Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Country	Bulgaria
National selection
Selection process	Bylgarskata pesen za Evroviziya 2012
Selection date(s)	Semi-final: 14 January 2012 Final: 29 February 2012
Selected entrant	Sofi Marinova
Selected song	"Love Unlimited"
Selected songwriter(s)	Yasen Kozev Krum Georgiev Doni Vasileva
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (11th)
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2011 • 2012 • 2013►

Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Bulgarian entry was selected through a national final, organised by the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT). Sofi Marinova represented Bulgaria with the song "Love Unlimited", which failed to qualify from the second semi-final, achieving 11th place with 45 points.^[1][2]

Before Eurovision[]

Bylgarskata pesen za Evroviziya 2012[]

Bylgarskata pesen za Evroviziya 2012 was the national final format developed by BNT in order to select Bulgaria's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The competition consisted of a semi-final and a final on 14 January and 29 February 2012, respectively. Both shows were hosted by Milenita, Alexander Sano and Dragomir Draganov and broadcast on BNT 1 and BNT World as well as online via the broadcaster's website bnt.bg.^[3] The final was also streamed online at the Eurovision Song Contest official website eurovision.tv.^[4]

Format[]

The competition consisted of a semi-final and a final. Twenty-two songs competed in the semi-final on 14 January 2012 and twelve were selected to qualify to the final on 29 February 2012. The entries placed first by a jury committee titled Academy and a public vote automatically advanced, while the other ten were selected by the 50/50 combination of Academy and public voting from the remaining twenty entries. The Academy was made up of between 20 and 35 composers, poets, producers, performers, music educators and members of the media, advertising agencies and professional organizations. In the final, the winner was determined by the 50/50 combination of votes from the public vote and the Academy. Viewers were able to vote via SMS.

Competing entries[]

BNT opened a submission period for artists and songwriters to submit their entries from 25 August 2011 to 11 November 2011.^[5][6] Songs were required to be Bulgarian national product and each artist and songwriter was only able to submit up to three entries.^[7] The broadcaster received 64 submissions by the end of the deadline. The Academy reviewed the received submissions and selected 33 entries to proceed to the audition round.^[8] The live audition round took place on 23 and 24 November 2011 at the BNT studios where the Academy selected twenty-two songs to advance to the national final.^[9] "Ima li pŭt" performed by Ivaylo Kolev was later withdrawn from the competition and replaced with "You Are the World" performed by Bee in the Bonnet.

Semi-final[]

The semi-final took place on 14 January 2012 at the BNT studios in Sofia. Twenty-two entries competed and twelve qualified to the final. The entries placed first by the Academy and the public vote automatically advanced. An additional ten qualifiers were selected from the remaining twenty entries by the 50/50 combination of votes awarded by the public vote and the Academy.^[10] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, Gravity Co., StringS quartet and the "Diva" Ballet Group performed as guests.

Final[]

The final took place on 29 February 2012 at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. The twelve qualifiers from the semi-final competed and the winner, "Love Unlimited" performed by Sofi Marinova, was determined by the 50/50 combination of votes awarded by public voting and the Academy.^[11] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, TE, Grafa, Nely Rangelova, Vassil Naydenov, 2007 Bulgarian Eurovision entrants Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankulov, 2012 Cypriot Eurovision entrant Ivi Adamou, 2012 Danish Eurovision entrant Soluna Samay, 2012 French Eurovision entrant Anggun and 2012 Maltese Eurovision entrant Kurt Calleja performed as guests.^[4]

At Eurovision[]

Bulgaria competed in the first half of the second semi-final (8th on stage), on 24 May 2012, following Ukraine and preceding the Slovenia. Bulgaria received 45 points and placed 11th, thus failing to qualify for the final on 26 May.^[12] Bulgaria tied for 10th place with Norway, however, under tiebreak rules, the number of countries that voted for Norway (11) was higher than the number for Bulgaria (10). This resulted in Norway qualifying to the final over Bulgaria. The public awarded Bulgaria 9th place with 59 points and the jury awarded 17th place with 27 points.^[13]

Voting[]

Points awarded to Bulgaria[]

Points awarded to Bulgaria (Semi-final 2)^[14]

Score	Country
12 points
10 points	Turkey
8 points
7 points
6 points	Macedonia  Norway  Portugal
5 points	United Kingdom
4 points
3 points	Bosnia and Herzegovina  France
2 points	Germany  Malta  Serbia
1 point

Points awarded by Bulgaria[]

Points awarded by Bulgaria (Semi-final 2)[14] Score Country 12 points  Serbia 10 points  Sweden 8 points  Turkey 7 points  Macedonia 6 points  Malta 5 points  Ukraine 4 points  Lithuania 3 points  Estonia 2 points  Norway 1 point  Bosnia and Herzegovina

Points awarded by Bulgaria (Final)[15] Score Country 12 points  Serbia 10 points  Azerbaijan 8 points  Sweden 7 points  Turkey 6 points  Russia 5 points  Lithuania 4 points  Albania 3 points  Spain 2 points  Macedonia 1 point  Greece

References[]