, even sung (even if we just sing general nonsense followed by a very loud “HEEEEEEEY SEXY LADY”).

Nick Clegg also became an unlikely internet hit after internet pranksters remixed his apology message for not sticking to his promise on tuition fees.

It was also a great year for film. 2012 was the year of Skyfall, arguably the best James Bond film to date, and The Dark Knight Rises, arguably the best Batman film to date.

And last, but definitely not least, who can forget the Queen’s triumphant jubilee marking 60 years of the Queen’s reign.

What are your highlights from 2012? Let us know!