Bulgaria's Polly Genova Fails to Make It to Eurovision Song Contest Final

Polly Genova representing Bulgaria performs during the second Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Duesseldorf, Germany, 12 May 2011. EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria's contestant Polly Genova and her band failed to qualify for the final of the Eurovision song contest after the second semi-final in Dusseldorf Thursday evening.

The ten countries out of a total of 19 participants which qualified for the Eurovision final on Saturday, May 14, are Estonia, Romania, Moldova, Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Austria, Ukraine, Slovenia, Sweden.

The Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Cyprus, Macedonia, Israel, Belarus, and Latvia together with Bulgaria failed to make it.

Genova and her Bulgarian-language song "Na Inat" ("In Defiance") won the internal Bulgarian competition for Eurovision in February 2011.

The stage performance of Polly Genova's Na Inat song featured the entire band in white, with a screen showing rain dripping down glass in the background. Spectacular fireworks marked the second part of Polly’s song performance but apparently to no avail.

Surveys had show that the Bulgarian contestant had very slim chances of success, not least because often the competition is decided by political back-scratching.

Even though the fact that Polly Genova's song is not in English, which is said to be greatly reducing her chances to win Eurovision, the Bulgarian public and many foreigners have favored it because of its powerful message - urging young Bulgarians to stay and try to achieve their dreams in Bulgaria "in defiance" of all difficulties; the message is further perceived as being directed towards all young people encouraging them to fight for their dreams.

"I have no regrets for my decision to keep the lyrics of the song in Bulgarian. I'm very proud of that. I am glad that we took this decision because I feel so much better on stage this way," Polly has commented.

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

The official Eurovision 2011 Video of Polly Genova's song "Na Inat" ("In Defiance") VIEW HERE

You can view Polly Genova's live TV final performance of her song "In Defiance" ("Na Inat") HERE; you can view an earlier video of the song HERE

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