A member of Equinox, the group which represented Bulgaria in 2018, has confirmed on Twitter that Bulgaria are withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest. JJ, also known by his full name Georgi Simeonov, said “it’s extremely sad and disappointing” that Bulgaria will withdraw from the event. In a later tweet, he then went on to say that it was due to finance, rather than performance.

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As far as I know it's mainly finacial reason. — JJ (@itsJJofficial) October 13, 2018

Screenshot of JJ’s original tweets, following the deletion of his initial tweet.

Cryptic tweets allow Eurovision fans to decipher the news

Throughout yesterday evening, the official Twitter account for the Bulgarian delegation was publishing messages which thank a large array of individuals that have helped the nation progress at both the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision Song Contest over the past four years.

Bulgaria has earned second place in both contests, has successfully hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Sofia and gained a lot of respect within the Eurovision fanbase for turning their fortunes around so dramatically and gaining three consecutive qualifications to the Final in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

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More information and detailed explanations about the current situation regarding the Bulgarian participation at ESC and the future of the project will be released soon. Until that we won't comment on any informations from other sources than BNT. Thank you for the understanding. — BNT Eurovision Bulgaria 🇧🇬 (@bg_eurovision) October 12, 2018

We’ve detected that JavaScript is disabled in your browser. Would you like to proceed to legacy Twitter? “The broadcaster will clarify all the facts and reasons” behind Bulgaria’s withdrawal in a statement “as soon as possible”.

Whilst we still await the press release, we previously reported that the departing Eurovision project co-ordinator for Bulgaria marked his final day by writing “the most difficult press release”. At the time, it had become clear to ESCXTRA that things had turned sour fast for Bulgaria and all signs were pointing to a shock withdrawal.

Based on the tweets alone, and without a press release to confirm our thinking, this seems to be a decision which has been taken by the broadcaster about Eurovision but not by the hard-working delegation which has turned the nation’s fortunes around at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Poli Genova became a fan favourite with her performance of “Na inat”. Whilst not qualifying for the grand final at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, it is widely respected as Bulgaria’s best non-qualifying entry. Genova returned to Eurovision in 2016 after successfully hosting the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

We will continue to bring you all the latest on this developing story about Bulgaria’s withdrawal. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA.