Who will represent the nation on its Eurovision comeback?
HOW TO WATCH: The Bulgarian artist for Vienna 2026 will be chosen in a television special on Saturday 31 January. The show starts at 20:00 CET and can be watched on BNT 1 and its online player for viewers in Bulgaria, or on BNT’s YouTube channel for international viewers.
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We’re about to witness part two of the most thrilling trilogy that the pre-selection season of Vienna 2026 has seen so far!
The Format
Bulgarian broadcaster BNT is not settling for a mere one-night affair to mark its return to the Eurovision Song Contest. Instead, a national final has been devised to take place across three evenings in January and February.
In the first show that happened on Saturday 24 January, 15 artists performed one of their own songs (not the song that will represent Bulgaria at Vienna 2026) and the combination of a jury and public vote determined a top eight.
The second show, which will take place on Saturday 31 January, will follow a similar format, with the eight finalists performing for votes from viewers and a jury. But this time, there’ll only be one winner – and that’s the artist that will be given the honour of singing for Bulgaria on its comeback the Eurovision Song Contest.
In the third and final installment of the national final, on Saturday 28 February, it’s time to find the song!
In this live show, the selected artist will perform three different compositions, with a public vote and jury vote once again contributing scores. By the end of the evening Bulgaria will have its song for Vienna.
The Artists
These are the 8 acts that will be taking part in the final of Bulgaria’s artist selection. On Saturday 31 January we’ll be finding out which of them will be flying the Bulgarian flag in Vienna.
Kerana and the Cosmonauts
Mihaela Marinova
Molec
Roksana
DARA
Innerglow
MONA
Preyah
The Show
Our hosts for the evening will be Boryana Gramatikova and Georgi Lyubenov, with additional presenting duties coming from Vladimira Ilieva in the green room.
And Bulgarian broadcaster BNT has invited along some special guest performers for the night – two artists that have already been selected to represent their countries at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in May!
From Albania, Alis will be singing his Vienna 2026 entry Nân. And viewers will also get to see AIDAN perform his song for Malta, Bella.
In addition to them, Bulgarian talents Nevena Tsoneva and Ivo Dimchev will take the stage during the show. And there’ll be a performance from a Eurovision winner – Eldar, who scored victory for Azerbaijan in 2011 with Nikki and their song Running Scared.
The winner on Saturday night will be determined by a combined vote of the television audience and a professional jury. The champion with the highest score will receive, along with their ticket to Vienna, a prize statuette made especially for BNT’s national selection by the talented Bulgarian artist Stoyan Zikov, winner of a number of national and international awards in the field of art:
“I was inspired by the philosophy of Eurovision, where talent and individual voice become a common cultural language. The statuette resembles a heart made up of separate elements that diverge and meet, but together create harmony. It is a message to the one who will represent Bulgaria on a stage where creativity is a shared emotion and a common future.”
Bulgaria will perform in the Second Semi-Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday 14 May.