Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

On 10 February 2013, BNT announced that a committee had internally selected Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov to represent Bulgaria in Malmö. The committee consisted of BNT 1 producers, which conducted a survey among Bulgarian Eurovision fans resulting in the selection of Elitsa and Stoyan for the competition.[4] Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankulov previously represented Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 where they placed fifth with the song "Water".[5] It was also announced that a national final would be organised to select their song.[6]

Five songs were submitted by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov and on 17 February 2013, the three songs selected for the competition by the committee were presented during the BNT 1 programme Nedelya x 3.[7] The national final took place on 3 March 2013 at the BNT studios in Sofia, hosted by Dragomir Draganov and broadcast on BNT 1 as well as online via the broadcaster's website bnt.bg and the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv.[8][9] All three competing songs were performed by Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov and "Kismet" was selected as the winning song by the 50/50 combination of votes awarded by public televoting and a jury panel. The five-person jury consisted of Maria Ganeva, Nelly Rangelova, Yasen Kozev, Nikolay Yanchovichin and Georgi Andreev.[10] "Kismet" and "Samo shampioni" were tied at 10 points each but since "Kismet" received the most votes from the public it was declared the winning song.[11] In addition to the performances of the songs, guest performers were 2011 Bulgarian Eurovision Song Contest entrant Poli Genova and 2013 Swiss Eurovision Song Contest entrant Heilsarmee.[12]

On 11 March, BNT announced that "Kismet" had been withdrawn from the competition after the broadcaster had not been able to secure its copyrights from Jonatan Tesei, one of the apparent songwriters that they were misinformed about. Runner-up of the national final, "Samo shampioni", replaced the song as the Bulgarian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.[13]

Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Samo shampioni" as the Bulgarian Eurovision entry. On 13 April, Elitsa performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Marlayne and Linda Wagenmakers.[14] On the same day, Stoyan performed during concerts held in Brussels, Belgium.[15] On 22 April, Elitsa performed during an event which was organised by OGAE Greece and held at the Gasoline Bar in Athens, Greece.[16]

Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov during a rehearsal before the second semi-final

Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov took part in technical rehearsals on 8 and 11 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 15 and 16 May. This included the jury show on 15 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.

The Bulgarian performance featured Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov performing a drum routine, joined on stage by a bagpipe player on the right of the stage and three backing vocalists. Elitsa also performed choreography which included kneeling down and throwing her drumsticks which were luminous. Elitsa and Stoyan as well as the bagpiper finished the performance on the stage catwalk with the bagpiper carrying a Western Bulgarian traditional feathered mask.[20][21] The bagpiper that joined Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov was Venci Venc', while the three backing vocalists were members of the Dragostin Folk National choir: Bilyana Sokolova, Biserka Danova-Pilarska and Desislava Georgieva.[22][23]

At the end of the show, Bulgaria was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.[24] It was later revealed that Bulgaria placed twelfth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 45 points.[25]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Bulgaria had placed sixth ith the public televote and seventeenth (last) with the jury vote in the second semi-final. In the public vote, Bulgaria received an average rank of 7.44, while with the jury vote, Bulgaria received an average rank of 10.75.

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Bulgaria and awarded by Bulgaria in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Azerbaijan in the semi-final and the final of the contest.