BNT, the Bulgarian national broadcaster, has extended the deadline for submissions for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 until December 29. This is to allow adjustments to be made to some last minute entries. New submissions may also be sent in during this time.
A total of 147 songs have considered by BNT so far. 11 projects have been submitted by eight prodcuers. Of these 11 projects, three are required to send additional information. Four teams involved are joint Bulgarian and international teams. Two international artists are involved in the selection. All of the submitted songs contain solely English lyrics. BNT expects these figures to rise by the December 29 deadline.
BNT have also released their provisional Eurovision selection deadline. The song and artist are expected to be chosen by January 31 and be revealed on March 12. These dates may change in the coming months.
Bulgaria debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 and has gone on to compete in a further eleven editions of the contest. Before their return to the competition in 2016, Bulgaria had only once managed to reach the final. In 2007 Elitsa & Stoyan finished 5th in the final with the song “Water”. Bulgaria continued to compete in the contest until 2013, when the broadcaster withdrew due to financial issues.
Since their return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016, BNT has opted for internal selections focusing on artists and producers able to partially fund their participation in the contest. This saw Bulgaria qualify for the final in both 2016 and 2017. With Kristian Kostov finishing second this year in Kyiv with the song “Beautiful Mess”. Kristian returned to Bulgaria as a hero and was widely praised for bringing Bulgaria their best result ever.
Source: BNT
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
At the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, 17-year-old Kristian Kostov finished in second place in the Grand Final, bringing Bulgaria their best ever result. 2017 saw Bulgaria make only their third final in their Eurovision history, the first being in 2007 when Elitsa & Stoyan finished 5th with the song “Water”. Bulgaria debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2005. The country competed annually from 2005 to 2013, before withdrawing for two years due to financial issues.
