Bulgaria returns to Eurovision with Victoria’s ‘Tears Getting Sober’
When Bulgaria came back to Eurovision in 2016, after years of non-qualification and taking a break of two years, they came back stronger with a 4th, 2nd and 14th place consecutively. They had to miss the 2019 edition, because of financial reasons, but the Bulgarians are back! They internally selected singer Victoria Georgieva to represent them with the song ‘Tears Getting Sober’, co-written by Victoria herself, Borislav Milanov and a team of songwriters.
Avid followers of the contest know Milanov by now, as he composed Bulgaria’s successful 2016-2018 Eurovision entries, as well as Austria’s 2018 top 3 song ‘Noboby But You’ and this year’s German entry ‘Violent Thing’. With 22-year-old Victoria, he created a different sound. ‘Tears Getting Sober’ is a quiet ballad about the process of healing after a dark period, performed with subtle vocal work and an understated build up. From the first tones on, global super star Billie Eilish and her songs like ‘When The Party’s Over’ and ‘Lovely’ come to mind. The sparse piano and string production and those little humming choir moments were definitely inspired by her sound. The more ‘Tears Getting Sober’ progresses however, it gives you a bit of a Disney-feel as well and the little key change when the last chorus kicks in is a euphoric Eurovision moment.
‘Tears Getting Sober’ might be understated for the most part, the chorus does have a strong, soaring and instantly memorable melody, which will sure help Bulgaria’s chances. No doubt the juries and people at home might hear the similarities with Billie Eilish too, but it doesn’t take away from ‘Tears Getting Sober’ being a well-written composition and hopefully Victoria will be able to do it justice live on stage. With a staging similar to the accompanying music video, I can easily see Victoria bringing Bulgaria back to the top 10 and potentially top 5 on Saturday night.
MORE EUROVISION 2020 REVIEWS: ALBANIA – ARMENIA – AUSTRALIA – BELARUS – BELGIUM – CZECH REPUBLIC – ESTONIA – FRANCE – GEORGIA – GERMANY – GREECE – ICELAND – ISRAEL – ITALY – LATVIA – LITHUANIA – THE NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – POLAND – ROMANIA – SLOVENIA – SPAIN – SWITZERLAND – UKRAINE – UNITED KINGDOM