Bulgaria's Drumming Duo Elitsa and Stoyan to Take on Eurovision Again

Bulgaria's state-owned national television has put an end to its quest to find an entry for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden, taking an unexpected decision.

The drumming duo Elitsa and Stoyan Yankulov-Stundzhi will represent Bulgaria at the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest, six years after winning the hearts of millions of viewers around Europe, BTN announced.

The selection was made by an internal committee of the Bulgarian National Television according to the approved regulations. The producers and experts picked Elitsa and Stundzhi because they are the most successful representatives that Bulgaria has had and they have already won the vote of the general public in 2006.

"It is an honour for us to show the hard work we have done, our music and ideas at this prestigious European contest," Elitsa Todorova said after the news broke.

"This is an excellent platform for us to work for the positive image of our country and to show the unity and hospitality of Bulgarians as a people who have an ancient culture, as well as our identity as a nation."

"We will do our best to represent Bulgaria with dignity and to be remembered as warriors of our time with free spirits and extraordinary zest and ambition. Bulgarian music and our love of our roots and our folklore is the key to our success."

Stoyan Yankulov commented:

"After our participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 I expected that sooner or later we will be invited again. This is a great responsibility for us. I cannot guarantee that we will win but we will do our best. I am hoping that everyone who believed that we should have won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 will once again back us."

The 2013 Eurovision song contest will take place in Malmo, Sweden, following the victory of Loreen in Azerbaijan last year.

Eurovision official site commented that sending musicians with previous experience at the Eurovision Song Contest is a popular practice and in recent years it has been used by other countries as well: Serbia with Zeljko Joksimovic, Germany with Lena, Greece with Sakis Rouvas, Ireland with Jedward.

This year 9 more countries shall select their representative by means of internal selection: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Armenia, Great Britain, France, Georgia,Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Montenegro.

Bulgaria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eight times since its debut in 2005, but it was only the duo Elitsa and Stundzhi that brought success to the country and reached the finals in 2007.

Bulgaria's song Water grabbed the fifth spot at Eurovision final in Helsinki in May 2007, while another Balkan country - Serbia came in first

Combining a modern drumming beat, a traditional Bulgarian folk song and impressive performance, Water won wide support in Europe.

Bulgarians were awarded the maximum 12 points from neighbouring Greece, while Cyprus and Spain placed us second with 10 points from each country. Macedonia placed Water 3rd, with 8 points.

After the initial excitement over their participation in the contest many Bulgarians already consider the Eurovision experience to be either sloppy or dire, a competition decided mainly by political back-scratching.

Still amidst a period of effacement and chalga-risation of Bulgarian music, the intensity of Bulgaria's duo Elitsa and Stundzhi six years ago convinced many that the music jamboree still matters, at least as a medium of the traditional and authentic on a modern note.