Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Equinox were internally selected by the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on 12 March 2018 to perform the song “Bones” that represented the nation at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Bulgaria
National selection
Selection processInternal Selection
Selection date(s)12 March 2018
Selected entrantEquinox
Selected song"Bones"
Selected songwriter(s)Borislav Milanov
Joacim Bo Persson
Trey Campbell
Dag Lundberg
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (7th, 177 points)
Final result14th, 166 points
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2020►

Background
Main article: Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2018 contest, Bulgaria had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its first entry in 2005.[1] The nation achieved their best result in the contest in 2017 with the song "Beautiful Mess" performed by Kristian Kostov, which placed second. To this point, together with their 2007 and 2016 entries it is the only Bulgarian entry to have qualified to the Eurovision final; the nation had failed to qualify to the final with their other eight entries.

The Bulgarian national broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), broadcasts the event within Bulgaria and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. In the past, BNT had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Bulgarian entry. After consistently being present for every contest since their debut in 2005, the Bulgarian broadcaster announced in November 2013 that the country would not participate in the 2014 contest citing an expensive participation fee and limited funds due to budget cuts as reasons for their decision.[2] Limited finances also prevented the broadcaster from returning in 2015.[3][4] After a two-year absence, BNT confirmed Bulgaria's return at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.[5]

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

BNT organised an internal selection process in order to select Bulgaria's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The selected entry was announced on 12 March 2018.[6]

Competing songs

Producers, artists and songwriters were able to submit their entries from 14 November 2017 to 29 December 2017.[6] BNT received a record number of 202 songs, and BNT determined there were thirteen "workable projects". On 30 December 2017, BNT revealed the song titles of the thirteen projects that would compete to be selected:[7]

  • "A New Home"
  • "Bad News"
  • "Bones"
  • "Choosing"
  • "Cold as Ice"
  • "Collide"
  • "Colours"
  • "Love Never Lies"
  • "Lovers to Enemies"
  • "Rebirth"
  • "Sky Symphony"
  • "Two Hearts Collide"
  • "You Will be the Change"

The thirteen songs were evaluated by various focus voting groups.[7] After receiving the feedback and results from the focus groups, the number of competing projects was shortlisted to three on 18 January 2018. The winner was set to be determined by 31 January 2018, though the official announcement was made on 12 March 2018.[8]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Bulgaria was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[9]

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Bulgaria was set to perform in position 10, following the entry from Estonia and preceding the entry from Macedonia.[10]

Semi-final

Bulgaria performed tenth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Estonia and preceding the entry from Macedonia, closing the first half of the show. At the end of the night, Bulgaria was one of the ten countries announced as qualifying for the grand final, making it their fourth qualification overall and their third in a row since returning to the contest in 2016. Following the semi-final, Equinox participated in a press conference with the other qualifying countries, during which they drew to see in which half of the final they would participate. Bulgaria was drawn to participate in the second half of the final. It was later revealed that Bulgaria placed seventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 177 points: 70 points from the televoting and 107 points from the juries.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Bulgaria
Points awarded to Bulgaria (semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Points awarded to Bulgaria (final)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Bulgarian jury: [11]

  • Maya Raykova – Chairperson – music producer
  • Aleksey Vasilev – music editor, music programming expert
  • Maria Mutafchieva– singer, songwriter
  • Lora Kozeva – radio host
  • Kalin Veliov – musician, producer, composer, singer
Split voting results from Bulgaria (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
A. Vasilev M. Mutafchieva L. Kozeva M. Raykova K. Veliov Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Azerbaijan1468781113
02 Iceland18181318161818
03 Albania12117525615
04 Belgium9223111216
05 Czech Republic685234783
06 Lithuania10431421014
07 Israel4104676547
08 Belarus851112101292
09 Estonia11161017181674
10 Bulgaria
11 Macedonia13131414111565
12 Croatia514115127417
13 Austria336463838
14 Greece171516161417210
15 Finland2177917101101
16 Armenia7791059256
17  Switzerland16111211131312
18 Ireland1512188151411
19 Cyprus191513983112
Split voting results from Bulgaria (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
A. Vasilev M. Mutafchieva L. Kozeva M. Raykova K. Veliov Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Ukraine17198131514101
02 Spain1321912121322
03 Slovenia8161324171525
04 Lithuania14311621019
05 Austria9222111274
06 Estonia18202321212592
07 Norway1213116101115
08 Portugal22221415162224
09 United Kingdom2323716191623
10 Serbia20111922181947
11 Germany743395611
12 Albania1614934713
13 France17121056517
14 Czech Republic355523883
15 Denmark24152218202314
16 Australia11182119252118
17 Finland10172011221716
18 Bulgaria
19 Moldova15102423141838
20 Sweden41418879220
21 Hungary2592525232065
22 Israel68107474210
23 Netherlands5121714111212
24 Ireland2124641310121
25 Cyprus261617883112
26 Italy19251520242456

Points awarded by Bulgaria

References
  1. "Bulgaria Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  2. Fisher, Luke (22 November 2013). "Bulgaria: BNT not entering in 2014". escXtra.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  3. Jiandani, Sanjay (10 October 2014). "Bulgaria: BNT will not participate in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  4. Jiandani, Sanjay (19 December 2014). "Bulgaria: BNT will not participate in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  5. "България ще участва на Евровизия 2016 в Стокхолм". bnt.bg (in Bulgarian). BNT. 26 November 2015. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  6. Weaver, Jessica (21 December 2017). "Bulgaria: Submission deadline extended; song revelation on 12 March". ESCtoday. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  7. Gallagher, Robyn (30 December 2017). "BULGARIA: BNT REVEALS NAMES OF 13 COMPETING SONGS IN INTERNAL SELECTION". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  8. Weaver, Jessica (18 January 2018). "Bulgaria: Three projects still in the race for Eurovision 2018". ESCtoday. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  9. Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  10. "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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