Bulgaria: Equinox – Bones

Shi: One day, PR academic programs will teach a class called “Bulgaria 2018: How to create a narrative and make people believe it”. Thanks to two top-five finishes and some clever social media tactics, Bulgaria – who prior to 2016 failed to qualify six times in a row – managed to lead the betting odds for a long time prior to this year’s song being revealed. We were promised something daring, risky, different, a worthy winning candidate, and expectations were set accordingly. As so often with hypes like this, there are plenty of people expressing their opinions very loudly from the “this is a masterpiece” camp and the “this is utter crap” camp alike. And as so often, the truth is somewhere in the middle. It’s an alright song, modern, well-produced, and it does stand out in the crowd.

However, it’s performed by a group of five soloists, none of whom are particularly likable or charismatic, none of whom have worked together before, for no apparent reason other than the desire to have some kind of special concept. The vocal arrangement has the makings of a live performance disaster, and splitting a supposedly emotional song five ways makes it hard for the audience to connect with the performer(s). “Bones” could still do pretty well if they manage to get everything right, but what can I say? Good luck with that.

Martin: I’ve been put off by the hype too, but underneath all that, “Bones” is an earwormy little grower of a song. Whether that’s enough to overcome the potential issues with the staging, as Shi rightly points out, remains to be seen. But it’s dark, moody and a bit silly, which: mi piace.

Felix: That’s it? That’s what they created a hype campaign for? Well, I’ve heard worse songs before, but Bulgaria is far from my personal top 10. Still, at least they remain one of the more variety-friendly countries at Eurovision.

video and title image source: eurovision.tv