Watch live: Tonight at 20:00 CET, Bulgaria holds the grand final of “Natsionalna Selektsiya 2026”, to select its Eurovision 2026 representative for Vienna, Austria. A live stream link is available below.
Tonight at 20:00 CET, the final stage of “Natsionalna Selektsiya 2026”, will take place at the studios of the national broadcaster BNT in Sofia. By the end of the night, Bulgaria’s representative for Eurovision 2026 will be chosen. Eight contestants will compete for the honor of representing Bulgaria at the Eurovision in Vienna, Austria. As in the first stage, each performer will sing one of their known hits—not the song planned for Eurovision. The Eurovision entry itself will be selected during a special broadcast on February 28th.
The grand final will be hosted by Georgi Lyubenov, Boryana Gramatikova, and in the green room by Vladimira Ilieva. Five judges will determine the results, scoring each song between 1 and 5 points. Simultaneously, the public can vote on the official BNT website: the entry receiving the most online votes will get 7 points, while the remaining songs will be ranked down to last place with 1 point. The maximum score a contestant can achieve is 32 points – 25 from the judges (5 from each) plus 7 from first place in the audience vote.
To watch the grand final live from 20:00 CET until 22:00 CET:
Two special guest artists will perform during the national final. The first is Alis Kallaçi, Albania’s representative for the upcoming Eurovision, with the song “Nân” after winning “Festivali i Këngës 64” with the guidance of his mentor, Arilena Ara. Also appearing in Sofia will be Aidan, Malta’s representative, with the song “Bella” – the winning entry of “MESC 2026”, after a tight duel against Matt Blxck.
Get to Know Bulgaria’s “Natsionalna Selektsiya 2026” Finalists:
- Mihaela Marinova – A Bulgarian pop singer who also took part in the Bulgarian version of “The X Factor”. Her song “Stapka Napred” (in English: “A Step Forward”) became a huge hit in Bulgaria, and several of her other songs have finished in first place on the charts.
- DARA – Singer Dara Nikolaeva Yotova, who is known only by her first name, is one of the biggest pop stars in Bulgaria and likely the main favourite to win the Bulgarian national selection. Dara’s songs are also familiar to many Eurovision fans around the world, and her name has often come up as a leading candidate to represent Bulgaria at Eurovision. She has collaborated with countless artists in the Bulgarian music industry, including Mihaela Fileva, whom she will face in the national selection.
- Kerana – The stage name of Yulia Yordanova, whose versatile style blends alternative rock, pop, and theatrical elements. She gained recognition following her participation in the television show “The Voice”.
- Mona – A Bulgarian singer who specialises in pop and chalga, blending modern pop with traditional Bulgarian music. One of her best-known songs is “Živa” (in English: “Alive”), which became a hit.
- Preyah – A Bulgarian singer-songwriter of Nigerian descent who focuses on pop and R&B. She took part in several television shows in Bulgaria until, in 2013, she signed her first recording contract and broke through. She has also collaborated with Mihaela Fileva, who will compete against her in the selection, on a song that reached eighth place on the Bulgarian charts.
- Roksana – A Bulgarian singer who specialises in pop and chalga and incorporates Romani influences into her style. Roksana took part in the Bulgarian version of “The Voice” and reached the final.
- Molets – A well-known Bulgarian duo that blends modern music with traditional influences. They have an extensive discography and have won awards in the Bulgarian music industry.
- INERGLOW – A three-member Bulgarian pop-rock band formed in 2017 that has achieved significant success on Bulgarian radio. Their song “Chained in Love” reached first place on the Bulgarian charts.
Dates of “Natsionalna Selektsiya 2026”:
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Semi-Final – Saturday, January 24th, 2026. -
Grand Final – Saturday, January 31st, 2026.
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Song Selection Show – Saturday, February 28th, 2026.
The Bulgarian Selection Process: Innovative & Unique
The first stage of “Natsionalna Selektsiya 2026” focused solely on choosing the performer. Last week, each contestant performed one of their own hits. The decision was made through a combination of jury and public votes: five judges rated each performance from 1 to 5, and viewers voted through BNT’s official website. The song receiving the most public votes earned 15 points, down to 1 point for the last place. At the end of the first phase, the seven contestants with the highest total scores – combining jury and audience – advanced to the final round. However, since the seventh and eighth places tied, eight acts instead of seven moved on to tonight’s grand final.
The second stage, determining Bulgaria’s Eurovision representative, takes place this evening, Saturday, January 31st, 2026. Each of the eight finalists will perform another of their existing songs. Again, five judges will rate each song from 1 to 5, while the public vote will award 8 points to the song with the most votes, and 1 point to the lowest-ranked. The artist with the highest overall total will represent Bulgaria at Eurovision 2026. In case of a tie, the audience vote will serve as the tiebreaker.
On February 28th, Bulgaria’s song will be chosen. The artist selected in the previous stage will perform three songs, written by a writing team chosen by BNT. The public and the judges from the two previous performances will select the song – judges will award 3 points to their favorite song, 2 to the second, and 1 to the third, with the public applying the same scoring. In case of a tie, the public vote will prevail again.
Additionally, the broadcaster revealed new rules ahead of the competition. Under the rules, BNT must ensure that candidates have no past or public activities that contradict the EBU values or could damage the competition’s reputation. The broadcaster’s checks include: disqualification of those who publicly opposed the competition, disqualification of candidates who might use their participation for non-competitive purposes, and obligating artists to adhere to the EBU Code of Conduct.
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” (in English: “Only Champions”), 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” (in English: “Stubborn”), 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.
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”.
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Ilay Gaist is a leading Israeli content creator and writer specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest. He is a well-known commentator with extensive expertise in the contest’s history, rules, and dynamics. His passion for Eurovision drives him to deliver rich, professional, and innovative content to his audience.
Ilay holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic and has a multilingual background. He also engages in cultural research, with a particular focus on global culinary traditions and the evolution of local cuisines around the world.
