Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017


Bulgaria participated in 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. The song was performed by Russian-Bulgarian singer Kristian Kostov. On 13 March 2017, the Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television announced that Kristian Kostov had been internally selected to compete at the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine. The song that Kostov competed with, "Beautiful Mess", was also internally selected and was presented to the public later the same day.

Background

Prior to the 2017 contest, Bulgaria had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest ten times since its first entry in. The nation 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, together with their 2007 entry it is 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.
The Bulgarian national broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television, 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 citing an expensive participation fee and limited funds due to budget cuts as reasons for their decision. Limited finances also prevented the broadcaster from returning in. After a two-year absence, BNT confirmed Bulgaria's return at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 27 September 2016, BNT announced that they were awaiting approval from the broadcaster's board members, in regards to participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Two days later and provisional confirmation was announced. On 17 December 2016, BNT published via Twitter that they were opting to select their participant internally once more. On 22 December 2016, the national broadcaster launched their search for their entrant for the contest. On 25 January 2017, BNT confirmed that they had made a shortlist of six participants. On 13 March 2017, it was announced that Bulgaria would be represented by Kristian Kostov with the song "Beautiful Mess". Kostov was a finalist in season one of The Voice Kids Russia and a runner-up in the fourth season of X Factor Bulgaria.

Promotion

Kristian Kostov made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Beautiful Mess" as the Bulgarian Eurovision entry. On 2 April, he performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French. 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. On 8 April, Kristian 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. On 15 April, Kostov performed during the Eurovision Spain Pre-Party, which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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 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. On 31 January 2017, 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 11 May 2017, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2017 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 16, following the entry from Belarus and before the entry from Lithuania. However, following Russia's withdrawal from the contest on 13 April and subsequent removal from the running order of the second semi-final, Bulgaria's performing position shifted to 15.
The two semi-finals were broadcast in Bulgaria on BNT 1 with commentary by Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev. The Bulgarian spokesperson, who announced the top 12-point score awarded by the Bulgarian jury during the final, was Boryana Gramatikova.

Semi-final

Kristian Kostov took part in technical rehearsals on 3 May and 6 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 10 and 11 May. This included the jury show on 10 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.
At the end of the show, Bulgaria was announced as having finished in the top 10 and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that Bulgaria placed first in the semi-final, receiving a total of 403 points: 204 points from the televoting and 199 points from the juries.

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winners' press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the reverse order the countries appeared in the semi-final running order. Bulgaria was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Bulgaria was subsequently placed to perform in position 25, following the entry from Sweden and before the entry from France.

Voting

Points awarded to Bulgaria

Points awarded by Bulgaria

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Bulgarian jury: