Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
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Bulgaria| Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Bulgarian National Television (BNT) | |||
| Country | Bulgaria | |||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Announcement date | 12 March 2018 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Bones" | |||
| Artist | Equinox | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Placement | ||||
| Semi-final result | Qualified (7th, 177 points) | |||
| Final result | 14th, 166 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bulgaria was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Bones", written by Borislav Milanov, Joacim Bo Persson, Trey Campbell, and Dag Lundberg, and performed by the group Equinox. The Bulgarian participating broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), organised the internal selection process BG Song 2018 in order to select its entry for the contest. On 12 March 2018, BNT announced that Equinox had been selected to compete with "Bones", which was presented to the public on the same day.
Bulgaria was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2018. Performing during the show in position 19, "Bones" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 12 May. It was later revealed that Bulgaria placed seventh out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 177 points. In the final, Bulgaria performed in position 18 and placed fourteenth out of the 26 participating countries, scoring 166 points.
Prior to the 2018 contest, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Bulgaria eleven times since its first entry in 2005.[1] It achieved their best result in 2017 with the song "Beautiful Mess" performed by Kristian Kostov, which placed second. To this point, only three Bulgarian entries had managed to have qualified to the Eurovision final, all of them which placed in the top ten; the nation 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 2018 contest on 10 October 2017.[2] In the past, BNT had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select its entry. Since 2016, the broadcaster internally selected the entry for the competition, a selection procedure that continued for its 2018 entry.[3]
Before Eurovision
BG Song 2018
The artist and song that represented Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was determined through the internal selection process BG Song 2018.[3] On 14 November 2017, BNT opened a submission period for producers to submit their proposals until 29 December 2017.[4] 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, are registered and licensed in PROFON, 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.[5] A new feature of the selection process allowed for independent composers to submit their songs to be considered by interested producers.[6]
On 30 December 2017, BNT announced that they received a record-breaking 202 songs by the end of the deadline, 13 of them being full projects.[7] Three entries were shortlisted in late January 2018 after the projects were evaluated by four focus groups: music and television industry professionals, media representatives and betting experts, Bulgarian representatives and a public group of television viewers and Eurovision fans in a proportion representing the viewing structure of the Eurovision Song Contest.[8][9] On 30 December 2017, the songtitles of the thirteen entries were announced.[10]
- "A New Home"
- "Bad News"
- "Bones"
- "Choosing"
- "Cold as Ice"
- "Collide"
- "Colours"
- "Love Never Lies"
- "Lovers to Enemies"
- "Rebirth"
- "Sky Symphony"
- "Two Hearts Collide"
- "You Will Be the Change"
On 12 March 2018, BNT announced that the group Equinox had been selected to represent Bulgaria in Lisbon. Their song "Bones" was presented through the release of the official lyrics video via the official Eurovision Song Contest's YouTube channel.[11] Equinox was formed specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest and consisted of Bulgarian singers Zhana Bergendorff, Georgi Simeonov and Vlado Mihailov, and American singers Johnny Manuel and Trey Campbell. Bergendorff previously won the second season of X Factor Bulgaria.[12] "Bones" was written by members of the songwriting team Symphonix International: Borislav Milanov, Joacim Bo Persson, Campbell and Dag Lundberg.[13][9]
Promotion
Equinox made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Bones" as the Bulgarian Eurovision entry. On 14 April, Equinox performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Cornald Maas.[14] On 17 April, Equinox 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]
