Bulgaria’s national selection today has shortlisted its acts from thirty-three to twenty-two after six long auditioning hours held at the BNT studios. These chosen acts will go through the two semifinals, starting on January 14th. The jury (called 'Academy' in the Bulgarian selection) and the viewers via SMS voting will determine the 12 finalists that will fight for the ticket to Baku on a still-to-be-decided date, most probably in February. One should keep in mind that the nation of Bulgaria have only made it to the finals on just one occasion at the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2007 as they presented the song 'Water' performed by Elitsa & Stoyan.

The interest this year has also been remarkably impressive with the acts proposed by the large panel of judges seemingly agreeing on the artists. The broadcaster responsible for the pre-selection process are trying to select the best possible song for the annual music competition with an aim to reach the most positive result ever for the nation following a number of non-qualifications. These are the 22 qualifiers in Bulgaria, as rated today by the 'Academy':

1. Group 'New 5' - Chance for better life

2. Ivaylo Kolev - Searching for the words

3. Desislava (Dess) - Live is alive

4. Tsvetelin Atanasov-Elvisa ft. DZ - Love goes around

5. Sofi Marinova - Prosto lyubov

6. Steliyana Hristova - Putyat

7. Alex & 4Give - Dream

8. Margarita Hranova - Proshka

9. Todor Gadzhalov - Still love you

10. Viktoriya Dimitrova - Novo nebe

11. Svetozan Hristov - Keep me down

12. Group 'Better than grey' - Dream

13. Georgi Vurbanov - This is my green wave

14. Sonya Ivanova - Finalna lyubov

15. Rene Ranev - Alone

16. Teni Omede - Without you

17. Sunnie - Shut your mouth and do it

18. Vyara Pantaleeva - Vyara

19. Ivaylo Kolev - Ima li put

20. Simona Sivanio - Eternal

21. Monika Kirovska - You are my angel

22. Group 'Go Week' - The way you see the world

Source: BNT