Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Format

The selection of the Bulgarian Eurovision entry took place over two stages. The first stage was the artist selection, which consisted of two televised shows on 24 and 31 January 2026, and involved 15 competing acts performing their own previous songs. In the first show, all 15 artists competed and eight acts were selected to advance to the second show based on the combination of votes from the public and a five-member expert jury. Each juror awarded a score from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) to each artist, while the public vote awarded a set of points from 1 (lowest) to 15 (highest). Initially, seven artists that had the highest number of points were supposed to advance, but due to a tie between two acts, both were selected to proceed. In the second show, the eight remaining artists were voted upon by the combination of the public vote and five-member expert jury in order to select the winning artist. Each juror awarded a score from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) to each artist, while the public vote awarded a set of points from 1 (lowest) to 8 (highest); the artist that had the highest number of combined points was declared the winner. The second stage was the song selection, which took place on 28 February 2026, which featured the winning artist performing three candidate songs. The winning song was selected via the 50/50 combination of votes from a public vote and a ten-member expert jury. Each juror awarded a score from 1 (lowest) to 3 (highest) to each song, and a set of points from 1 to 3 was distributed based on ranking of the combined scores. The public vote awarded an additional set of points from 1 to 3, and the song with the highest number of combined points was declared the winner. Viewers were able to cast a vote via BNT's website during all shows.^[9][10]

Competing artists

On 18 November 2025, BNT signed an agreement with Prophon to jointly select the competing artists for the national final, with acts invited based on data provided by Prophon on the Top 40 ranking of the most played artists on digital platforms in Bulgaria over the preceding eight months.^[6] The 15 competing acts were selected by a panel consisting of representatives of BNT and Prophon, and announced on 30 December 2025.^[10]

Artist selection

The artist selection stage consisted of two shows that took place on 24 and 31 January 2026. In the first show, eight artists instead of seven qualified to the second show due to a tie between Roksana and Innerglow, following the combination of votes awarded by a public vote and a five-member jury panel. In the second show, Dara was selected as the winning artist by the combination of votes awarded by the public and jury.^[11] The jury consisted of Milen Mitev [bg], Vasil Petrov [bg], Toni Dimitrova [bg], Rushi Vidinliev [bg] and Petar Dundakov in the first show, and Nina Nikolina [bg], Lubo Kirov, Bogdana Karadocheva, Krisko and Victoria Chalkitis [el] in the second show.^[12][13]

In addition to the competing artists, guest performers in the first show were former Bulgarian Eurovision entrants – Kristian Kostov (2017), Victoria Georgieva (2021) and Krisia Todorova (Junior 2014), while guest performers in the second show were Ivo Dimchev [bg], Nevena Tsoneva, Eldar Gasimov (who won Eurovision for Azerbaijan in 2011 alongside Nigar Jamal), and Alis and Aidan (who would respectively represent Albania and Malta in 2026).^[14][15]

Song selection

The song selection show took place on 28 February 2026, where the winning artist, Dara, performed three candidate songs. The winning song, "Bangaranga", was selected by the 50/50 combination of votes awarded by a public vote and a ten-member jury panel. The jury consisted of Milen Mitev, Vasil Petrov, Toni Dimitrova, Rushi Vidinliev, Petar Dundakov, Nina Nikolina, Lubo Kirov, Bogdana Karadocheva, Krisko and Victoria Chalkitis.^[19]

In addition to the competing songs, guest performers were Bion, Rob Money, Bon-Bon (which represented Bulgaria in Junior Eurovision 2007), Deep Zone Project (which represented Bulgaria in 2008), Senhit (who represented San Marino in 2021 and would soon be selected to be their 2026 representative as well), and Eva Marija (who would represent Luxembourg in 2026).^[20][21]