BNT has named host Vladimira Ilieva as Bulgaria’s spokesperson for the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, and she will reveal the Bulgarian jury’s points in the final on May 16.
Ilieva is a host on BNT and currently presents a youth-focused show on the Bulgarian broadcaster. Her appointment puts a familiar public face on one of the contest’s most watched moments, when each country hands out its jury votes live to millions of viewers.
The announcement comes as Bulgaria’s Eurovision 2026 campaign takes shape around DARA, who won Natsionalnata selektsiya to become the country’s representative. A separate show was then used to choose her song, and she will perform Bangaranga in Vienna. The track was written and composed by Anne Judith Wik, Cristian Tarcea, Dimitris Kontopoulos and DARA herself.
DARA is set to sing Bangaranga in the second semi-final on Thursday, 16 May, and will open the show. For Bulgaria, the timing matters because the country is trying to build on the momentum of a run that has produced both near-misses and hard-earned breakthroughs in a contest where it has qualified for the Grand Final five times out of thirteen attempts.
Bulgaria first entered Eurovision in Kyiv in 2005 and competed every year until 2013, when it withdrew for two years because of financial issues. It returned in 2016 and, through the 2022 contest, had qualified for the final in every edition it entered after coming back. That streak included one of its best results, when 17-year-old Kristian Kostov finished second in the Grand Final in 2017.
The latest announcement fits that pattern of selective but often effective participation. BNT is pairing a young, recognisable broadcaster with an artist who already won the national selection process, while the song itself carries the names of experienced Eurovision writers alongside DARA. For Bulgaria, the next clear milestone is May 16, when Ilieva will deliver the jury points and DARA will try to turn an opening-night performance in the second semi-final into another place in the final.
