Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
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Bulgaria| Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2017 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Bulgarian National Television (BNT) | |||
| Country | Bulgaria | |||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Announcement date | 13 March 2017 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Beautiful Mess" | |||
| Artist | Kristian Kostov | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Placement | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (1st, 403 points) | |||
| Final result | 2nd, 615 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bulgaria was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Beautiful Mess", written by Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Joacim Bo Persson, Alex Omar, and Alexander V. Blay, and performed by Kristian Kostov. The Bulgarian participating broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), announced on 13 March 2017 that Kristian Kostov had been selected to compete at the contest. The song that Kostov competed with, "Beautiful Mess", was also internally selected and was presented to the public on the same day.
Bulgaria was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 11 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 15, "Beautiful Mess" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 13 May. It was later revealed that Bulgaria placed first out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 403 points. In the final, Bulgaria performed in position 25 and placed second out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 615 points. This marked Bulgaria's best placing in the history of the contest.
Prior to the 2017 contest, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Bulgaria ten times since its first entry in 2005.[1] It achieved their best result in the contest in 2016 with the song "If Love Was a Crime" performed by Poli Genova, which placed fourth. To this point, only two Bulgarian entries had managed to have qualified to the Eurovision final; they had failed to qualify to the final with their other eight entries.
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. The broadcaster confirmed its participation in the 2017 contest on 29 September 2016.[2] In the past, BNT had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select its entry. In 2016, the broadcaster internally selected the entry, a selection procedure that continued for its 2017 entry.[3]
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
On 22 December 2016, BNT opened a submission period for producers to submit their proposals until 20 January 2017. Each proposal was required to contain both the artist and song as well as the staging concept of the entry. Artists were required to be Bulgarian citizens and have experience of singing live, while eligible producers were those that have experience in artist management and have produced at least three projects which have had a high level of popularity in the past two years. Songs were required to contain partial Bulgarian involvement.[4] On 27 January 2017, the broadcaster announced that six entries had been shortlisted and evaluated by three focus groups: BNT representatives, music professionals and international representatives.[5][6]
On 13 March 2017, BNT announced that Kristian Kostov had been selected to represent Bulgaria in Kyiv. His song "Beautiful Mess" was presented through the release of the official lyrics video via the official Eurovision Song Contest's YouTube channel.[7][8] Kristian Kostov previously participated in the fourth season of X Factor Bulgaria where he was the runner-up.[9] "Beautiful Mess" was written by members of the songwriting team Symphonix International: Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman, Joacim Bo Persson, Alex Omar and Alexander V. Blay.[10]
"Beautiful Mess" is authentic, interesting and transmits the sentiment and the main idea of the song. I like the song, because it's what I am. Last November, I started working with Bobby (Borislav Milanov) with the idea to submit a song for Eurovision either for this year or next. As a performer, now I'm trying to find myself and actually "Beautiful Mess" is my first song that has a deeper meaning. I like it a lot. My vision for the future is actually to do projects that make sense, so that's a step in the right direction for me. Besides this, my fans will see me in a different light than in my past projects, so I am really curious to find out what their reaction will be.
— Kristian Kostov about "Beautiful Mess"[11]
Promotion
Kristian Kostov made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Beautiful Mess" as the Bulgarian Eurovision entry. On 2 April, Kostov 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. Between 3 and 6 April, Kostov took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel where he performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.[12][13] On 8 April, Kostov performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir.[14] On 15 April, Kostov performed during the Eurovision Spain Pre-Party, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain.[15]
