The FINAL Xtra Files: We Review Bulgaria’s ‘Beautiful Mess’ by Kristian Kostov!

Welcome to The Xtra Files, our new series which will give you an insight into what the team at escXtra think of your favourite entries into this year’s contest! Today, we review Bulgaria.

Now that all the songs have been released, we are able to review each and every one of them. Our honest and brutal reviews will keep you entertained until the rehearsals start in May! We will also each give a score out of 10 for every entry, and create an escXtra leaderboard of the entries! You can see our preview reviews here.
Today is the final part of ‘The Xtra Files’. It is the turn of the Bulgarian entry, ‘Beautiful Mess’ by Kristian Kostov, to be reviewed by Dimitris, Hlynur, Matteo, Ryan, Sophie, and Yassia. Let’s get started!

The Reviews

Dimitris

I really love Bulgaria’s entry once again, and although it was not among my favorites when I first heard it, it has really grown on me by now. It sounds a lot like a song Troye Sivan would sing. I have to say that Bulgaria is starting to take Eurovision more seriously and they seem to put a lot effort into it especially after hosting JESC.

Hlynur

One of my favourite songs this year. Usually not a big fan of ballads but this one caught me. Chris is an impressive singer, and I believe he will do very good in Kyiv.

Matteo

Bulgaria will win Eurovision soon (not this year) if they keep going like this. This sounds like Troye Sivan and it feels better than many others in the competition. I do wish all the best to them.

Ryan

Bulgaria’s renaissance in both the adult and junior contests deserved tremendous appreciation. One of my least favourite Eurovision countries throughout their first decade, they’ve turned into one of my ultimate favourites. Kristian’s voice is distinctive and modern, reminding me of popular British artist James Arthur. The song is perfectly on-trend whilst incorporating ethno-pop elements. This is one of the most competitive packages of the contest. For it to reach its ultimate potential however, Kristian needs to elevate this live as it lacks an obvious climax on first listen.

Sophie

He might as well be singing about his hair, because that is a beautiful mess for sure. Anyway, the song and Kristian’s voice are giving me goosebumps and go straight to my top 3.

Yassia

A strong ballad, in my opinion. I like Kristian’s voice and the song itself is catchy. I don’t thing it will reach a top 3 though. The good thing is that Bulgaria is taking its selection process serious, not like it used to before.

Scores

When we remove the top score of 10 and the lowest score of 6, the average score for Bulgaria is 8.63.
(Removing the top score and the lowest score helps to make the average score more reliable and less affected by outliers.)

Leaderboard

Bulgaria reaches 5th place in our leaderboard with a score of 8.63.

1. F.Y.R. Macedonia – 9.25
2. France – 9.04
3. Italy – 9.03
4. Belgium – 8.92
5. Bulgaria – 8.63
6. Azerbaijan – 8.00
7. Sweden – 7.77
8. Belarus – 7.75
9. Iceland – 7.46
10. Australia – 7.25
11. Israel – 7.21
12. Serbia – 7.08
13. Estonia – 7.07
14. Switzerland – 6.96
15. Denmark – 6.83
16. Armenia – 6.80
17. Portugal – 6.79
18. Hungary – 6.79
19. Cyprus – 6.71
20. Germany – 6.59
21. Austria – 6.58
22. Moldova – 6.58
23. Greece – 6.54
24. Norway – 6.33
25. Latvia – 6.25
26. Czech Republic – 6.25
27. United Kingdom – 6.00
28. Finland – 5.71
29. Ireland – 5.54
30. The Netherlands – 5.33
31. Albania – 5.21
32. Poland – 5.13
33. Ukraine – 5.13
34. Romania – 5.12
35. Malta – 4.25
36. San Marino – 3.92
37. Georgia – 3.91
38. Spain – 3.58
39. Montenegro – 3.33
40. Croatia – 2.71
41. Slovenia – 2.13
42. Lithuania – 2.04

Our FINAL rankings are above; all of the entries have now been reviewed! Thank you so much for following this series. Don’t forget to come back for our live streams from the press centre throughout the rehearsal week and the week of Eurovision itself! We will also bring you all of the latest news from Kyiv, don’t miss it!
Do you agree with our reviews of Bulgaria? What are your thoughts on Kristian Kostov’s ‘Beautiful Mess’? Let us know in the comments!