It's a phenomenon Americans may not be familiar or indeed comfortable with:contestants from 24 countries across Europe singing their hearts out and awarded points from (often)neighbouring countries in the hope that they can use the show as a platform to success as ABBA did when catapulted to international stardom with their hit "Waterloo" in 1974. However there were allegations in recent years of buying votes from juries(they changed to a 50:50 split jury and televote some years back after neighbourly voting allegations but I digress)which has brought forth more transparency among jurors for the 2014 contest in Copenhagen,which you can read about here.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/eurovision-song-contest-changes-rules-634545

It doesn't augur well for a politically united Europe when we get miffed at what is at the end of the day supposed to be a piece of light entertainment,started in the post-war years as a cultural celebration of diverse musical tastes. However as pop superstar Celine Dion discovered as a gawky teenager in 1988 it doesn't always work out that way. You can find out what moved her to tears here:http://youtu.be/BVteog9vFcc