Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Country	Bulgaria
National selection
Selection process	Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009”
Selection date(s)	Bŭdi zvezda: 2 October 2008 – 18 December 2008 Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009”: Semi-final: 24 January 2009 Final: 21 February 2009
Selected artist(s)	Krassimir Avramov
Selected song	"Illusion"
Selected songwriter(s)	Krassimir Avramov William Tabanou Casie Tabanou
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (16th)
Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2008 • 2009 • 2010►

Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Illusion" written by Krassimir Avramov, William Tabanou and Casie Tabanou. The song was performed by Avramov. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2009” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia. 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.^[1]