Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BulgariaSong: 21 March 2016
| Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2016 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Bulgarian National Television (BNT) | |||
| Country | Bulgaria | |||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Announcement date | Artist: 19 February 2016 Song: 21 March 2016 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "If Love Was a Crime" | |||
| Artist | Poli Genova | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Placement | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (5th, 220 points) | |||
| Final result | 4th, 307 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bulgaria was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "If Love Was a Crime", written by Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Joacim Bo Persson and Poli Genova, and performed by Poli Genova herself. The Bulgarian participating broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), announced in November 2015 that it would be returning to the contest after a two-year absence following its withdrawal in 2014 due to financial limitations. On 19 February 2016, it announced that it had selected Poli Genova to compete at the 2016 contest. The song that Genova competed with, "If Love Was a Crime", was also internally selected and was presented to the public on 21 March 2016. Poli Genova had represented Bulgaria in 2011 where she failed to qualify to the final with the song "Na inat".
Bulgaria was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2016. Performing during the show in position 12, "If Love Was a Crime" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 14 May. This marked the second time Bulgaria managed to qualify to the final, which they achieved after nine years since their last appearance in the final in 2007. It was later revealed that Bulgaria placed fifth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 220 points. In the final, Bulgaria performed in position 8 and placed fourth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 307 points.
Prior to the 2016 contest, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Bulgaria nine times since its first entry in 2005.[1] It achieved its best result in 2007 with the song "Water" performed by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov, which placed fifth. To this point, their 2007 entry is also the only Bulgarian entry to have qualified to the Eurovision final; the nation had failed to qualify to the final with their other eight entries. In 2013, "Samo shampioni" by Elitsa and Stoyan failed to qualify, making it the sixth consecutive qualification failure for the country.
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, BNT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. In the past, BNT had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select its entry. After consistently being present for every contest since its debut in 2005, BNT announced in November 2013 that it would not participate in the 2014 citing an expensive participation fee and limited funds due to budget cuts as reasons for its decision.[2] Limited finances also prevented the broadcaster from returning in 2015.[3][4] Following its two-year absence, BNT confirmed its participation in the 2016 contest on 26 November 2015.[5]
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
On 19 February 2016, BNT announced that the broadcaster's managing board had internally selected Poli Genova to represent Bulgaria in Stockholm.[6] Earlier on 24 January 2016, the broadcaster had announced via their official Twitter account that they had internally selected a female performer for the competition.[7] Poli Genova previously represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 where she failed to qualify to the final with the song "Na inat". In November 2015, Genova hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 which was held in Sofia.
Poli Genova's song "If Love Was a Crime" was internally selected and presented on 21 March 2016 through the release of the official music video via the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[8][9] The song was written by members of the songwriting team Symphonics and Redfly: Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Joacim Bo Persson, as well as Poli Genova herself. The instrumental recording of the song also features Bulgarian flutist Theodosii Spassov. In regards to the song, Genova stated: "The song is powerful, engaging and casts the one and only universal message – love is above all other circumstances. Love is something we discover everywhere around us and it is a feeling that is an essential part of us. It brings us energy and faith. And we feel exactly the same way, because we know love is what makes us unstoppable. We want this message to reach everyone in this world".[10]
Promotion
Poli Genova made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "If Love Was a Crime" as the Bulgarian Eurovision entry. On 2 April, Genova performed during the Eurovision PreParty Riga, which was organised by OGAE Latvia and held at the Spikeri Concert Hall in Riga, Latvia.[11] On 9 April, Poli Genova performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Hera Björk.[12] Between 11 and 13 April, Genova took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel where she performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue and recorded a performance of "If Love Was a Crime" for the Israeli web portal Walla!.[13][14] On 17 April, Genova performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[15]
.jpg)
