National Selection Format
The Bulgarian national final was divided into two parts. First to take place, was a show titled "Be A Star" which consisted of nine heats, and three monthly finals. The second stage titled "Bulgarian Song for Eurovision 2009" will include a semi-final and a grand final.
45 songs competed in nine heats of "Be A Star" with five songs competing each week. After every third heat, a monthly final was held where the nine winning songs from the previous three heats were performed again and voted on, with three going on to the semi-final, a part of "Bulgarian Song for Eurovision". 18 songs in total will compete in the semi-final, to be held on January 24, 2009.
At the semi-final, the first part of "Bulgarian Song for Eurovision", there will be the nine songs chosen through the three monthly finals of "Be A Star" along with nine more chosen by a jury who will choose from songs submitted at a later deadline and songs that did not qualify from the heats and quarter-finals. The semi-final will be held on January 24, 2009. Nine songs will make it through the semi-final to the final through televoting and they will be joined by an additional three songs chosen internally by BNT. The final decision, to be made on February 21, 2009, will be decided solely by the public through televoting and SMS text voting.
All songs submitted for "Be A Star" had to be by Bulgarian singers, but the choice of language was up to its writers. The submission deadline for songs was September 19, 2008, and 54 songs were sent in to compete in the heats of "Be A Star", but eight were disqualified having already been released before October 1 or not original works, violations of the contest's rules.
Read more about this topic: Bulgaria In The Eurovision Song Contest 2009
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