The South Caucasus can heave a collective sigh of relief. Singing talents from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia all have made it to the final of Eurovision, Europe’s annual pop-glitz fest.
The three countries' singing beauties and their saccharine-heavy songs breezed through the semi-final of this pop music Super Bowl, where voting for participants tends to reflect the continent’s geopolitical fault lines.
British bookmakers predict that Azerbaijan’s Safura will win the contest with her "Drip Drop" song, while Google’s I-Predictor gadget gave Georgia’s Sofo Nizharadze with "Shine" a respectable fifth-place finish.
Armenia’s Eva Rivas, who cried a lot until she got apricots, is seen to be trailing behind her regional competitors.
Last year, Georgia was disqualified for taking a swipe at Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in its contestants' "We Don’t Wanna Put In" disco song.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.