Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Eurovision Song Contest 2016
Country  Bulgaria
National selection
Selection process Internal Selection
Selection date(s) Artist: 19 February 2016
Song: 21 March 2016
Selected entrant Poli Genova
Selected song "If Love Was a Crime"
Selected songwriter(s)
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2016

Bulgaria will participate in 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. The song will be performed by Poli Genova, who had previously represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 where she failed to qualify to the final with the song "Na inat".

In November 2015, the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) announced that they would be returning to the Eurovision Song Contest after a two-year absence following their withdrawal in 2014 due to financial limitations. On 19 February 2016, the broadcaster announced that Poli Genova had been selected to compete at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. The song that Genova will compete with, "If Love Was a Crime", was also internally selected and was presented to the public on 21 March 2016.

Background

Prior to the 2016 Contest, Bulgaria had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest nine times since its first entry in 2005.[1] The nation achieved their best result in the contest 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, the Bulgarian broadcaster internally selected Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov to once again represent the nation as they were the only act that managed to qualify Bulgaria to the final. However, their song "Samo shampioni" failed to qualify, making it the sixth consecutive qualification failure for the country.

The Bulgarian national broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), broadcasts the event within Bulgaria and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. In the past, BNT had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Bulgarian entry. After consistently being present for every contest since their debut in 2005, the Bulgarian broadcaster announced in November 2013 that the country would not participate in the 2014 contest citing an expensive participation fee and limited funds due to budget cuts as reasons for their decision.[2] Limited finances also prevented the broadcaster from returning in 2015.[3][4] Following their two-year absence, BNT confirmed Bulgaria's participation in the 2016 Eurovision Song 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 & 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 and performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.[13] 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.[14]

At Eurovision

Poli Genova during a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[15] On 25 January 2016, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Bulgaria was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 12 May 2016, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[16]

Once all the competing songs for the 2016 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Originally, Bulgaria was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Romania and before the entry from Denmark.[17] However, following Romania's disqualification from the contest on 22 April and subsequent removal from the running order of the second semi-final, Bulgaria's performing position shifted to 12 and the nation would now perform following the entry from Slovenia.[18]

Semi-final

Poli Genova will take part in technical rehearsals on 5 and 7 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 11 and 12 May.[19] This includes the jury show on 11 May where the professional juries of each country will watch and vote on the competing entries.

The Bulgarian performance features Poli Genova performing a choreographed routine in a black, white and nude outfit with LED enhancements that light up during the final chorus of the song.[20][21] The stage colours are black and white and the LED screens display black and white elements, television static and rows of people performing the same choreography as Genova. Five backing vocalists join Poli Genova on stage at the end of the song: Borislav Borisov Dimitrov (Bobo), Cesár Ken Charleston (Cesár Sa) and the members of the group LaTiDa, Desislava Hristova, Elizabet Nesheva and Yana Baleva.[22] The stage concept for the Bulgarian performance was developed by Swedish choreographer Ambra Succi, who completed the choreography of performance together with Bulgarian choreographer Milen Dankov.

Voting

Voting during the three shows will be conducted under a new system that will involve each country now awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury will consist of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury will judge each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.[23] In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results will be released shortly after the grand final.[24]

Split voting results

The following five members will comprise the Bulgarian jury:[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Bulgaria Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Fisher, Luke (22 November 2013). "Bulgaria: BNT not entering in 2014". escXtra.com. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  3. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (10 October 2014). "Bulgaria: BNT will not participate in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (19 December 2014). "Bulgaria: BNT will not participate in Eurovision 2015". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "България ще участва на Евровизия 2016 в Стокхолм". bnt.bg (in Bulgarian). BNT. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Brey, Marco (19 February 2016). "Bulgaria: Poli Genova returns to Eurovision". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Granger, Anthony (24 January 2016). "Bulgaria: Female Singer For Stockholm". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Вътрешна селекция 2016". bnt.bg (in Bulgarian). BNT. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Brey, Marco (21 March 2016). "Bulgaria: Premiere of "If Love Was A Crime"". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Brey, Marco (14 March 2016). "Bulgaria: "If Love Was A Crime" presented next week". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (3 April 2016). "Overview of the Eurovision Pre-Party Riga 2016". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (10 April 2016). "Highlights of the 8th Eurovision In Concert". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  13. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (14 April 2016). "First ever preview party held in Israel". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  14. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (18 April 2016). "Review of the London Eurovision Party". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  15. ↑ Jordan, Paul (21 January 2016). "Semi-Final Allocation Draw on Monday, pots revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  16. ↑ Jordan, Paul (25 January 2016). "Allocation Draw: The results!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  17. ↑ Jordan, Paul (8 April 2016). "Running order of the Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "TVR (Romania) no longer entitled to take part in Eurovision 2016". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  19. ↑ "Media Activities" (PDF). eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  20. ↑ Brey, Marco (5 May 2016). "Day 4 at the Globe Arena". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  21. ↑ Salmon, Josh (5 May 2016). "Bulgaria: Poli Genova lights up during first rehearsal of #ILWAC". wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Poli Genova: If love was a crime". eurovisionartists.nl (in Dutch). Eurovision Artists. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  23. 1 2 "Here are the judges for Eurovision 2016!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  24. ↑ Jordan, Paul (18 February 2016). "Biggest change to Eurovision Song Contest voting since 1975". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 February 2016.

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