BULGARIA

The Bulgarian Final was held on March 3rd at the BNT TV Studios in Sofia hosted by Dragomir Draganov. Former Eurovision contestants Elitsa and Stoyan were internally selected to represent Bulgaria. The winning song was chosen by an “expert” jury (50%) and televoting (50%). As there was a tie at the end of the voting, the televoting result took precedence and so the song Kismet" (Fate) was to be the entry.

However, a week later  BNT announced that it Kismet had been 'disqualifed due to copyright issues' and replaced with the other tied entry "Samo Shampioni" (Only champions)

For this performance they are joined on stage by man playing  a bagpipe type instrument. Stoyan and Elitsa move around the stage which is littered with different types of drum kits. In fact there are two very impressive sets vertically stacked which are played near the end and makes the stage look very interesting. The stage was quite basic with a black shiny stage and glowing lights but because of the movement around the stage it doesn't really make a big difference. I like the interaction the guys have on this one, something that was very much missing in "Kismet".

The song is typical Elitsa and Stoyan fayre. Very ethnic, percussion-y lots of yodelling and phrases than end with yelps. It starts quite dancy and then the bagpipe kicks in. The song title is repeated a lot and has the same tune throughout. Then they is the part half way through where Elitsa yodels and yelps her way through thirty seconds of the song but this part ends with a dubstep breakdown which is much unexpected! It then goes back to the dance beat, drumming and more of the repetitive chorus. My only concern is that the ending is a little weak and lack the ooomph of the rest of the song.

The song and staging will need some tweaking. There are audible backing singers in this version who are not part of the set up. Something will also have to be done with the poor bagpipe player as he seems a little out of place on the stage as it is. I would also like more emphasis given to the backing track parts that are more dancey.

I think this song has a lot to offer as a Eurovision entry. For one there is absolutely nothing like this at all in the contest. I think this will appeal to a lot of countries and I also think that people will also appreciate their musicianship. On the negative side this is too much like "Voda" and is not as good as their former entry either. All things considered I am not sure if this is contender.

Artist - Elitsa & Stoyan

Song - Samo shampioni (Only champions)
Music - Elitsa Todorova, Kristian Talev
Lyrics - Elitsa Todorova, Kristian Talev