Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Bulgaria will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, having internally selected Victoria as their representative. 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: TBD
Selected entrantVictoria
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2020 • 2021

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 Victoria had been internally selected to represent Bulgaria in Rotterdam.[7]

On 29 January 2021, the Bulgarian delegation announced that Victoria will release an EP with five songs, including her previous single "Ugly Cry." One of the songs from this EP will be selected to represent Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021.[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. For the 2021 contest, the semi-final allocation draw held for 2020 which was held on 28 January 2020, will be used for 2021 contest. Bulgaria was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 20 May 2021, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[9]

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 2021-02-04.
  9. 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.
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