This year's Eurovision Song Contest drew to a close on Saturday in a televised final which attracted around 120 million viewers worldwide. But while some media reported lagging interest in the 54-year-old competition and concerns about spiraling costs in recent years, countries such as those in the former Eastern bloc continue to take it seriously. Indeed, when it comes to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, some would argue that each takes it far too seriously. In 2008, Russia and Georgia came to blows over the latter's entry while Armenia and Azerbaijan eagerly embroiled themselves into their own scandal during and after the competition the same year. Such bickering is increasingly noticed outside of the region as @SarcasmCupcakes sarcastically pointed out on Twitter. Of course, with Armenia and Azerbaijan still locked into a bitter dispute over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, nothing could be further from the truth, although the competition had been held in a much better spirit than in previous years. Despite that, however, at least one minor spat between Armenia and Azerbaijan did reportedly occur. Nevertheless, all three countries were remarkably restrained. The situation did became a little more tense closer to the final when, after leading in the betting stakes, Azerbaijan was reported to be facing competition from estranged neighbor Armenia. “Maybe bookmakers made fun of Armenia and Azerbaijan because only we could bet mad money on [Eurovision] because of stupid nationality?” wrote one young journalist from Azerbaijan on his Facebook page. But aside from the politics, why do countries such as those in the South Caucasus take the competition so seriously? Scary Azeri explains why in a post just as relevant for Armenia and Georgia as it is for her native Azerbaijan. Eurovision is crap. It is the cheesiest show that currently exists in this world. […] To me, the answer is obvious. The countries that take Eurovision seriously simply have no good pop music. They are hopelessly behind, and will never catch up, unless they stop investing national funds into crap. […] Or is it because, for countries like Azerbaijan, Eurovision is the only chance to feel like a part of the world’s pop culture? Judging from most commentary on the competition, many would agree. Just as Twitter and blogs were full of commentary in support of the acts from the region, there were many more that instead ridiculed them. Some, such as FQI CUI, also equated the number of votes to the acts from Armenia and Azerbaijan more on the basis of female eye candy rather than actual musical merit. Azerbaijan surprised me. I suspect that Safura appealed to voters who were erm… more visual. The same for Armenia’s Eva Rivas (if that push-up bra were any higher, we would have had a free show when she was erm… bouncing across the Eurovision stage) though her voice was better than Safura’s IMHO. The Armenian song choice (“Apricot Stone”), while reflecting their cultural heritage was just all over the place lyrically. Kitschy to the max. Azerbaijan at number 5 and Armenia at number 7. Was nice to see the Georgian entry (Sofia Nizharadze with “Shine”) crack the top 10 at number 9 […]. Sofia has a huuuuuge voice that was pretty much on fire for most of the track. She’s a pretty lass too. Glass Candle Grenades was more scathing, critical and unashamedly politically incorrect. In case you hadn't realised this is ‘Drip Drop’ by Safura, who is from Azerbaijan, the lucky girl. Once you get past the fact that she is some kind of unholy foreign amalgamation of Miley Cyrus and Holly Valance, you start to notice the fantastically choreographed dance moves. You don't? But they were arranged by Beyonce's Choreogropher! The one that did that horrible video that Kanye West loved so much! Apprently in Azerbaijan they need a choreogropher to help a confused woman down the stairs. Maybe he just sorted out the twirling gay bloke that appears later in the song. I don't know and I don't really care. The song was boring, and so was Safura. Next! […] After that downer anything would sound good, right? Wrong. What we have here is a 78 year old Armenian man blowing a pipe and a woman who looks like she has blown her miniscule budget on plastic surgery to look like a down syndrome Angelina Jolie. She is singing about an Apricot Stone. I noticed that the really foreign sounding women are never as amusing as the men, even when singing about the inedible parts of fruit. This song managed to be both boring and baffling, whch is no mean feat. and I'm pretty sure the only reason it recieved any votes at all was because of her cleavage. That's cheating down syndrome Angelina Jolie! Others such as Watch with Mothers, however, were a little more forgiving and good spirited.