Bulgaria among the favourites once more with Kristian Kostov’s ballad
Bulgaria was one of the biggest revelations of last year’s Eurovision with their best result so far, a fourth position for Poli Genova’s contemporary pop song ‘If Love Was A Crime’. “Never change a winning team”, the Bulgarian delegation must have thought, as they kept the same team of composers, consisting of Borislav Milanov, Sebastian Arman and Joachim Persson. They wrote the ballad ‘Beautiful Mess’, which will be performed by the 17-year-old Kristian Kostov in Kiev in May.

Kostov already has quite some experience with big stages as he first broke through in the Russian version of The Voice Kids. Later he finished as a runner up in the Bulgarian version of X Factor. The young performer has a warm voice that seems perfectly suitable for a ballad like ‘Beautiful Mess’, although we still have to wait for the first live performance. The track itself is, just like last year, a modern production, echoing some soundscapes made popular by Justin Bieber on his latest album. For ‘Beautiful Mess’, even some Balkan touches are added in the intro and instrumental post chorus.

The chorus has a beautiful soaring melody and an uplifting message and if Kristian manages to sound anything like the studio recording in a live setting, he will warm the hearts of a lot of young girls in Europe. The only thing that slightly bugs me about ‘Beautiful Mess’ is the rhyming in the chorus that feels a bit forced at times. Oh well, we can’t have it all! According to the bookmakers Bulgaria stands a good chance of gaining a  top 5 result, just like last year! The success of their 2016 entry did not go unnoticed by the Macedonian and Serbian delegations, who both picked a song by the same composers to represent them. Interestingly enough, all three songs will compete in the second semi final. That will be an interesting battle! Either way, Bulgaria can be proud of another serious contender with a modern sound and quality composition!

Update: Kristian Kostov premiered his video for ‘Beautiful Mess’ and it seems like the Bulgarian deligation is on the right track when it comes to the visuals as well! The music video fits perfectly with the song and a same vibe on stage could make this track go all the way. The bookmakers currently predict Bulgaria as the runner-up!

UPDATE – Review on semi final performance:
This year already quite a few early favourites disappointed during their live performances, but not Kristian Kostov from Bulgaria. The 17-year-old pop star who is currently in top 3 of the betting odds predicting the winner of Eurovision, kept his cool and gave a both vocally and visually convincing performance of his song ‘Beautiful Mess’. The staging is dark, which fits the lyrics of his contemporary ballad with some subtle folk influences. Italy and Portugal better watch this young man, because he does stand a real chance of grabbing the victory in Saturday’s grand final. I sure would be satisfied with Bulgaria on top of the scoreboard as it is one of the best songs and performances of the year!

UPDATE – Review on final performance and result (2nd):
Bulgaria was one of the favourites for the win this year and the incredibly talented 17-year-old Kristian Kostov did not let that mess with his head. As if he never did anything else, he completely owned the stage with spot on vocals and beautiful visuals. ‘Beautiful Mess’ was a winner worthy song, although it turned out Portugal’s entry was too strong to beat. A second spot with both juries and televoters is an impressive result and Bulgaria’s best so far! They are well on their way to win the contest soon if they are able to continue what they started in 2016 and 2017.

Check all Eurovision 2017 reviews: Albania – Armenia – Australia – Austria – Azerbaijan – Belarus – Belgium – Bulgaria – Croatia – Cyprus – Czech Republic – Denmark – Estonia – Finland – France – FYR Macedonia – Georgia – Germany – Greece – Hungary – Iceland – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Latvia – Lithuania – Malta – Moldova – Montenegro – The Netherlands – Norway – Poland – Portugal – Romania – San Marino – Serbia – Slovenia – Spain – Sweden – Switzerland – Ukraine – United Kingdom