I'm not sure how one would judge the finals of a contest like that. How does one decide if one singer is better than another, if they're both equally gifted vocally?

It's a song contest, not a singers' contest. The singer's job is to present the song in the best way so that it can be judged against other songs.



There are groups of countries which give the high scores to each other:

ex-USSR
ex-yugoslavia
scandinavia

Neighbouring countries, especially those brought up within an imposed political structure, are likely to have similar cultures. So it is hardly surprising if they have similar musical tastes.

DC