The Bulgarian song is one of the favorites at this year's contest, and the fan universe has been full of love for this song.
Kristian Kostov "Beautiful Mess"
Bulgaria really seems to be hungry for a win, and this song in a template to put on a big stage show. The Bulgarian broadcaster also has a track record--Poli Genova get to fourth place last year. The odds makers also think this is going to do well, it's third in the odds to win. It also doesn't hurt that the Bulgarian broadcaster really wants to win the contest.
I find the song perfectly forgettable in the way the Swedish entry is forgettable. This is meant to appeal to the widest audience possible and to do that, you lose anything that would make it truly connect with anybody. It has been constructed to be a Eurovision hit and I am not a fan of constructed pop. Kostov is a preternaturally talented singer, but this is ultimately forgettable.
Eurovision is starting up again, so it's high time for me to take a look at the next country on my list--Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is one of the world's most important producers of rose oil.
As of right now, it's unknown if Bulgaria will be participating in next year's Eurovision Song
Contest. Due to a combination of political and financial issues, the Bulgarian national broadcaster has not been able to finalize their participation in Vienna and has been given extra time by the European Broadcasting Union to make a decision on entering.
I would love to see Bulgaria back at Eurovision after a year's absence, but unlike other countries that have returned this year, I can certainly understand if the Bulgarians decided to opt out. Unlike Cyprus and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria has a rather dire Eurovision record.
In the nine years Bulgaria sent a song to Eurovision, they only made it to the Eurovision finals once:
Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov "Water" 2007
Bulgaria hit the sweet spot in 2007--a pseudo-ethnic number in a year were pseudo-ethnic numbers were few and far between. That, combined with Elitsa and Stoyan's obvious talents on percussion, got them to fifth place in Helsinki.
But other than that success, Bulgarian songs have died in the semifinals:
Sometimes, it's very obvious why they failed, such as Bulgaria's entry in 2009:
Krassimir Avramov "Illusion" 2009
It's a train wreck of off-tune singing, bad costuming, strange dancing, and insane musical style mash ups. It's like they threw all the cliches for Eurovision songs into a blender and came up with this song. It's terrible, but it is amazingly so.
Most countries have had this experience, sending a song that is completely off the wall and not being able to leave the semifinals. However, Bulgaria has a problem in sending good songs with excellent performances that are stranded once votes come in from across Europe.
Poli Genova "Na inat" 2011
Sofi Marinova "Love Unlimited" 2012
In 2011 and 2012, Bulgaria sent two strong performers who gave superb performances yet failed to excite the voters.
This is where you have question the EBU's assertion that there is no "political" voting in Eurovision. Unlike Bulgaria's neighbors, Bulgaria doesn't automatically receive points because of common cultural or musical ties. That means it has to overcome a barrier that other countries rarely have to deal with.
It's not necessarily fair, but it is the nature of the contest.
I hope Bulgaria does return to Eurovision next year and I hope they are able to bring a song and performer that will blow us away. After all, Austria won last year.
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And for the record, my personal ranking of Bulgaria's entrants:
1.“Na inat”
Poli Genova 2011
2.“Love Unlimited” Sofi Marinova 2012
3.“Angel si ti”
Miro 2010 Shockingly good, but the white leather is
laughable.
4.“Let Me Cry”
Mariana Popova 2006 Very good singer, somewhat let down by the
staging (and the weird guy with the bleached hair).
5.“Water”
Elitsa & Stoyan 2007
6.“Lorraine”
Kaffe 2005 I can't even talk about how bad the lyrics are... Oh dear lord...
7.“Samo shampioni” Elitsa & Stoyan 2013 Never go back to Eurovision with the same basic song you sent before. It's not going to be successful.
8.“DJ. Take Me Away” Deep Zone & Balthazar 2008 This was their follow up to Elitsa & Stoyan? 9. “Illusion” Krassimir Avramov 2009
Bulgaria is an anomaly in Eurovision. While surrounded by Eurovision powerhouse nations of Greece, Turkey, and Ukraine, Bulgaria has only qualified once for the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Their only success in Eurovision came back in 2007 with this song.
Elitsa and Stoyan "Voda" 2007
The percussionists did quite well, coming in fifth in Helsinki.
So after a number of years without any success, it makes perfect sense that the Bulgarian national broadcaster went back to the same well and asked Elitsa and Stoyan to represent their country.
In the Bulgarian national final, Elitsa and Stoyan performed three different songs and a split jury/public vote selected the winner.
Two songs tied for first, and since public vote trumps the jury vote, this song was selected to go to Malmö.
Elitsa and Stoyan "Kismet"
However, due to a copyright issue on "Kismet". the song was withdrawn and replaced with the song that came in first with the jury.
Elitsa and Stoyan "Samo Shampioni"
I hate to be cynical here, but I feel like the copyright reasons wasn't the true reason for the song to be withdrawn. "Kismet" is a pretty song, but it is not close to duplicating the song the did so well in 2007. "Kismet" focuses more on the harmonies of Elitsa and her backup singers not the percussion. "Samo Shampioni" does. In fact, "Samo Shampioni feels very much like a retread of "Voda".
But even with the rather unforeseen change in songs, the Bulgaria has a good chance to qualify this year. They're placed at the end of the first half of semifinal two, and their sound is very different than anything else being sent this year. They're also in a semifinal that doesn't have as many obvious qualifying songs. I would say only Finland, Greece, and Georgia are sure qualifiers from the second semifinal. That means Bulgaria may be able to sneak in.
I personally can't wait to see where they land come result time.
I've listened to the Bulgarian song five times in a row, and I'm trying to figure out something to say about it that makes it distinct.
Sofi Marinova "Love Unlimited"
I really can't. It takes a lot of of generic dance track beats and puts them together with a little bit of Eastern European exoticism with the vocals and we get this song that's not going to make it out of the semi-final. It's just a snooze fest.
And because I feel bad about not having anything interesting to say about this song, I'll post up Bulgaria's entry from last year, and a song that should have made the final...
