Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
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Participating broadcaster | Bulgarian National Television (BNT) |
Participation summary | |
Appearances | 14 (5 finals) |
First appearance | 2005 |
Last appearance | 2022 |
Highest placement | 2nd: 2017 |
External links | |
Bulgaria's page at Eurovision.tv ![]() | |
![]() Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 |
Bulgaria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 14 times since making its debut at the 2005 contest in Kyiv. The country's best result is a second-place finish with "Beautiful Mess" performed by Kristian Kostov at the 2017 contest also in Kyiv. The Bulgarian participant broadcaster in the contest is the Bulgarian National Television (BNT).
Bulgaria has failed to qualify for the final in 9 out of 14 appearances at the contest, most narrowly in 2012, when "Love Unlimited" by Sofi Marinova lost out on the 10th qualifying place from the second semi-final in a tie-break with Norway. However, on three of the five occasions that they have reached the final, they have finished in the top five: placing fifth with "Water" by Elitsa and Stoyan in 2007, fourth with "If Love Was a Crime" by Poli Genova in 2016, and second with "Beautiful Mess" by Kristian Kostov in 2017. In Bulgaria's two most recent final appearances, "Bones" by supergroup Equinox placed 14th in 2018, and "Growing Up Is Getting Old" by Victoria placed 11th in 2021.
The Bulgarian National Television (BNT) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It has participated in the contest representing Bulgaria since its 50th edition in 2005. Before becoming a member of the EBU, earlier contests had often been broadcast on BNT.
The first participant in the contest with a Bulgarian origin is Nora Nova, a jazz and a pop singer who left Bulgaria for political reasons in 1959 and later represented West Germany in 1964.
BNT had planned to debut at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1993, 1996, and 2003; the latter year the broadcaster was unable to take part after the EBU decided that too many countries would be relegated from participation in 2003 if the country took part. [1] [2] [3]
Bulgaria ultimately debuted at the contest in 2005, with the song "Lorraine" performed by the jazz-inspired band Kaffe. Receiving only 49 points, they placed 19th in the semi-final and failed to qualify to the final. They were succeeded by "Let Me Cry" by Mariana Popova, however it also failed to qualify for the final, coming 17th with 36 points in the semi-final.
Bulgaria's first qualification for the final came in 2007 with "Water" by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov. This was the first Bulgarian-language song to compete in the contest, placing 6th in the semi-final with 146 points. Todorova and Yankulov repeated their song in the final and received 157 points, placing 5th in a field of 24.
In previous years, if a country placed in the top 10 countries in the final they automatically qualified to the final of the next contest. Had this rule remained for the 2008 contest, Bulgaria would have directly qualified for the final. However, a change in rules due to the large intake of countries participating in the contest meant that only five countries, the host country and the "Big Four" countries, would automatically qualify to the final. As such, Bulgaria was obliged to compete in one of the two semi-finals of the 2008 contest.
At the 2008 contest, Bulgaria were represented by "DJ, Take Me Away" by Deep Zone and Balthazar. They, however, could not repeat Todorova and Yankulov's result and received only 56 points, placing 11th of 19 competing in the second semi-final, thereby failing to qualify Bulgaria for the final.
Bulgaria competed in the 2009 contest in Russia, with a two-phase national selection process beginning in October 2008. The winner was Krassimir Avramov with his song "Illusion". It failed to qualify for the final, coming 16th out of 18 participants in the first semi-final.
In October 2009, BNT announced that Miroslav Kostadinov would represent Bulgaria at the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway, with the song "Angel si ti". It was the first song since 2007 to be sung in Bulgarian. [4] [5] [6] [7] However, for the third consecutive year, Bulgaria's entry failed to qualify for the final, coming 15th out of 17 participants in the second semi-final.
In 2011, Bulgaria was represented by Poli Genova, and the country's entry was sung in Bulgarian for the second consecutive year. Her song was called "Na inat", and missed out on a place for the final after coming 12th in the Semi-final 2, making 2011 the fourth year in a row that Bulgaria didn't reach the final. In that year she competed with 18 more singers in the final of "EuroBGvision" (where by means of SMS voting the TV audience selects who will represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest). This was her fourth time in which she took part in the "EuroBGvision" and her first win.
Sofi Marinova represented Bulgaria in the 2012 contest in Baku with "Love Unlimited". Her song was mainly in Bulgarian, but it also contains the phrase "I love you" in 12 other languages, including Turkish, Greek, Spanish, French, and Serbian. Bulgaria's entry tied with Norway for 10th place in its semi-final; however, the tie broke in favor of Norway because it received points from more countries, making 2012 the fifth year in a row that Bulgaria didn't qualify.
In 2013, Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov were chosen through an internal selection to represent Bulgaria for a second time. Their song "Samo shampioni" placed sixth in the second semi-final's televoting results, but 17th place (last) in the jury's results. The duo placed twelfth, with 45 points, thereby failing to qualify Bulgaria for the final for the sixth consecutive year. The nation subsequently announced on 22 November 2013, that they would not be participating in the 2014 contest due to financial problems. [8]
On 15 September 2014, it was announced that Bulgaria had submitted a preliminary application to compete in the 2015 contest, [9] but the following month, it was announced that they would not be returning to the contest. [10] On 31 October 2014, it was announced that Bulgaria's participation was still undecided due to the political situation of the country. The EBU granted an extension and awaited a final decision. [11] On 18 December 2014, BNT confirmed via their official Eurovision Twitter account that they would not take part in the 2015 contest. [12]
On 15 September 2015, it was announced that BNT sent a preliminary application in order to compete in the 2016 contest, [13] and the effective participation was further confirmed on 26 November 2015. [14] Poli Genova was selected to represent Bulgaria for the second time, having previously done so in 2011. With "If Love Was a Crime", Poli performed twelfth at the second semi-final on 12 May 2016, and qualified for the final by finishing in 5th place with 220 points. In the final on 14 May 2016, she performed eighth and placed 4th with 307 points.
In 2017, Kristian Kostov represented Bulgaria with "Beautiful Mess", being the first singer at Eurovision to have been born in the 2000s decade. He placed 1st in the second semi-final, with 403 points, the best score ever in any semi-final, qualifying Bulgaria to the finals for the third time. Kristian Kostov ended up getting the best result for Bulgaria to date, finishing in 2nd place with 615 points.
In 2018, BNT selected Equinox with "Bones". The group performed tenth in the first semi-final and qualified for the final, placing 7th with 177 points. Bulgaria reached the final for the fourth time, finishing 14th with 166 points.
On 10 September 2018, it was announced that Bulgaria had submitted a preliminary application to compete in the 2019 contest, [15] but on 15 October 2018, BNT announced that they would not take part due to financial difficulties. [16]
On 30 October 2019, BNT announced that Bulgaria would return for the 2020 contest. [17] The country internally selected Victoria as its representative with "Tears Getting Sober". [18] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contest was cancelled, and Victoria was later retained as Bulgaria's representative for the 2021 contest. Her entry for 2021, "Growing Up Is Getting Old", was internally chosen from a selection of songs from her EP A Little Dramatic, [19] with input from the public and various focus groups. [20] Victoria performed thirteenth at the second semi-final and qualified for the final, placing third with 250 points, thereby achieving Bulgaria's fifth final appearance. She then went on to finish 11th with 170 points.
In 2022, BNT selected Intelligent Music Project with "Intention". The group failed to qualify for the final, finishing 16th in the first semi-final with 29 points. BNT later confirmed its absence from the 2023 contest, citing financial constraints. [21]
1 | First place |
2 | Second place |
3 | Third place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
Year | Artist | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Kaffe | "Lorraine" | English | Failed to qualify | 19 | 49 | |
2006 | Mariana Popova | "Let Me Cry" | English | 17 | 36 | ||
2007 | Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov | "Water" | Bulgarian | 5 | 157 | 6 | 146 |
2008 | Deep Zone and Balthazar | "DJ, Take Me Away" | English | Failed to qualify | 11 | 56 | |
2009 | Krassimir Avramov | "Illusion" | English | 16 | 7 | ||
2010 | Miro | " Angel si ti " (Ангел си ти) | Bulgarian, English | 15 | 19 | ||
2011 | Poli Genova | " Na inat " (На инат) | Bulgarian | 12 | 48 | ||
2012 | Sofi Marinova | "Love Unlimited" | Bulgarian | 11 | 45 | ||
2013 | Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov | " Samo shampioni " (Само шампиони) | Bulgarian | 12 | 45 | ||
2016 | Poli Genova | "If Love Was a Crime" | English | 4 | 307 | 5 | 220 |
2017 | Kristian Kostov | "Beautiful Mess" | English | 2 | 615 | 1 | 403 |
2018 | Equinox | "Bones" | English | 14 | 166 | 7 | 177 |
2020 | Victoria | "Tears Getting Sober" | English | Contest cancelled [lower-alpha 1] X | |||
2021 | Victoria | "Growing Up Is Getting Old" | English | 11 | 170 | 3 | 250 |
2022 | Intelligent Music Project | "Intention" | English | Failed to qualify | 16 | 29 |
Year | Category | Song | Composer(s) lyrics (l) / music (m) | Performer | Final result | Points | Host city | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Composer Award | "Bones" | Borislav Milanov, Trey Campbell, Joacim Persson, Dag Lundberg (m & l) | Equinox | 14 | 166 | ![]() |
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the contestants, songwriters, composers and backing vocalists, among others. [23]
Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2016–2022 | Joana Levieva-Sawyer |
Year | Head of press | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2016–2021 | Vasil Ivanov |
Year | Commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1968 | Unknown | Did not participate | [26] |
1969 – 1970 | No broadcast | ||
1971 | Unknown | ||
1972 | No broadcast | ||
1973 – 1974 | Unknown | [27] | |
1975 – 1976 | No broadcast | ||
1977 | Unknown | ||
1978 – 1980 | No broadcast | ||
1981 | Unknown | [28] | |
1982 – 1989 | No broadcast | ||
1990 – 1991 | Unknown | ||
1992 – 2004 | No broadcast | ||
2005 | Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev | Evgenia Atanasova | [29] |
2006 | Dragomir Simeonov | [30] | |
2007 | Mira Dobreva | [31] | |
2008 | Valentina Voykova | [32] | |
2009 | Yoanna Dragneva | [33] | |
2010 | Desislava Dobreva | [34] | |
2011 | Maria Ilieva | [35] | |
2012 | Anna Angelova | [36] | |
2013 | Yoanna Dragneva | [37] | |
2014 | No broadcast | Did not participate | |
2015 [lower-alpha 2] | Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev | [38] | |
2016 | Anna Angelova | [39] | |
2017 | Boryana Gramatikova | [40] | |
2018 | Yoanna Dragneva | [41] | |
2019 | No broadcast | Did not participate | |
2021 | Elena Rosberg and Petko Kralev | Yoanna Dragneva | [42] [43] [44] |
2022 | Janan Dural | [45] [46] | |
2023 – 2024 | No broadcast | Did not participate | [47] |
Bosnia and Herzegovina has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 times since making its debut in 1993, after coming second in the qualification round "Kvalifikacija za Millstreet". Prior to 1993, Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as part of Yugoslavia.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Let Me Cry" written by Dani Milev and Elina Gavrilova. The song was performed by Mariana Popova. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2006” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. 24 entries were selected to participate in the national final which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final, held on 25 February 2006 and 11 March 2006, respectively. The top twelve songs of the semi-final as determined by a fifteen-member jury panel qualified to the final. In the final, public televoting exclusively selected "Let Me Cry" performed by Mariana Popova as the winning entry with 4,700 votes.
Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 55 times since its debut at the 1964 contest. Since then it has missed five contests. The contest is broadcast in Portugal by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). Portugal won the contest for the first time in 2017 and hosted the 2018 contest in Lisbon.
Bulgaria debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Lorraine" written by Vesselin Vesselinov-Eko and Orlin Pavlov. The song was performed by the band Kaffe. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2005” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. 24 entries were selected to participate in the national final which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final, held on 22 January 2005 and 12 February 2005, respectively. The top twelve songs of the semi-final as determined by an eleven-member jury panel qualified to the final. In the final, public televoting exclusively selected "Lorraine" performed by Kaffe as the winning entry with 76,590 votes.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Water" written and performed by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2007” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland. A total of 21 entries were selected to participate in the national final which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final, held on 3 February 2007 and 24 February 2007, respectively. Eighteen entries competed in the semi-final and the top nine songs as determined by a twelve-member jury panel qualified to the final alongside three pre-qualified songs. In the final, public televoting exclusively selected "Voda" performed by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov as the winning entry with 31,376 votes. The song was later retitled for the Eurovision Song Contest as "Water".
Elitsa and Stoyan are a Bulgarian music duo consisting of singers Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov. In 2007, they were the entry for Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, finishing in fifth place with the song "Water". It remained the highest placement for Bulgaria in the contest until the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. In March 2013, the duo were selected to represent Bulgaria for a second time at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Samo shampioni", but failed to qualify for the final.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "DJ, Take Me Away" written by Dian Savov. The song was performed by the group Deep Zone and Balthazar. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2008” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia. 56 entries were selected to participate in the first phase of the national final, EuroBGvision, which consisted of three monthly selections. Fourteen entries qualified to compete in Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2008” which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final held on 26 January 2008 and 23 February 2008, respectively. Eighteen entries competed in the semi-final and the top nine songs qualified to the final alongside three pre-qualified songs. In the final, public televoting exclusively selected "DJ, Take Me Away" performed by Deep Zone and Balthazar as the winning entry with 15.37% of the votes.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Illusion" written by Krassimir Avramov, William Tabanou and Casie Tabanou. The song was performed by Avramov. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. 45 entries were selected to participate in the first phase of the national final, Bŭdi zvezda, which consisted of three monthly selections. Nine entries qualified to compete in Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009” which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final, held on 24 January 2009 and 21 February 2009, respectively. Eighteen entries competed in the semi-final and the top nine songs as determined by an eight-member jury panel qualified to the final alongside three pre-qualified songs. In the final, public televoting exclusively selected "Illusion" performed by Avramov as the winning entry with 19,553 votes.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Angel si ti" written by Miroslav Kostadinov, Mihail Mihailov and Gordon Davis. The song was performed by Miro, which is the artistic name of singer Miroslav Kostadinov. In October 2009, the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) announced that Miro had been selected to compete at the 2010 contest in Oslo, Norway. The broadcaster organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2010” in order to select the song that Miro competed with. Five songs were selected to participate in the national final, held on 28 February 2010, where "Angel si ti" emerged as the winning song with 48.05% of the public televote.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "Na inat" written by Sebastian Arman, David Bronner, Poli Genova and Borislav Milanov. The song was performed by Poli Genova. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2011” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. 19 entries were selected to participate in the national final, held on 23 February 2011, where "Na inat" performed by Poli Genova emerged as the winning entry following the combination of votes from a 55-member jury panel and a public televote.
Poli Plamenova Genova is a Bulgarian singer, songwriter, actress, and television presenter. Genova began her career in 1991, at the age of four, as a member of the Bulgarian children's ensemble Bon-Bon.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Love Unlimited" written by Yasen Kozev, Krum Georgiev and Doni Vasileva. The song was performed by Sofi Marinova. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2012” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. 22 entries were selected to participate in the national final which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final, held on 14 January 2012 and 29 February 2012, respectively. Twelve songs qualified to the final from the semi-final. In the final, "Love Unlimited" performed by Sofi Marinova emerged as the winning entry following the combination of votes from a 24-member jury panel and a public televote.
Slovakia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Don't Close Your Eyes" written and performed by Max Jason Mai, who was internally selected by the Slovak broadcaster Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska (RTVS) to represent Slovakia in the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Max Jason Mai and the song "Don't Close Your Eyes" were announced and presented to the public as the Slovak entry on 7 March 2012.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Samo shampioni" written by Elitsa Todorova and Kristian Talev. The song was performed by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov, having previously represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 where they placed fifth with the song "Water". In February 2013, the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) announced that Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov had been selected to compete at the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. The broadcaster organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2013” in order to select the song that Elitsa and Stoyan competed with. Three songs were selected to participate in the national final, held on 3 March 2013, where "Kismet" emerged as the winning song following the combination of votes from a five-member jury panel and a public televote. The song was withdrawn on 11 March 2013 after failing to secure its copyrights with its apparent songwriter Jonatan Tesei and replaced with runner-up "Samo shampioni".
Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Amanecer" written by Tony Sánchez-Ohlsson, Peter Boström and Thomas G:son. The song was performed by Edurne, who was selected by Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) to represent the nation at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. Edurne was announced as the Spanish representative on 14 January 2015, while "Amanecer" was presented to the public as the Spanish entry on 1 March 2015.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "If Love Was a Crime" written by Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Joacim Bo Persson and Poli Genova. The song was performed by Poli Genova, who had previously represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 where she failed to qualify to the final with the song "Na inat". In November 2015, the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) announced that they would be returning to the Eurovision Song Contest after a two-year absence following their withdrawal in 2014 due to financial limitations. On 19 February 2016, the broadcaster announced that Poli Genova had been selected to compete at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. The song that Genova competed with, "If Love Was a Crime", was also internally selected and was presented to the public on 21 March 2016.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Beautiful Mess" written by Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Joacim Bo Persson, Alex Omar and Alexander V. Blay. The song was performed by Kristian Kostov. On 13 March 2017, the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) announced that Kristian Kostov had been selected to compete at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The song that Kostov competed with, "Beautiful Mess", was also internally selected and was presented to the public on the same day.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Bones" written by Borislav Milanov, Joacim Bo Persson, Trey Campbell and Dag Lundberg. The song was performed by the group Equinox. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the internal selection process BG Song 2018 in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. On 12 March 2018, BNT announced that Equinox had been selected to compete with "Bones", which was presented to the public on the same day.
The Czech Republic originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Kemama" written by Osama Verse-Atile, Ben Cristóvão, Charles Sarpong and Rudy Ray. The song was performed by Benny Cristo, which is the artistic name of singer Ben Cristóvão. The Czech broadcaster Česká televize (ČT) organised the national final Eurovision Song CZ 2020 in order to select the Czech entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Seven entries competed in the national final and "Kemama" performed by Benny Cristo was announced as the winner on 3 February 2020 following the combination of votes from an eleven-member international jury panel and a public vote.
Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, having internally selected Intelligent Music Project to represent the country with the song "Intention". The band were announced to be the Bulgarian entrants to the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 on 25 November 2021, with "Intention" released on 7 December 2021.