Bulgaria have been on a mission over the last three years to turn around their Eurovision results, and successfully so. The once unsuccessful nation have once again promised a ‘winning’ Eurovision song, hoping to improve on their 4th place in 2016, then 2nd place last year, but have they delivered on their promise?
We really had no idea what to expect from the nation, but it’s safe to say our expectations were incredibly high, and heightened by the fact that the Bulgarian team really did manage to hype their entry over social media, perhaps even too much. Hype aside, I can now say my expectations were definitely met.
First listen, and first few seconds in, I knew we would be getting something more along the lines of Beautiful Mess rather than If Love Was A Crime, but since Kristian Kostov was one of our favourites last year, this was by no means a bad thing. It’s got that really intoxicating dark and mysterious sound to it, and matched by the voices they’ve selected, this really is a great entry.
In terms of the song, I think it was a great choice to mix things up and include more than one vocalist on the track. Having each of them shine throughout the song gives great dimension to the song, and even to something as repetitive as the choruses usually are, but the vocals on this differ between choruses which is something that genuinely impresses me as it shows a bit of careful consideration. Their harmonies are incredible, and if this can be pulled off live, this is going to be pretty spectacular.
Although vocally incredible (well, on the studio version), the unknown of this song is the actual staging, since it’s a group of vocalists and not a band in the usual sense. In the context of a band, the musicians are often put on stage with their instruments, but in a song such as this, it may not be as simple as to just have them in a line on stage. I think the staging is their make or break, and as soon as we see a rehearsal, we’ll know where this song stands.
All Aboard…the Equinox train!
I’m totally on board with this song, and see huge potential for Bulgaria this year. If the vocals are as good if not better than the studio, and if they nail the staging, this is one to watch. Semi-final 1 is a tough gig, but I would argue that this will cruise through to the final, unless of course it flops live, but since so much consideration went into the choice of the act, they must all be able to perform live…surely.
Our rating: 9/10
If you support Bulgaria at Eurovision, make sure to vote for Equinox in our Eurovision 2018 poll! Watch their official video below, and check out our Eurovision 2018 playlist on Spotify.
