Bulgaria 2021- Victoria with ‘Growing Up Is Getting Old ’
After as much teasing as possible, Bulgaria have unveiled Victoria’s entry:
Bulgaria clearly had their mind set on ‘Growing Up Is Getting Old’ from the start with all of the fan feedback being met with a ‘nah, we know better’. They may or may not but there's no point in debating whether this was the right choice at this stage.
Victoria certainly knows her genre and style with her list of songs reading like a suicide note. In fact, that could easily be a song title on her next album.
‘GUIGO’ is a strong and intricate composition on its own merit and is closer in spirit to ‘Tears Getting Sober’. There's a Iot for juries to appreciate and this will surely be around their top top 3, this ticks every single box, which is no accident; Bulgaria know what they are doing.
The only concern I have is on the televote side. Whilst this style may be authentic to her, you have to worry at least slightly whether the televote could dismiss her as a ‘Billie Eilish wannabe’. It’s not bad to sound contemporary of course, and juries won’t be bothered one bit, however there’s just something about this that may come across as too manufactured, which to be fair has been a theme of some of Bulgaria’s recent efforts.
Victoria may just be good enough so that doesn't become an issue. Maybe Germany 2018 is suitable to mention here, a package that was too good to be dismissed as an ‘Ed Sheeran clone’. If Bulgaria were to have gone with one or two of the other song selections, I would be much more concerned with the Eilish comparisons.
The downbeat nature of the song is another small concern but there's a big gap for this music this year as the best and most contemporary english language entry yet, in a field full of pop bangers. Whilst Victoria delivers it well, I'm not sure if there's that sort of captivating emotion there that is needed to draw people in to what is an artsy and quite pretentious number. Is the televote going to buy into the emotion and mental health message or think she is just being ‘a little dramatic’?I'm not convinced and it's the sort of element we can only fully judge in Rotterdam.
Bulgaria do have a good run up potentially, starting in the second half of semi 2. They’ll do well there and will almost certainly benefit in the final with a good running order.
I would hope a good staging plan is part of the reason Bulgaria seemed to have ignored the majority opinion here and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in that they are able to create the necessary intimate atmosphere. This just about makes the cut as a contender, but should coming releases impress or certain countries *cough* Sweden make the correct choice, this may be one of the first to slip down for me.
Personal Rating: 5/10. Competitive Rating: 9/10. Early Prediction: Semi 2 1st-3rd, 1st-5th in the Final.