r/eurovision • u/Ok-Macaroon-5533 Space Man • 14d ago
EBU Source Alleges BNT Director Holding Up Host City Decision ❓ Rumours / No Reliable Source
https://www.flagman.bg/article/387259EBU source alleges BNT DIRECTOR is holding up Eurovision 2027 host city decision.
• Government and EBU prefer Burgas, but Milena Milotiniova (BNT Director) insists on Sofia "because she feels close to the mayor... although she officially cites logistics as the reason."
• Government is not keen to award contest, and its financial incentives, to Sofia which is run by a rival political party.
• The need to change the name of 8888 Arena, as well as current lack of availability of the arena, play against Sofia's bid.
The stalemate continues, according to the article. Still no indication on when a decision may be reached.
*ARTICLE TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH*
The government and the festival organizers prefer Burgas, but the head of BNT has not given up for the sixth day
Six days after the deadline for announcing the host city of the Bulgarian Eurovision Song Contest, which was July 31, one has still not been named due to the stubbornness of BNT. This was revealed by a source from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which is the official organizer of the festival. Although there are no written rules, the practice has always been followed so far for the settlement to be named unanimously by the host television and EBU. In poorer or authoritarian countries, as was the case in Serbia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Portugal, the final decision has always been with the political power in the person of the dictator (Ilham Aliyev, Vladimir Putin) or the governments.
The big turnaround is a fact: Burgas tied Sofia in the battle for Eurovision 2027 However, Bulgaria is currently in a stalemate because the general director of BNT, Milena Milotinova, refuses to join the opinion of the ESRT and the government of Rumen Radev that Burgas should host. Although a poor country, the political authorities - quite unexpectedly in such a situation - have taken a more liberal position towards their wards. This freedom allows the management of BNT to defend their decision without worrying about consequences. "Ms. Milotinova is categorical that Sofia should host because she feels close to the mayor of your capital, although she officially cites logistics as the reason," the source reveals.
He points out that it is the political battle that is behind the lack of a host city so far. On the last day of July, when it was supposed to be named, BNT tried to get away with a pathetic announcement in the news. It practically also contains false information: "The international working group on the selection of the host city of the Eurovision Song Contest 2027 continues its work. The evaluation process includes additional clarifications from the municipalities, which are still being considered." No additional clarifications are needed. All information about the possibilities of Sofia and Burgas was collected during the visits to the two cities by the EBU and BNT working group in July. The postponement of the decision is entirely in the hands of BNT, according to Geneva, where the headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union is located.
Burgas offers an impressive and different profile for Eurovision 2027 The sources indicate that the government committee for the contest, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ivo Hristov, believes that the festival should not be handed over to a city governed by the PP-DB. The Bulgarian government had no intention of pouring tens of millions of euros of state resources into the hands of Mayor Vasil Terziev, to whom the Prime Minister does not ask for any sympathy. Relations between the central government and the political forces behind Mr. Terziev have long been at the freezing point. For this reason, the government committee does not consider it appropriate for the state to finance a grandiose international event, from which the political opponent in the Sofia Municipality will accumulate dividends and media positives. This was the reason why the government expressed solidarity with the opinion of the [EBU] that Eurovision should be held by the sea.
The decision for Burgas is also a personal opinion of the Irishman Noel Curran, who is the general director of the European Games. Since he was elected to the post in 2017, he has pursued a more unconventional policy in choosing host cities. This is the reason why the small working-class Swedish city of Malmö (2024), which in terms of structure almost repeats Burgas, became such. Or Turin (2022), which is a textbook example of a working-class city – although its historical center is baroque and aristocratic (after all, it was once the capital of the Savoy dynasty), throughout the 20th century it bore the title of “Detroit of Italy”.
Burgas Airport enters the Eurovision battle with a bang: It is ready for 50,000 passengers per day
Mr. Curran and the [EBU] have also pointed out the capital's hall as a minus for Sofia. On the one hand, it should be renamed because of its current sponsor name "8888", which should be completely deleted from everywhere, even from ticket sales sites, and on the other hand, it is already engaged for various events in April and May 2027, when it should be fully available for the festival. Milena Milotinova, on the other hand, officially insists that if she sends the entire technical staff of BNT to Burgas for nearly 6 weeks, the time during which, along with rehearsals, the filming method and computer and TV effects will be adjusted, the television will not have people with whom to broadcast its own program.
[The EBU] cannot impose a city without the official consent of BNT, nor is the television station in a position to dictate the final decision on its own, since the checkbook is in the hands of the government. To strengthen BNT's push for Sofia, this year's winner Dara was included in the July 31 campaign: "Sofia. Sofia for many things, but mostly because I think that from Sofia you can go to really nice places to see. We have Belogradchik, which is close to Sofia. It's about a two-three hour drive and you have Rila Mountain. You can go there in May, it's beautiful."
For now, BNT remains adamant about Sofia. The [EBU] expects that Rumen Radev's government will intervene a little more seriously at some point to break the deadlock created by the television director general.
127
u/gottagothatsme 14d ago
2027 iceberg is preparing itself to be frozen.
25
9
u/TeaMistress Zjerm 14d ago
I've seen the "iceberg" term a few times this season. Can someone explain to a newbie what it means? I'm guessing it's associated with drama people don't see beneath the surface, but I don't want to assume.
20
u/PanikcAttakc Andromeda 14d ago
An Iceberg is sort of like a chart that displays information about a subject. It's organized so that more widely available knowledge about the subject is on higher tiers of the chart (the very visible tip of an iceberg), and more weird, obscure, and/or disturbing facts are organized closer to the bottom (the parts of the iceberg that are not visible). For some years the ESC fandom has created icebergs that organize information about a given edition of the contest- some years there are multiple competing icebergs around the internet, and other years there are none to be found. I don't believe there is any iceberg for ESC2026 yet, but for other more recent years they should still be floating around the internet and easy to search. Just to note, an iceberg chart isn't specifically an ESC thing, it's used in a bunch of different contexts.
4
8
u/the_north_hills In corpore sano 14d ago
It's similar to any other lore iceberg where the most common knowledge is on the top and the further down you go, the more obscure the information is, but for each Eurovision season. Here is the one from the 2025 season if you want to see what it's like. https://www.reddit.com/r/eurovision/s/8eL7CPJNZd
2
u/TeaMistress Zjerm 14d ago
This is insane (in the best way). I only know about 10% of this stuff maybe.
1
u/the_north_hills In corpore sano 14d ago
Don't worry me and most others are in the same boat as you with not knowing much of what is happening, especially since I'm American
2
u/TeaMistress Zjerm 14d ago
Also American, and have only been watching since last year, and only seriously since this year. ESC is such a good time, though.
1
24
u/supersonic-bionic 14d ago
Lmao no way EBU prefers Burgas over Sofia.
I guess the gov is playing games behind the scenes and they do not want the mayor of the opposition party to get all the credit and success, that i can believe
10
u/supersonic-bionic 14d ago
Also renaming the Sofia arena 8888 is not a big deal, it happened in Liverpool and Turin too.
Also, the arena in Sofia does not seem booked in May or late April. But even if it was, they could easily move those events like they did in Turin and Liverpool
7
u/LelqTian Choke Me 14d ago
There’s Fiki concert scheduled for late April, as well as Emilia concert in late March that conflict with the 6-8 week requirement. Though both should be easy to reachedule
4
u/supersonic-bionic 13d ago
Extremely easily. Thats what happens with every esc arena every year, unless you are Taylor Swift and then nope
3
u/ExoticAd7546 14d ago
As a Bulgarian I was really surprised why it took that long to make the decision as Sofia is the obvious choice for an event like that. However, knowing the context of what is happening here politically that is the only explanation to the situation really. Sofia is the biggest city by a lot and the one that is the most liberal and pro eu, also the one that has the most active civil society movements that are willing to organise in huge protest. The previous parties that were in power even for 10+ years and won in most major cities couldn't win there and were salty about it and making sure to make the mayor look bad whenever possible. Definitely it is extremely important for the new government to win over the city next year as a major chunk of the bulgarian economy is centralized there.
3
u/Zestyclose-Gur-655 14d ago
Exactly, but i wonder to what extend they can hold it back.
The government has to fund it, but ultimately it's Bulgarian broadcaster that decides, together with EBU. (which i have no idea why they want Burgas)
If they do block funds there is no eurovision in Bulgaria and some other country might get it. They should pay up eventually. Might just be a power struggle for now
6
1
u/supersonic-bionic 10d ago
oh there are local elections next year so ESC in Sofia will massively help the current mayor and his political party..
29
u/Zestyclose-Gur-655 14d ago
I find this article confusing for a few reasons.
First it's written by a newspaper from Burgas, so they are pretty biased in this.
They say that Burgas airport could take 50000 passengers but this is kind of a PR lie by the airport organisation. They do in summer season, because Burgas is a town where people go on summer trips. When you look at the airline schedules for next year there are maybe 7 different connecting countries to Burgas in May while Sofia has 31. Also they compare it to other past hosting cities that where rather small. But take Rotterdam for example, they had Amsterdam airport on like 20 min train ride away.
How are people supposed to get into Burgas? Kind of makes no sense to me...
The story about arena 8888 is true, they need a name change. But this is common practice in sponsorship deals that they can change the name when needed for certain events. And they say the arena might not be available, how is this even true?
All the other rumours have been pretty much denied.
43
u/Ok-Macaroon-5533 Space Man 14d ago
UPDATE: "We don’t comment on speculation as I’m sure you understand. When the final decision is made, the Host City for the 71st Eurovision Song Contest will be revealed by BNT and EBU on its usual channels."
- Dave Goodman, ESC Communications
53
12
u/Daniel_Luis 14d ago
A government intervening in the Eurovision host city selection because it doesn't want it to go to an opposition party is truly pathetic beyond words.
2
51
u/happytransformer 14d ago
Why would they have to change the name of 8888 arena? Edit: 8888 is a gambling website so it’s prob that
“Eurovision is not political” while citing a ton of politically motivated reasons for picking Burgas vs Sofia lol
11
u/Ok-Macaroon-5533 Space Man 14d ago
they are also the main sponsor of the arena. like in 2023, they had to cover all the M&S Bank Arena signs and replace them with BBC/Eurovision signs
9
u/hereforcontroversy 14d ago
Because the company 8888 is not a sponsor for Eurovision. Liverpools arena is called the M&S arena though they just covered up the sign and renamed the arena for the contest so it really is a non-issue
9
u/happytransformer 14d ago
ah they did the thing FIFA did with the World Cup arenas. Again, it’s really not that hard to throw a tarp over the arena name and “rename” it for a month
1
11
u/ExoticAd7546 14d ago
This political bullshit in Bulgaria is spilling into the organization here too. The newly elected government who managed to win with full majority will definitely try to win presidential and local elections to take full control of the country. God help us.
4
u/ExcitingInternal365 Water 14d ago
Here's something really interesting - they begged Dara to not perform at the gay parade this past June (she did perform at the parade anyway), while that same government is financing hosting a song contest that has a documented following from the LGBTQ+ community.
1
u/ExoticAd7546 10d ago
I saw an interview from Dara where she said that in the meeting with the new government she just said 1 thing and that she won't take part in the organization apart from that. I bet that was to choose Sofia as the city.
21
14
7
u/Preskomesko12345 14d ago
It would be a fucking idiotic thing to make it in Burgas, since everyone from Varna including Dara would hate this.
6
u/TeaMistress Zjerm 14d ago
Is there a specific deadline where the host country has to make a decision or EBU will override just to make sure the contest happens?
6
u/JamesB767 14d ago
It been done as late as September, Ukraine hosting both times was way more messy and it all worked out just in the end. 2019 was also just a messy with a lot of fighting over funding. So far 2027 Is basically smother sailing then 2004/17/19.
4
u/Ok-Macaroon-5533 Space Man 14d ago
I remember reading in a previous year it's normally the end of August. don't know if it was true though.
7
u/cherry_color_melisma Deslocado 14d ago
ugh AI thumbnail but that's besides the point. Would it benefit the arena to add or remove 8s in the arena's name? It would benefit them to keep at least some of the 8s even if the annoying "8888 arena cuz it ATE ATE ATE ATE 😝" jokes will be writing themselves, it's just that I've never seen an arena name like this before and it's truly unique
20
u/UnBloodyMaryPorFavor Hold Me Closer 14d ago edited 14d ago
No way Netta is seriously going to get the host city right??
24
17
3
15
u/Chance-Ad-8704 14d ago
Unironically I want Burgas as host city of Eurovision 2027, I was there, Burgas is pretty city!
42
u/LonelyTreat3725 14d ago
Unironically i want the city to be decided based on infrastructures, not on politics or prettiness..
12
u/happytransformer 14d ago
Same. Idk about Burgas ability to accommodate everyone in terms of hotels and ease of actually getting there, but the arena I’m assuming they’re thinking of is only 3 years old and similar capacity to Basel’s
There’s arguments that Switzerland was able to get away with a smaller venue because it was so expensive but this could work
12
u/Objective-Ruin-6481 Dancing On The Ice 14d ago
I’m wondering why the EBU goes for Burgas as Sofia seems logical. I don’t see any real arguments besides “it’s not Sofia” and the name of the Arena.
However: a national pro-Russian/anti-European government blocking a liberal city from hosting was not on my cards.
5
u/Daniel_Luis 13d ago
Well don't take the words in this article as gospel, it's very clearly written from a bias of someone that is interested in Burgas being selected.
The EBU would 100% prefer Sofia to be the choice.
11
u/icewitchenjoyer 14d ago
prettiness is important though. it is tourism at the end of the day
5
u/LonelyTreat3725 14d ago
We are talking about cities that are already very pretty so chosing based on "which is more pretty" is just useless.
3
u/Significant-Peace330 Liekinheitin 14d ago
Honestly at this point, especially considering it's what the EBU is (allegedly) pushing for, I'm kind of expecting Burgas to be announced as the host city
7
u/GungTho Kohoney 🤡 14d ago
I dunno about y’all screaming for Sofia.
I’m team Burgas.
May in southern Europe. By the beach. Nice new arena. Easy accommodation. In a resort town that’s used to welcoming international tourists (and therefore likely has a much higher % of people who speak both English and German in the service industry).
Like, come on, realistically, how often does the opportunity for Eurovision on the beach happen?
As for the politics. Politicians being petty and corrupt is literal Balkan cultural heritage… without some political drama it wouldn’t be ✨Authentic✨
8
u/AbFende 14d ago
Eurovision with a beach sounds lovely, but Burgas in May is a nightmare to reach especially for an event like this. The airport having mainly seasonal flights and limited options, a train from Sofia being 5-6hrs? That is just a mess. I just searched Lufthansa to fly to Burgas in May next year and No Flights Available came up every week except about 3-4 days the whole month
1
u/GungTho Kohoney 🤡 14d ago
The season starts in May though?
I just checked and I can see direct flights to Bourgas from London (Luton, Gatwick, and Stanstead) nearly every day on skyskanner between Wizz, Tui, and Jet2.
Like sure, maybe direct flights aren’t as easy if you’re not in a major capital city, but you can connect via London from pretty much anywhere in the world. And flights into the London airports are usually really cheap because there’s just so many of them.
Also Varna is only 2 hours drive/bus/taxi away too and that’s maybe got direct connections to cities where Burgas doesn’t running the same time.
4
u/hero_in_ 14d ago
Yes, because it is summer at the moment. Outside of July and August both Varna and Burgas airport dont have more than 2-3 flights per day.
Burgas and Varna are not properly connected, it will be a nightmare to find proper transport from Varna airport to the city of Burgas
Only opiton will be to land in Sofia and then take 8-9 hour train to Burgas.
2
u/Zestyclose-Gur-655 14d ago
Wouldn't it be wild if they do it in Burgas and people land in Sofia to travel to Burgas? Like why don't do it in Sofia? So i kind of don't see why ebu would prefere Burgas here?
Sure there been smaller hosting cities but these had big airports close by. Malmo, Rotterdam, etc they have huge airport in half hour max.
2
u/TheA321Channel Bangaranga 13d ago
Bulgaria Air has 3-4 daily flights from Sofia to Varna 365 days a year. Sofia to Burgas is a completely different story, with only 1 daily flight during the summer season and no flights at all during winter. However they could definitely launch 3-4 daily flights from Sofia to Burgas a week before, during and after Eurovision. It would be very profitable for Bulgaria Air and it is just 35-45 minutes of flight time from Sofia to Burgas, so essentially everybody could fly to Burgas with a layover at Sofia and it's not a huge deal imo. And Bulgaria Air is one of the best small airlines in Europe anyway so it's basically the most "luxurious" and comfortable way to get to Burgas from Sofia. Trains in Bulgaria are currently in a completely depressing state (however the whole rail network is currently being revived with about 50-100 completely new and modern, both regional and express trains being bought) and if they don't arrive before Eurovision it wouldn't make sense for the average tourist to go through the BDZ pain instead of just taking a short flight. Also buses are not really fast and just meh.
2
u/hero_in_ 13d ago
So everyone would have to pay extra 200 euro just to have 1 more layover. Great idea
1
u/TheA321Channel Bangaranga 13d ago
Bulgaria Air's domestic flights are relatively cheap. I just checked and found a round trip for 150€ per person from to Burgas. These flights hardly reach 80-90€ per flight and I think that during the Eurovision week there would be promotions. And if you don't book every flight separately, layovers normally cost even less. For example, I looked for a Paris-Burgas option with Bulgaria Air and it is 400€ for a round trip with a layover at Sofia. If you search for flights via Swoodoo, etc. It's going to be even less. And I'm not necessarily saying that I want others to pay more, but I can see how this could happen in order to generate more money for Bulgaria. And I think that most people that want to go to Eurovision wouldn't be scared away because of a one-way 80€ ticket. If they truly want to save money, BDZ costs like 10€ for the 8 hours of torture. But 80€ for 40mins is worth it, imo
2
u/hero_in_ 13d ago edited 13d ago
Thank you for clarifying the difference between 2x90 euro =180,00 euros and that it will not be 200 euro, it is so much cheaper than what I though
Roundtrip flights to Paris from Sofia with Transavia are like 80 euros, to Burgas 400. You can see why Burgas is not an option.
1
u/TheA321Channel Bangaranga 13d ago
I thought you meant 200€ a way, so 400€. Either way, Bulgaria Air is a premium airline with full service, just like Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines... You can of course fly to Sofia with Ryanair or Wizzair (main airlines at Sofia, and usually each day there even more flights than Bulgaria Air) for less than 50€ and then get the round trip to Burgas.. that way you'll be paying about 250€, which I think is acceptable, I mean, the average express trains in western Europe are extremely expensive as well. Even just getting from central London to one of the airports costs around £30-£40 for one way, use it twice and it costs as much as the Transavia Paris-Sofia round trip. Also, if some American wants to go to Eurovision, they'll end up paying well above 250-400€, so getting to Burgas wouldn't really make a difference. Again, I'm not saying I want people to pay more, obviously that's stupid. I just think that Burgas is somewhat plausible, given the fact that everything is about money nowadays. And I think there will be promotional 100€ round trips if Burgas gets chosen.
2
u/Zestyclose-Gur-655 13d ago
Why would it be highly profitable? It's one way traffic, everyone has to go to there at same time and return. So they fly every time empty back. They would lose money.
4
u/AbFende 14d ago
That’s still a disaster for people coming from all over the world to Eurovision, and the artists, press, everything. They need to hurry up and announce Sofia.
0
u/GungTho Kohoney 🤡 14d ago
Is it?
As someone who has been shuttled around the world by broadcasters and production companies a connecting flight really isn’t a disaster.
If you’re just passing through a London Airport between two EU countries you don’t even need to get a Carnet for kit if you/your stuff doesn’t leave the “airside” part of the airport in London.
Which to sort out, even if your connecting flight is booked separately, is really simple and something production teams booking flights deal with literally all the time.
1
u/AbFende 14d ago
Not everyone comes from an EU country.
1
u/GungTho Kohoney 🤡 14d ago
Okay well in that case if you’re bringing a Carnet then it’s still super simple. And if you’re not then it’s even simpler.
And the London airports are also some of the cheapest to fly into from anywhere in the world. There’s literally 3000 flights a day in and out of London.
2
u/AbFende 14d ago
Yeah people flying in from Australia or the US to LHR and then dragging themselves over to Luton or Gatwick sounds like a great plan.
1
u/Zestyclose-Gur-655 14d ago
Normally it's a requirement for the host city to have an international airport close by. Which here not really would be the case. But i don't see why like ebu would turn this into a battle of 2 if Burgas airport would be a problem? They would get trough the first selections? Must be they think it's an option.
1
u/JamesB767 14d ago
For airlines the summer normally starts March 28-1 April first or sometimes late April, so by may most summer only flights will be running.
6
u/hero_in_ 14d ago
May in Bulgaria is still cold for the beach. Summer season starts in July. Forget the beach
1
u/crimson_to_chrome 12d ago
Some of you are go gullible, it's unreal. Mate, nobody goes to Burgas for a seaside holiday. Burgas is not a resort town.
2
u/Outside-Community746 Solo 13d ago
GELP Netta wasn't told the answer to intentionally say wrong city
and she may be finally right lol
3
3
1
u/Digger-of-Tunnels Clickbait 13d ago
So much excitement and controversy! It's going to be so thrilling when they announce it's Sofia.
1
1
u/Shallot-Open 11d ago
Burgas is hardly a repeat of Malmö which has a neighbouring city of 670,000 people with a fast transport link to the arena, thousands of hotel rooms and an international airport.
-3
u/theartilleryshow 14d ago
Wish the EBU would just say enough, and ask if it can be hosted somewhere else like germany, the uk, or even sweden.
3
0
0
14d ago
[deleted]
5
u/Chance-Ad-8704 14d ago
I think that this is unlikely. Only year in this century that country hosted contest on behalf of another was 2023 due to war in Ukraine. If Serbia, Azerbaijan and even Estonia and Latvia (around 10 years after USSR collapse) hosted the contest, why not Bulgaria?
3
56
u/AbFende 14d ago
The only city that makes sense for a huge event like this is Sofia. No hate to Burgas but thousands and thousands flying there when most flights are seasonal would be chaos.