LIST: 12 acts we want to sing for Bulgaria at Eurovision 2016!

Bulgaria left us two years ago and we haven’t still recovered from their absence. They’ve only been to the Eurovision finals once, even though Bulgarians do have a very complete music scene. In an attempt to tap on BNT’s shoulder to ask them if they are coming back next year, here are our 10 proposals to represent the country of Elitsa, Stoyan and Sofi in Stockholm next year!

1. SLAVIN SLAVCHEV

Slavin is an obvious choice: he won the X Factor last year and his sound is quite current. He serves some soft commercial pop-rock. It’s veeeery much radio-friendly, which can be a good way for Bulgaria to approach the European audience, who last saw a percussion duo with a kind of shaman and three women in traditional dresses under the Bulgarian flag. Mainstream is always a good choice when you crave qualification.

2. ZHANA BERGENDORFF

After listening to her, we assume Zhana doesn’t have anything to do with Anna Bergendahl. Zhana won the X Factor a year before Slavin (I may or may not have used the list of X Factor Bulgaria alumni to make this list), and she brings some pop which mixes relatively new beats with some mid-2000 sounds. It all forms a good package, which dressed with Zhana’s fierce looks and attitude screams SUCCESS!! Btw, am I the only one who sees “Love Injected” in the beginning of the video?

3. MIHAELA MARINOVA

Mihaela would be a great follow-up to the Bulgarian Marinova saga. We don’t know if she is related in any way to Queen Sofi I of the Dorem-dem-dem-dem, but we’d love it if she was. Mihaela finished third in the same X Factor series which Slavin won. She would have been a worthy winner – the girl does R&B, dubstep and rap all in the same song! And she includes a misheard lyric (2:00 “stop, gonna pray!”) in her composition. Mihaela is screaming EUROVISION, y’all!

4. BOGOMIL BONEV

Time for the young! Bogomil also joined the X Factor parade a few years ago, when he was only 14 years old! He did “Bad Romance“, “Moves Like Jagger” and “Mamma Mia“, but as usual with the junior stars, the boy is now a man, and he is offering some romantic songs with modern R&B beats. Think a precocious James Arthur (if he’s still alive or whatever) but in Bulgarian, with smoke and aurora projections.

5. MIKHAEL PASKALEV

For all those who missed the indie wiwiblogger suggestions (I’ll be happy if it’s just one of you), I’m still okay and here, but as I can’t suggest anything in Catalan for Bulgaria, I surrendered to mainstream, sorry. Oh yes, Mikhael Paskalev. He sings catchy, funny and happy-clappy songs in English while he eats from a tupper-ware, destroys his house and dances in his slips. It’s like Bulgaria’s answer to Mika’s “We are golden”, and I’m loving it. And remember the last two mixes of Norwegian and Eastern Europe blood finished first and third respectively, so history is on his side.

6. ANDREA

Bulgarian slut pop with cheap Latin beats. OH YES. And this is serious business, y’all, as this lady has got more than 30 million views on Youtube with her video! Andrea serves looks, Spanish with an acceptable accent (less than Guri Schanke, but more than Elena from Mandinga) and some “diggi-diggi-dom” with a random Latin rapper-reggaetonner or whatever. Sofi who?

7. OSTAVA

Bulgaria also has good taste in indie-rock music, and Ostava is a proof of that. An indoubtedly peculiar voice, some in-crescendo guitar sound and more than 20 years of experience credit this band as one of BNT’s easiest and most recommendable choices. We’re talking about veterans: during their 20-year career, they’ve supported Lenny Kravitz and Placebo and they’ve covered live Bowie, Radiohead, Oasis and The Black Eyed Peas (wait, what?!) They master every aspect of alternative and offer a very wide spectrum of indie, which I’ve personally fallen in love with.

8. MIHAELA FILEVA

Mihaela has the sound for Europe. Easy-listening, uplifting music – this girl can get the continent out of their seats in Stockholm. Mihaela channels urban but throws a bit of classy sound in to offer some very much appealing tunes like this Edno Naum. She manages to look flawless through the tones of dancing in her video, so that’s extra points, especially if she can translate it on the stage in Sweden.

9. DAMYAN POPOV

So, the dance song which begins as a ballad boy from Bulgaria is here! He might be unoriginal, but Damyan really sounds good, and we do like conventional stuff if it is well done, just as Mr. Popov knows. But hey, don’t mistake him – he might be singing a love song, but he is a tough guy! He has LOVE and HATE tattooed in his fingers and hasn’t rushed to erase that tattoo from his body after the trend (fortunately) was forgotten. It’s timeless, y’all.

10. GALENA

FOLK SLUTPOP, Y’ALL!  This is the future, believe it or not. Galena would get all of Europe dancing (probably more Eastern Europe) to this kind of tune, and the 12 points from Serbia would be granted (as a non-expert, this and turbo-folk are absolutely the same for me). And just take a look at the fabulousness of this video. It’s art. Grotesque, but art still. Really.

11. PAVELL & VENCI VENC

Bulgarians also know how to rap, and although this is the most underrated genre in the Eurovision Song Contest, you never know when can a rap act go and win the whole thing. Pavell and Venci Venc throw an interesting proposal in this field. They work the beats well and their videos look amazingly effectively. Maybe they can use one of them as a backing projection with just the two of them on stage to defend Bulgaria’s first rap act!

 12. KOZZA MOSTRA

AND THIS IS A SUGGESTION FOR GREECE TOO. No, Bulgaria’s Kozza Mostra are not the same guys as the “Alcohol is Free” singers, but wouldn’t it be great to have Kozza Mostra for Bulgaria and Koza Mostra for Greece?! And knowing that they have a somewhat similar style, this could be veeeery cool from Sofia. Reggae in Bulgarian for the win, y’all!

So, who is your favourite? Would you like some other artist to represent Bulgaria if they come back? Tell us below!

Read more of our lists here