BNT, the Bulgarian national broadcaster, has confirmed that Victoria will represent Bulgaria at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest next year, following the cancellation of this year’s Eurovision edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many countries have decided to invite their Eurovision 2020 hopefuls to partake at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. Thus Bulgaria joins Spain, Georgia, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Azerbaijan and Greece in the list of countries who have so far confirmed their 2020 acts for 2021.

The EBU Reference Group announced yesterday that broadcasters are free to invite their 2020 ESC hopefuls to compete at ESC 2021 upon their own discretion or free to select a new act. The 2020 Eurovision entries will not be eligible to compete next year, hence the 2020 acts will have to bring a new song to the competition.

BNT was set to return to the competition this after a year’s absence with Victoria and her entry Tears Getting Sober.

Victoria is very happy and honoured to represent Bulgaria at Eurovision 2021:

I am so proud to represent Bulgaria at Eurovision 2021! I am grateful to BNT and Ligna Group for believing in me and giving me a second chance and to iCard for supporting me!

Congratulations to Blas Cantó, Gjon’s Tears, Efendi, Jeangu Macrooy, Stefania, Hooverphonic, Go_A and Tornike Kipiani, who will also represent their countries at Eurovision 2021! I hope all other fellow 2020 artists will also be allowed by their broadcasters to have their time to shine on the Eurovision stage in 2021.

Today is a bittersweet day – I can’t hide that the decision to not allow us to use our 2020 songs made me really sad. Tears Getting Sober is the first project where I had such a big role – from the songwriting to the concepts for the music video and the staging.

Many people have invested endless hours in this project and we will all need some time to deal with this decision. On the bright side – I am looking forward to perform live around Europe soon and to meet you all!

Can’t wait to share my new music with you through the spring and the summer and hopefully release my first EP in September! And don’t forget about my online concert on 28 March at 19 CET on eurovision.icard.com. Love you all, stay safe.

Bulgaria in Eurovision

Bulgaria debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest  in 2005 and is yet to win the competition.  The Balkan nation’s best result in the contest was achieved in 2017 when Kristian Kostov placed 2nd in the Grand Final in Kyiv.

Bulgaria has participated in Europe’s favorite television show 12 times. The country withdrew from the competition in 2014 due to financial reasons and returned to the event in 2016 with flying colours when Poli Genova placed 4th in Stockholm.

Prior to 2016 Bulgaria had only made it once to the Grand Final since its debut in 2005. The country has seen a reversal of fortune in the contest since its return in 2016, qualifying to the Grand Final three years in a row ( 2016, 2017, 2018).