Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Bulgaria was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Illusion", written by Krassimir Avramov, William Tabanou, and Casie Tabanou, and performed by Avramov himself. The Bulgarian participating broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television, organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009” in order to select its entry for the contest. 45 entries were selected to participate in the first phase of the national final, Bŭdi zvezda, which consisted of three monthly selections. Nine entries qualified to compete in Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009” which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final, held on 24 January 2009 and 21 February 2009, respectively. Eighteen entries competed in the semi-final and the top nine songs as determined by an eight-member jury panel qualified to the final alongside three pre-qualified songs. In the final, public televoting exclusively selected "Illusion" performed by Avramov as the winning entry with 19,553 votes.
Bulgaria was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 11, "Illusion" was not announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Bulgaria placed sixteenth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 7 points.
Background
Prior to the 2009 contest, Bulgarian National Television had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Bulgaria four times since its first entry in. It achieved its best result in with the song "Water" performed by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov, which placed fifth. To this point, their 2007 entry is also the only Bulgarian entry to have qualified to the Eurovision final; the nation had failed to qualify to the final with their other three entries. In, "DJ, Take Me Away" by Deep Zone and Balthazar failed to qualify to the final.As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, BNT organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its participation in the 2009 contest on 6 July 2008. Since 2005, BNT has organised a national final in order to select its entry, a selection procedure that continued for its 2009 entry. The 2009 Bulgarian national final took place over two phases.
Before Eurovision
Bŭdi zvezda
Bŭdi zvezda was the first phase of the national final format developed by BNT which determined the artist and song that would represent Bulgaria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition consisted of three monthly selections between October and December 2008, held at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. All shows were hosted by Neli Atanasova and Dragomir Draganov and broadcast on BNT 1 as well as online via the broadcaster's website bnt.bg.Competing entries
On 6 July 2008, BNT opened a submission period for artists and songwriters to submit their entries until 19 September 2008. Songs were required to contain partial Bulgarian involvement. By the end of the deadline, the broadcaster received 45 eligible entries out of 54 submitted, which were announced on 20 September 2008.| Artist | Song | Songwriter |
| Anna Star | "Stranger" | Johannes Carlsson, Anna Star |
| Annayah | "Az te chakam" | Rosi Ovcharova |
| Antoniya Markova | "Don't Leave by the Day" | Pepi Pisarski |
| Biby Michael and Friends | "Vŭlshebni noti" | Biby Michael, Zhiva Kyuldzhieva |
| Bobi Kokera, Bleki and Sunnie | "Tozi pŭt" | Pepi Kostov, Bobi Kokera |
| Deyan Dzhenkov | "Imam tvoeto ime" | Rumyana Ivanova, Dani Milev |
| Emil Sokolov | "Deystvitelnost ili izmama" | Emil Sokolov, Petar Kamenovski |
| Emiliya Valenti | "S teb" | Stanislava Dimitrova-Sunnie, Aleks Husev |
| Fanagora and Milena Peeva | "Love Never Ends" | Ivan Tsanov, Kalina Nanovska |
| Freeway | "Sama" | Ivan Popov-Iven, Zlatoela Dimitrova |
| Georgi Varbanov | "Europe Is My Home!" | Georgi Varbanov |
| "Yasno slŭntse" | Dimcho Delev | |
| Hari Ot Balgaryia | "Bez dumi" | Hari |
| Iliyan Tsvetanov | "Tozi ritŭm" | Alexander Kiprov jr., Alexander Kiprov |
| Iskra and Misha Iliev | "Dokosni me" | Andro Stubel, Stoyan Stoyanov |
| "Zashto se vŭrna" | Iskren Petsov | |
| Itso Petroff and Priyateli | "Rokendrol izkustvo" | Itso Petroff, Konstantin Pashkulev |
| Ivelina | "Ready for Love" | Lubomir Boyanov, Ivan Laskov |
| Just Elly | "My Song" | Kiril Yanev, Elka Yankova |
| Konkurent | "Placha v noshtta" | Konkurent |
| Lazar Kisyov | "You're Not Alone" | Lazar Kisyov |
| Lorado | "More ot ekstaz" | Krasimir Krastev, Lorado |
| Mario Denev | "Lipsvash mi tatko" | Mario Denev |
| Mario Marinov | "La ragazza che ho lasciato" | Mario Marinov |
| Martin Aleksandrov | "Mi fai male" | Zhanet |
| Monika Kirovska | "I Won" | Tsvetan Vlaykov |
| Moto | "Razstoyaniya" | Nikolay Tomov |
| Perfect Stranger | "I Promise" | Konstantin Varbanov |
| Petya Hristova | "Sacred Journey" | Petya Hristova, Arnold Herman |
| Plamen Penev | "Dalechen svyat" | Plamen Penev, Petar Penev |
| Prima Vista | "Let's Spread Love" | Ilko Drenkov, Valentin Penzov |
| Ruth | "Sometimes" | Tomi Stefanov, Zhana Dushkova |
| Sahara | "Don't Kiss for Money" | Stefaan Yves Geert Fernande, Ingrid Mank |
| "Get Up" | Veselin Kalchev, Iordanka Ivanova | |
| "Neshto ludo" | Alexander Kiprov, Sunay Chalakov | |
| "Borrow from the Shadow" | Svetozar Hristov, Ventsislava Tumangelova | |
| Tedi Slavcheva feat. Teni and Iva | "Don't Look for Me" | Tedi Slavcheva, Teni Omede |
| Teodora Kutsarova | "Droga" | Petko Ivanov, Teodora Kutsarova |
| Tereza Kolarova | "Samo edno more" | Kamen Nikolov |
| Tsetso Vlaykov | "What Does It Take" | Tsvetan Vlaykov |
| Vatticana | "Sun Is Shining" | Detelin Dimitrov, Rosen Neshkov, Lubomir Dyulgerov, Jan Lund Dahlgren |
| Venelina Milanova | "Neka s pesen" | Simeon Smolev, Venelina Milanova |
| X-R@Y | "We" | Nikolay Dimitrov, Veselin Kirev, Nikolay Nikolov |
| Zheni Karavacheva | "Dumi" | Ivan Lechev, Vanya Shtereva |
| Zona | "Senki" | Hristo Markov, Alexander Krastev, Biser Veselinov |
Shows
October selection
The October selection took place between 2 and 23 October 2008. Three entries qualified to the final from each semi-final. A jury panel first selected one song to advance and the remaining entries then faced a public televote which determined an additional two qualifiers. In the final, the three entries that qualified to Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009” were selected exclusively by public televoting. An additional two entries, "Ready for Love" performed by Ivelina and "Razstoyaniya" performed by Moto, received wildcards and qualified to Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009”.;Key
Jury qualifier Public vote qualifier Wildcard qualifier
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place | Result |
| 1 | Monika Kirovska | "I Won" | 2.28% | 5 | Eliminated |
| 2 | Emil Sokolov | "Deystvitelnost ili izmama" | 4.86% | 4 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Ivelina | "Ready for Love" | 32.22% | 2 | Advanced |
| 4 | Perfect Stranger | "I Promise" | 38.60% | 1 | Advanced |
| 5 | Venelina Milanova | "Neka s pesen" | 22.04% | 3 | Advanced |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place | Result |
| 1 | Iskra and Misha Iliev | "Dokosni me" | 41.26% | 1 | Advanced |
| 2 | Prima Vista | "Let's Spread Love" | 17.14% | 3 | Advanced |
| 3 | Konkurent | "Placha v noshtta" | 4.23% | 5 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Mario Marinov | "La ragazza che ho lasciato" | 14.40% | 4 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Tereza Kolarova | "Samo edno more" | 22.97% | 2 | Advanced |
| Draw | Artist | Song | Televote | Place | Result |
| 1 | Iliyan Tsvetanov | "Tozi ritŭm" | 28.52% | 2 | Advanced |
| 2 | Teodora Kutsarova | "Droga" | 11.42% | 4 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Ruth | "Sometimes" | 6.25% | 5 | Advanced |
| 4 | Deyan Dzhenkov | "Imam tvoeto ime" | 37.21% | 1 | Advanced |
| 5 | Moto | "Razstoyaniya" | 16.60% | 3 | Wildcard |