Bulgaria is set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, which will be held in Vienna, Austria, returning after a three-year absence. The Bulgarian participating broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), is organising Natsionalnata selektsiya in order to select its entry for the contest.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, BNT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster has used various methods to select its entry in the past, including the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya” between 2005 and 2013 (used only to select the song in 2010 and 2013, with the artists internally selected), as well as full internal selections between 2016 and 2018, in 2021 and 2022.[2] Bulgaria did not participate in the contest in 2014, 2015, 2019, and between 2023 and 2025; its most recent absence was originally motivated by financial constraints.[3] On 31 October 2025, BNT announced it would return to the contest in 2026.[4] The following day, Fakti.bg[bg] reported that the broadcaster would have organized a national final to select its entry for the contest;[5] the organization of a national final was confirmed on 18 November 2025, but it was not specified whether it would concern only the artist or both the artist and the song.[6]
Before Eurovision
Natsionalnata selektsiya
Natsionalnata selektsiya (Националната селекция) is the national final format developed by BNT in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The event will take place at BNT Studio 1 in Sofia, with two dates set for 31 January and 28 February 2026, to determine the artist and song respectively.[6] The show will be broadcast on BNT 1, and is set to be hosted by Georgi Lyubenov[bg] and Boryana Gramatikova[bg], with Vladimira Ilieva serving as backstage host.[7]
Competing artists
On 18 November 2025, BNT signed an agreement with Prophon to jointly select the competing artists for the national final, with acts invited based on data provided by Prophon on the Top 40 ranking of the most played artists on digital platforms in Bulgaria over the preceding eight months.[6] The 15 competing acts were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of BNT and Prophon, and announced on 30 December 2025.[8]
The first show took place on 24 January 2026. All fifteen artists performed one of their own previous song, and the results was decided by five jurors ranking songs from 1 to 5 points, with the jury consisting of Milen Mitev[bg], Vasil Petrov[bg], Toni Dimitrova[bg], Rushi Vidinliev[bg] and Petar Dundakov.[9]. The audience was able to cast a vote via BNT's website, with the favorite from the online vote getting 15 points and so on until the least favorite contestant receiving 1.[8] Initially, seven performers were supposed to proceed on to the next round, but due to a tie between Roksana and Innerglow, both acts advanced to the final stage.
The second show, which will decide the Bulgarian representative, will take place on 31 January 2026. All eight artists will perform one of their own previous song, and the results will be decided by five jurors ranking song's from 1-5 points. The audience will be able to cast a vote via BNT's website, the favorite from the online vote will get 8 points and so on until the least favorite which will receive 1.
After the votes are combined, the act with the most points earns the right to represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.[8]
The song selection, also referred to as "show three", will take place on 28 February 2026. The competition will consist of three songs, out of which the winner will be determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote (the latter will decide the winning song in case of a tie). The jury–composed of the two juries that judged the two previous rounds–will award a set of points from three to one, which was based on each member's individual set of votes from five to zero. The televote will be rendered down using the same scores.[8]
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