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)
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

On 8 November 2017, the broadcaster had announced via their official Twitter account that they would internally select the Bulgarian entry for the competition.[6] On 14 November 2017, BNT opened a submission period for songwriters and record labels to submit their entries until 29 December 2017. Songs were required to contain partial Bulgarian involvement and each songwriter and label was only able to submit one entry.[7] The broadcaster received a record breaking 202 submissions and thirteen "workable projects" by the end of the deadline. The song titles of the thirteen projects were announced on 30 December 2017.[8]

  • "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 projects were then evaluated by four focus groups that featured music and television industry experts, press representatives, Bulgarian jury members and voluntary Eurovision fans, and the winner was determined in late January 2018 from three shortlisted projects.[9][10] On 12 March 2018, BNT announced that the broadcaster had internally selected the group Equinox to represent Bulgaria in Lisbon with the song "Bones", which was presented through the release of the official lyric video via the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv. The group was formed specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest and was composed of five members: three from Bulgaria (Zhana Bergendorff, Georgi Simeonov and Vlado Mihailov) and two from the United States (Johnny Manuel and Trey Campbell).[11] As in 2016 and 2017, the song was written by members of the songwriting team Symphonics International, Borislav Milanov, Joacim Bo Persson, Trey Campbell and Dag Lundberg.

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 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.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

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 by Bulgaria

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Bulgarian jury:[17]

  • Maya Raykova (jury chairperson) – music producer
  • Aleksey Vasilev – music editor, music programming expert
  • Maria Mutafchieva (Mary) – singer, songwriter
  • Lora Kozeva – radio host
  • Kalin Veliov – musician, producer, composer, singer
Detailed voting results from Bulgaria (Semi-final 1)[15]
Draw Country Jury Televote
A. Vasilev Mary 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
Detailed voting results from Bulgaria (Final)[16]
Draw Country Jury Televote
A. Vasilev Mary 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

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. Herbert, Emily (8 November 2017). "Bulgaria: BNT To Internally Select Eurovision 2018 Entry". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  7. Weaver, Jessica (21 December 2017). "Bulgaria: Submission deadline extended; song revelation on 12 March". ESCtoday. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  8. Gallagher, Robyn (30 December 2017). "BULGARIA: BNT REVEALS NAMES OF 13 COMPETING SONGS IN INTERNAL SELECTION". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  9. "Eurovision 2018 - Equinox (Bulgaria)". ESCKAZ. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  10. Weaver, Jessica (18 January 2018). "Bulgaria: Three projects still in the race for Eurovision 2018". ESCtoday. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  11. "EQUINOX release 'Bones' for Bulgaria". eurovision.tv. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  12. 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.
  13. "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  14. "First Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  15. "Results of the First Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  16. "Results of the Grand Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  17. 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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