Few nations have had luck as rough as Bulgaria has in Eurovision.  Since their debut in 2005, they have only qualified for the Finals once, when Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov stormed to a 5th-place finish with “Water” (Or “Voda”, if you want to be all Bulgarian about it).  The ethnic-infused techno number, with its heavy drumming and hypnotic vocals, has been the nation’s highest result so far.  Since then, broadcaster BNT has sent popera, house, pop-rock, and chalga, all trying to duplicate what Elitsa and Stoyan accomplished in 2007, and all failing to hit that high-water mark.

Back in June, a collaborative effort from Eurovision-bg.com, Bulgarian National Television, and OGAE Bulgaria led to a brief survey being sent around the Eurovision fan sphere, asking for advice on how a potential entry could be optimized.  While the eventual results from that survey were not made public, it appears that the eventual conclusion was “stick with what works best”.  On February 10th, it was announced by BNT that Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankulov would return to the Eurovision stage, and hopefully return Bulgaria to the Finals.

On February 17th, three songs will be unveiled to the public and entered into radio and television rotation.  On March 3rd, a 50/50 jury/public vote will determine the successor to Sofi Marinova’s “Love Unlimited”.  This process is somewhat similar to BNT’s system from 2010, when the internally-selected Miro brought five songs to the table, eventually coming up with “Angel Si Ti“.

It is too soon to tell how Elitsa and Stoyan will fare compared to their 2007 performance, but the fact that Bulgaria openly asked for input from the international community and internally picked a proven act, well-established in the Eurovision sphere, shows that BNT means business.  Here’s another look at their 2007 performance: