Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Eurovision Song Contest 2020 | ||||
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Country | ![]() | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Internal selection | |||
Selection date(s) | Artist: 25 November 2019 Song: 7 March 2020 | |||
Selected entrant | Victoria | |||
Selected song | "Tears Getting Sober" | |||
Selected songwriter(s) |
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Finals performance | ||||
Final result | Contest cancelled | |||
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Bulgaria originally planned participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Tears Getting Sober" written by Victoria Georgieva, Borislav Milanov, Lukas Oscar Janisch and Cornelia Wiebols, and performed by Victoria. However, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background[]
Prior to the 2020 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.[5]
Before Eurovision[]
Internal selection[]
On 25 November 2019, BNT announced that the broadcaster had internally selected Victoria to represent Bulgaria in Rotterdam. Earlier on 31 October 2019, the broadcaster had announced via their official Twitter account that they would internally select the Bulgarian entry for the competition.[6] Victoria previously participated in the fourth season of X Factor Bulgaria where she ultimately placed sixth.
Victoria's song "Tears Getting Sober" was internally selected and presented on 7 March 2020 through the release of the official music video via the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[7][8] As had been the case for all Bulgarian entries from 2016 onwards, the song was written by members of the songwriting team Symphonix International, Borislav Milanov, Lukas Oscar Janisch, Cornelia Wiebols, as well as Victoria herself.
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 28 January 2020, 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 second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[9] However, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
References[]
- ^ "Bulgaria Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (10 October 2014). "Bulgaria: BNT will not participate in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
- ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (19 December 2014). "Bulgaria: BNT will not participate in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Bulgaria's artist reveal set for November 25…suggesting plans are well underway". Wiwibloggs. 31 October 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
- ^ "Bulgaria: Victoria releases Eurovision 2020 entry "Tears Getting Sober"". Wiwibloggs. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ "VICTORIA's 'Tears Getting Sober' released". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Groot, Evert (28 January 2020). "Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
External links[]
- Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
- Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020
- 2020 in Bulgarian television