BULGARIA 2021

The Bulgarian song was revealed on March 10th, via an online show called "A little dramatic concert" . After the cancellation of the 2020 concert, Victoria was once again selected to represent Bulgaria the next tear. 6 songs were in the running, all from her 'a little dramatic EP and after feedback from fans and critics her song was then internally selected. Her song is called "Growing up is getting old".

The video starts with a lengthy intro via a newsreader, inspired by the cancellation of last year's Eurovision. It has a retro feel with the television set, clothes and the slightly brown sepia tone the setting has. The plot seems to revolve around Victoria looking at some of the  objects around the house which inspire feelings of nostalgia and childhood. Part way through she song she sees a vision of her younger self follows her to the garden where they embrace. Once the song has ended Victoria picks up her suitcase and leaves.

The song is a very gentle ballad with orchestral qualities which accentuates Victoria's very softly spoken singing style. The short stringed introduction sets the tone as the first verse is accompanied only by violins which is very unusual for this year. This is followed by a shortened version of the chorus which has much more orchestration. This goes straight into another verse with enhanced backing vocals. We then finally have a full chorus followed a short bridge. There is then some repetition of the song title ending with a final chorus - almost acapella but with slightly different lyrics to finish.

Victoria is best known in Bulgaria for her appearance on X Factor Bulgaria in 2015 where she placed sixth. A year later she started releasing music in both Bulgarian and English. In 2018 she spent some time in America where she wrote her first self-penned English language song. In 2019 she began her Eurovision journey as she was unveiled as their 2020 participant which would then roll over to 2021.

First of all I feel like I have to address the elephant in the room which was that I found Victoria's 2020 entry a bit of an enigma - one I didn't have the passcode too. This entry, however, is less schmaltzy, less Disney and (most importantly) has a much better ending - one that this time doesn't make me want to burst out laughing inappropriately. Although I quite like her 2021 song, it has taken me well over a week of listens for it to bed in and finally make itself understood. I feel like this genre of song is a little divisive and not for everybody's ears. I also wonder if the sophisticated lightness of touch in the lyrics may be too clever to be noticed in a cold reading situation like this. The chorus hinges on the listener understanding the play on words therein and this is not always clear on a first listen, especially if you don't really know what you listening out for. I think that simplifying the structure of the song would enhance its character much more and make it a much straightforward listen. I almost feel like this is a much longer song that has been ripped up in the wrong way to make it fit the time limit. This will do well but I almost feel like this is just missing the mark.

 

ARTIST - Victoria
SONG - Growing up is getting old
WRITING CREDITS - Oliver Björkvall, Victoria Georgieva, Helena Larsson, Maya Nalani