If the rise of the east is the story of this year's Eurovision, the charge is being led by the delegation from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which is participating in the contest for the first time in 2007 - and whose act, Visionary Dream, performed by the beautiful, Björk-esque vocalist Sopho and a backing team of dancing swordsmen, advanced to the final on Thursday night.
Sopho's success is doubtless due in some part to the extraordinary marketing efforts of the Georgian team, which has included the giveaway of a free bottle of Georgian wine to anyone who agreed to wear a "Vote Sopho" T-shirt; a stonking welcome party for all contest comers, including a performance by a folk ballet and mountains of gourmet Georgian cuisine; and a very hands-on press campaign by the delegation's seven-strong PR team.
Given the effectiveness and dynamism of the Georgian effort, it comes as something of a shock to discover that it has been executed not by representatives of their national broadcaster, but by a private Ukrainian company, CFC Consulting, which also handled the promotion of Ruslana's historic win for Ukraine in 2004.
As Vasyl Miroshnichenko, a senior account manager with CFC, tells it, it was his company that convinced Ukraine to enter Eurovision for the first time in 2003, and then co-ordinated every aspect of Ruslana's rise to fame through to Ukraine's hosting of the 2005 contest. "All of us were concerned with a negative image of Ukraine internationally, and we believed that competing in Eurovision could bring positive benefits for the country's image. We were motivated by patriotism and concerns about Ukrainian identity." Despite the ongoing political turmoil, widespread corruption, and low overall standards of living in Ukraine, Miroshnichenko argues that winning Eurovision has been a positive thing for the country, in terms of tourism, image-building, and increased incentives for foreign trade.
His company came to its latest gig when a colleague from Ruslana's management team met the president of Georgia and convinced him (without much argument, apparently) that Eurovision could help his country raise its profile in Europe and beyond.
That the Georgian effort is being supported at the highest levels of state power was rather startlingly affirmed on Thursday night when Sopho revealed that the country's minister of culture and the president's wife had phoned with congratulations immediately after the announcement of her semi-final advancement.
While switching allegiances between countries might seem to an outside eye cynical, Miroshnichenko admits to no conflict of interest: "We're not saying that there is a recipe to win Eurovision, but I will say that those countries that have a great marketing team will have a better chance. Eurovision is all about the product; without a great product, it's impossible to win, no matter how good the promotion." He believes Georgia will have a top-10 result tonight, and seems torn between pride and envy that Ukraine's Verka Serduchka is tipped to win the contest overall - without the aid of a CFC marketing campaign.