Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, having internally selected Victoria Georgieva as their representative with the song "Growing Up Is Getting Old". She was due to compete in the 2020 contest with "Tears Getting Sober" before the event's cancellation.

Eurovision Song Contest 2021
Country Bulgaria
National selection
Selection processInternal selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 21 March 2020
Song: 10 March 2021
Selected entrantVictoria
Selected song"Growing Up Is Getting Old"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (3rd, 250 points)
Final result11th, 170 points
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2020 • 2021 • 2022►

Background
Main article: Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2021 contest, Bulgaria had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twelve 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, four Bulgarian entry 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 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, managing to qualify for the final from 2016 to 2018.[5] In 2019, Bulgaria once again did not participate in the contest due to limited finances.[6]

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 21 March 2020, BNT announced that the broadcaster had once again internally selected Victoria to represent Bulgaria in Rotterdam.[7] On 29 January 2021, the broadcaster announced that Victoria's song would be internally selected from her recently released five-song EP A Little Dramatic and her most recent single "Ugly Cry".[8] On 20 February 2021, BNT launched an online platform for the public to evaluate the six songs and provide consultation on which song should be selected. The songs were also evaluated by various focus groups that featured music, television, radio and international Eurovision experts.[9]

"Growing Up Is Getting Old" was announced as the selected song on 10 March 2021 during a special concert, broadcast on BNT 1 as well as online via YouTube and the broadcaster's Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.icard.com.[10] In addition to the announcement of the song, singers Alex Raeva, Azis, Dara, Grafa, Lucy Diakovska, Mihaela Fileva, Venci Venc' performed as guests.[11]

Key:   Winner   Shortlisted act(s)

Song Songwriter(s) Result
"Dive into Unknown" Victoria Georgieva, Lukas Oscar, Pauline Skött, Borislav Milanov, Peter St James Not selected
"Growing Up Is Getting Old" Victoria Georgieva, Maya Nalani, Helena Larsson, Oliver Björkvall Selected
"Imaginary Friend" Victoria Georgieva, Cornelia Wiebols, Irma Eriksson Wadström, Oliver Björkvall Shortlisted
"Phantom Pain" Helena Larsson, Victoria Georgieva, Oliver Björkvall Not selected
"The Funeral Song" Helena Larsson, Victoria Georgieva, Christopher Samuels, Nellie Fors, Oliver Björkvall Not selected
"Ugly Cry" Victoria Georgieva, Billen Ted, Martin Masarov Not selected

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in 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. For the 2021 contest, the semi-final allocation draw held for 2020 which was held on 28 January 2020, will be used. Bulgaria was placed into the second semi-final, which was held on 20 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[12]

Once all the competing songs for the 2021 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 13, following the entry from Portugal and preceding the entry from Finland.[13]

Bulgaria performed 17th in the grand final on 22 May 2021, following Finland and preceding Lithuania.

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 a diversity in gender and age represented. The judges assess each entry based on the performances during the second Dress Rehearsal of each show, which takes place the night before each live show, against a set of criteria including: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.[14] Jury members may only take part in panel once every three years, and are obliged to confirm that they are not connected to any of the participating acts in a way that would impact their ability to vote impartially. Jury members should also vote independently, with no discussion of their vote permitted with other jury members.[15] The exact composition of the professional jury, and the results of each country's jury and televoting were released after the grand final; the individual results from each jury member were also released in an anonymised form.[16][17]

Points awarded to Bulgaria

Points awarded by Bulgaria

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Bulgarian jury:[16][17]

  • Tedy Katzarova (jury member in semi-final 2)
  • Katya Mihaylova
  • Milka Koleva Miteva (jury member in the final)
  • Krassimir Nikolov Gyulmezov
  • Suti
  • Christina Yankova Mateeva
Detailed voting results from Bulgaria (Semi-final 2)[18]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  San Marino10127799211
02  Estonia5845447101
03  Czech Republic13410956514
04  Greece2222221038
05  Austria455665612
06  Poland6688158315
07  Moldova1111111216
08  Iceland15141616121656
09  Serbia14139101013210
10  Georgia12314141610192
11  Albania7911487474
12  Portugal3103333865
13  Bulgaria
14  Finland8161213712112
15  Latvia1671311141413
16   Switzerland11151515131547
17  Denmark911612111183
Detailed voting results from Bulgaria (Final)[19]
Draw Country Jury Televote
Juror A Juror B Juror C Juror D Juror E Average Rank Points Rank Points
01  Cyprus12221910121613
02  Albania23211514252319
03  Israel131092138314
04  Belgium3202024231221
05  Russia2291125191747
06  Malta984446520
07  Portugal1076525618
08  Serbia24242111142165
09  United Kingdom1162312211425
10  Greece2210353892
11   Switzerland7231313101383
12  Iceland16111220222011
13  Spain14329177422
14  Moldova1151611215
15  Germany15162522242416
16  Finland211578710138
17  Bulgaria
18  Lithuania1718162191917
19  Ukraine1917241781856
20  France18536147210
21  Azerbaijan20252223182574
22  Norway8131718161512
23  Netherlands412819209224
24  Italy54173210112
25  Sweden61414151111101
26  San Marino25191816152223

References
  1. "Bulgaria Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  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. "Official: Bulgaria withdraws from the Eurovision Song Contest". esc-plus. 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  7. "VICTORIA is back: Bulgaria confirms participation and singer for Eurovision 2021". Wiwibloggs. 21 March 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  8. "VICTORIA represents Bulgaria at Eurovision 2021 with song from 1st EP". eurovision.icard.com. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  9. Jumawan, Tim (18 February 2021). "VICTORIA releases "growing up is getting old", the sixth potential Eurovision 2021 song". ESCXTRA.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  10. Granger, Anthony (1 March 2021). "Bulgaria: Victoria's Eurovision 2021 Entry To Be Revealed on March 10". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  11. "Азис, DARA, Зуека, Геро и още големи звезди в концерта на Виктория за Евровизия на 10 март". life.dir.bg (in Bulgarian). 9 March 2021. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  12. Groot, Evert (17 November 2020). "2020 Semi-Final line-up to stay for 2021". eurovision.tv. Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  13. "Semi-Final running orders revealed". Eurovision.tv. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  14. "Voting–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  15. "Fairness–Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  16. "Juries in the Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  17. "Juries in the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  18. "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  19. "Results of the Grand Final of Rotterdam 2021". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
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