Bulgaria’s national broadcaster BNT confirms participation in Eurovision 2027 – just moments before the representative for Eurovision 2026 has even been selected! Bulgaria becomes the first country to confirm participation.

Just a few moments before a representative for Eurovision 2026 has been selected, Bulgaria has confirmed its participation in Eurovision 2027! During the final of “Natsionalna Selektsiya”, the country officially announced not only its participation but also the continuation of its national selection process for another year. Bulgaria is the first country to confirm participation in Eurovision 2027.

The Bulgarian Selection Process for 2027

During the final of “Natsionalna Selektsiya” – before the 2026 representative was even chosen – the Bulgarian national broadcaster BNT took a bold step and invited Ivo Dimchev to take part in next year’s “Natsionalna Selektsiya”.

In doing so, Bulgaria officially confirmed both its participation in Eurovision 2027 and the continuation of its selection show next year.

Bulgaria’s Eurovision Journey

Bulgaria joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 and has competed 14 times since. Its debut entry, performed by the band Kaffe with the song “Lorraine”, finished 19th in the semifinal and did not qualify for the final.
The country achieved its first-ever qualification for the final in Eurovision 2007 in Helsinki, Finland, when Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov reached 5th place with their energetic entry “Water”. The duo later returned to the contest in Malmö, Sweden, in Eurovision 2013 with “Samo Shampioni”, finishing 12th in the second semifinal and failing to qualify. Between 2008 and 2013, Bulgaria did not reach any finals.

Since joining Eurovision, Bulgaria has missed six editions of the contest. The country first withdrew in 2014 (Copenhagen, Denmark) due to financial reasons, and its absence continued in 2015 (Vienna, Austria).

In 2016, Bulgaria made a powerful comeback when Poli Genova, representing the nation for the second time, performed “If Love Was A Crime” in Stockholm, Sweden. She broke Bulgaria’s previous record, finishing in 4th place. This success came after failing to qualify for the Eurovision 2011 final in Düsseldorf, Germany, with her song “Na Inat”, which placed 12th in its semifinal.

A year later, Kristian Kostov represented Bulgaria with “Beautiful Mess”, achieving the country’s best-ever result by finishing second, setting a new national record.

Eurovision 2026 will be Bulgaria’s 15th participation.

Bulgaria at Eurovision 2022

For Eurovision 2022, Bulgaria sent Intelligent Music Project with their song “Intention,” which interrupted Bulgaria’s streak of successes as they failed to qualify for the final for the first time since Eurovision 2013. The band finished sixteenth out of seventeen countries in the first semi-final held in Turin, Italy, receiving a total of 29 points, split to 11 points from juries and an additional 18 points from public voting. Following this participation, drummer Stoyan Yankoulov became the first artist to represent Bulgaria three times at Eurovision after participating in both Eurovision 2007 and Eurovision 2013.

 

Eurovision 2026: This will be Bulgaria’s 15th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Bulgaria joined the competition in 2005 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2017 when the singer Kristian Kostov finished in second place with the song “Beautiful Mess”.