Prior to the 2020 contest, Bulgaria had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twelve times since its first entry in. The nation achieved their best result in the contest in 2017 with the song "Beautiful Mess" performed by Kristian Kostov, which placed second. To this point, four Bulgarian entry have qualified to the Eurovision final; the nation had failed to qualify to the final with their other eight entries. The Bulgarian national broadcaster, Bulgarian National Television, broadcasts the event within Bulgaria and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. In the past, BNT had alternated between both internal selections and national finals in order to select the Bulgarian entry. After consistently being present for every contest since their debut in 2005, the Bulgarian broadcaster announced in November 2013 that the country would not participate in the citing an expensive participation fee and limited funds due to budget cuts as reasons for their decision. Limited finances also prevented the broadcaster from returning in. After a two-year absence, BNT confirmed Bulgaria's return at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
On 25 November 2019, BNT announced that Victoria had been internally selected to represent Bulgaria in Rotterdam. Her song "Tears Getting Sober" was internally selected and presented on 7 March 2020 through the release of the official music video via the Eurovision Song Contest's official YouTube channel.
At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2020, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Bulgaria was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2020, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show. However, due to 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, the contest was cancelled.
