BalkanVision Song Contest 27

Participation map
* Confirmed countries that have selected their song and/or performer     Confirmed countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in #27
* **BalkanVision Song Contest**
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The **BalkanVision Song Contest 27** will be the twenty-seventh edition of the BalkanVision Song Contest. The contest will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria. following Bulgaria's win at the BalkanVision Song Contest 26 in Limassol, Cyprus, with the song "alright.", performed by Victoria. The contest will consist of a final. The event is organized by the Balkan Broadcasting Union and hosted by BNT. The event is sponsored by *TBA*. Twenty-two countries will participate. San Marino, Slovakia and Slovenia will return after a one-edition absence and Republika Srpska after a six-edition absence. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Monaco and Switzerland withdrew.

## Location

Preparations for the twenty-seventh edition began on the 9 August 2020, immediately after Bulgaria won the twenty-sixth edition in Limassol, Cyprus. The Balkan Broadcasting Union (BBU) handed BNT, the Bulgarian participating broadcaster, a stack of documents and a USB drive with tools to begin the work needed to host the next edition.

### Bidding phase

Burgas
Plovdiv
Shumen
**Sofia**
Varna

On the 9 August 2020, it was confirmed by BNT that 5 cities had submitted bids to host the contest. The hosting broadcaster reviewed the bids presented and on the 10 August 2020 announced that it eliminated those for Plovdiv, Shumen and Varna, shortlisting the two remaining cities - Burgas and Sofia. On the 11 August 2020, Sofia was announced as the host city. Below are the 5 cities and their bids:

**Key**:  †  Host venue  ‡  Shortlisted venues

 Shumen | Arena Shumen
 Sofia | Arena Armeec †
 Varna | Palace of Culture and Sports | 6,000

### About the host city

**Sofia** (Bulgarian: София) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. The city is at the foot of Vitosha mountain in the western part of the country. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, and closest to the Aegean Sea.

Sofia is the 13th largest city in the European Union. The city is surrounded by mountains, such as Mount Vitosha by the southern side, Lyulin by the western side, and the Balkan Mountains by the north, which makes it the second highest European capital after Madrid. The city is built on the Iskar river, and has many mineral springs, such as the Sofia Central Mineral Baths. Sofia has a humid continental climate.

Sofia has been described as the 'triangle of religious tolerance'. This is due to the fact that three colossal temples of the three world major religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism, reside inside the borders of the city, which are the Sveta Nedelya Church, Banya Bashi Mosque and Sofia Synagogue.

Being Bulgaria's primate city, Sofia is home of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies. Sofia is one of the top ten best places for start-up businesses in the world, especially in information technologies. Sofia was Europe's most affordable capital to visit in 2013. In 1979, the Boyana Church in Sofia was included onto the World Heritage List, and it was deconstructed in the Second Bulgarian Empire, holding a lot of symbolic heritage to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

With its cultural significance in Eastern Europe, Sofia is home to the National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria, the National Palace of Culture, the Vasil Levski National Stadium, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the National Archaeological Museum, and the Serdica Amphitheatre. The Museum of Socialist Art includes a lot of sculptures and posters that educate visitors about the lifestyle in communist Bulgaria.

The population of Sofia declined down from 70,000 in the late 18th century, through 19,000 in 1870, to 11,649 in 1878 and began increasing. Sofia hosts some 1.23 million residents within a territory of 492 km2, a concentration of 17.5% of the country population within the 200th percentile of the country territory. The urban area of Sofia hosts some 1.54 million residents within 5723 km², which comprises Sofia City Province and parts of Sofia Province (Dragoman, Slivnitsa, Kostinbrod, Bozhurishte, Svoge, Elin Pelin, Gorna Malina, Ihtiman, Kostenets) and Pernik Province (Pernik, Radomir), representing 5.16% of the country territory. The metropolitan area of Sofia is based upon one hour of car travel time, stretches internationally and includes Dimitrovgrad in Serbia. Unlike most European metropolitan areas, it is not to be defined as a substantially functional metropolitan area, but is of the type with "limited variety of functions". The metropolitan region of Sofia is inhabited by a population of 1.68 million and is made up of the whole provinces Sofia City, Sofia and Pernik, comprising more than 10,000 km².

## Format

### Visual design

The theme for the edition, *wounds will heal*, was unveiled on the 11 August 2020, shortly after the host city announcement.

### Presenter(s)

Mihaela Marinova and Nikolaos Tsitiridis were selected to host on the 11 August 2020.

### Running order

The running order was created by the producers.

## Other countries

Further information: List of countries in the BalkanVision Song Contest
Eligibility for potential participation in the BalkanVision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active BBU membership that will be able to broadcast the contest. The BBU had issued an invitation of participation in the contest to all active members.

### Active BBU members

* Albania - Despite being invited by the BBU to return, RTSH denied the offer on the 21 August 2020, without citing any reasons.

* Bavaria - On the 24 July 2020, it was announced that the Bavarian HoD had left their position due to scheduling issues, making a Bavarian return unlikely. In the end, Bavaria wasn't on the final list of participants.

* Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosnian broadcaster BHRT announced on the 24 July 2020 that the country would decide whether it will participate after the results of the BalkanVision Song Contest 26. However, the country was barred participation on the 30 July 2020 after failing to give an accurate vote in the previous edition.

* Cyprus - On the 20 August 2020, Cypriot broadcaster CyBC announced that the country was withdrawing after their head of delegation left their position.

* Czech Republic - ČT announced on the 16 August 2020 that the country would not be returning due to a lack of interest by the public.

* Kosovo - Kosovar broadcaster RTK stated on the 14 August 2020 that they were unsure about participation. Kosovo wasn't on the final list of participants.

* Moldova - On the 31 July, Moldovan broadcaster TRM announced that the country would not be making their return citing financial difficulties as the reason.

* Monaco - On the 28 July 2020, it was announced that the Monégasque head of delegation had left their position, putting the nation's participation in doubt. Later on the same day, TMC announced the nation's withdrawal.

* Switzerland - On the 20 July 2020, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR confirmed the country's withdrawal without citing any reasons. However, later that same afternoon, it was announced that Switzerland is most likely going to return in the twenty-eighth edition.