There is one day every year when people in love celebrate the miracle of their love - February 14, St. Valentine's Day. Yet there is a show celebrating love every week. Every Saturday, at 5.30 pm., all those with broken hearts and all those with their hearts overflowing with love tune in to bTV for the hour of love. NATALIA SIMEONOVA, anchor of SEA OF LOVE, one of the most widely watched TV shows in Bulgaria, in conversation with The Sofia Echo's ALEXANDRA ALEXANDROVA

How did the idea for Sea of Love come to life?

The idea for such a show came to life two years ago, right this time of the year. The producer of the show, Magardich Halvadzhian, told me back then he had been thinking over and over the idea for such a show, but only after he met me he knew he finally knew the person able to do it. One of the hardest things to do in the beginning was to find our first participants, because we had to explain the idea and to make a bunch of people confide in us. Everyone would then unanimously say such a show could not exist in Bulgaria, because Bulgarians are not that kind of people. So, the first edition of Sea of Love was broadcast on bTV on May 25.
And in less than two years we are now enjoying enviable approval ratings as one of the most widely watched entertainment shows in Bulgaria.
Magardich lived in Italy for several years. I and my husband Denis have travelled to the US and have spent several months there every year and perhaps this is what helped us believe that such a show can be done, and that it is not a matter of mentality, but a matter of approach. Every person needs to be open and sincere, and can be open and sincere only if he is facing a well-disposed listener who treats him as a friend. And this is how we treat the participants, the "heroes" in our show. In 85 editions, we have had more than 160 stories, that is, more than 300 people have been our heroes and they have remained our friends. They keep writing us letters, sending us postcards, telling us what has happened in their lives after the show. The Sea of Love has a huge family.

In two years, you have managed to become the face of the show, an embodiment of the "hour of love" as you describe it every Saturday. Can we say you have been following your true calling now, after having tried the job of political reporter and musical journalist before that?

It is more a matter of tuning in, in my way of looking at things. I am very amiable and very easily fall in love with the people around me, my friends, with ideas, music. We all have our own weapons to survive, perhaps mine is by drawing inspiration from love. We all actually draw strength from the love we receive from our parents, relatives. When you come to think of it, our home is the personification of love. This is from where you receive energy and give energy yourself without calculating how much you have received and how much you need to give away. I hope "Sea of Love" is much more than a show about love, because we have many love stories, but as a whole we focus on the nobleness of relations between people, on the readiness to forget your own interest and turn your back on prejudice and pettiness, and live in a spiritual world in which we are all so alike.
The participants in our show are of different ages. The oldest are of the age of 75-80 years, the youngest are of 16, we have put this limitation, yet there are small children among our viewers. My point is that we are all alike when it comes to love and we are all a little bit better.

85 editions of "Sea of Love" behind your back now, can you describe all faces of love and thus answer that eternal question what is love after all?

British pop singer Sting has a beautiful song called "Inside" on his latest album, it lists almost all faces of love. It is not only a beautiful experience, it also has its dark side, may sometimes turn into an attempt to possess the other person. Or for example, unrequited love can be a punishment. Even hate can sometimes be interpreted as hurt feelings, even jealousy, basically absolutely everything can be linked to love or lack of love or hurt feelings. Love has so many faces, yet the most important thing about love is that it is our engine in our ambition to achieve harmony. As many people, as many definitions of love. Love is a palette, which helps us colour things in more beautiful and rich nuances.

Can Bulgarians express their feelings, can they say "I am sorry," can they forgive and forget or ask for forgiveness?

When a person has formulated a problem clearly, he or she can do it in front of the camera too. This is the therapeutic effect of "Sea of Love." It is not so much the involvement of our crew and the original surprises we come up with, but the fact that by approaching us people have to formulate their problems and diagnose their "love sickness." When you talk about your problems and analyse them, you cope very easily with them.
When you watch a picture, like in a close up, you see it blurred and you are confused, it seems like a dead end to you, but when you distance a bit from that picture, you start to see all its details, the entire composition, your place in it, the elements that are out of place and it is much more easy for you to make things right. This is what we do. We help people distance from their personal drama, see it as a side observer and see it along with two million viewers.
A happy end is not a must. Sometimes I cannot control the way a story develops. Let me tell you one of the most striking stories for me. We were contacted by a woman, mother of two, who was many times abused by her husband. Yet, she came to me crying and told me she wanted him back. I could not refrain from asking her "but why, what he did to you is just monstrous." She said though he had changed and she wanted to help him become what would be once, at the very start of our relationship. So, when I met and talked to that man I did not put an effort in getting him back to that woman and when he did not come up in the studio I kind of congratulated her. And she did not leave the studio hurt, she was absolutely clear that she was the master of her life and she had to take care of her two children all by herself.
Sometimes the best outcome is when two people head into two different directions.

Do you actually take sides sometimes?

I try to be just the postman, but I cannot just get rid off my value system. I do not manipulate them, I do not try to make them think into a particular direction, but just guide them through the labyrinth of their story and I can tell by their eyes when they alone find the right way to go. You see, people who have been together for three months, three years or ten years together are not able to sit down and discuss the problems openly as they talk to us.
You have been receiving hundreds of letters by people who wish to participate in your show.
How do you decide which of these make a story for the show?

We have been receiving more than 700 letters per week. We are typically searching for the story which we are sure is very strongly charged with personal drama, has a rich background.
Strong feelings cannot be always told in a single letter, but the dramatic power of a story as a string of events in the life of a person is typically easy to spot in a letter.
We had a very unusual story, which we told in our edition of February 7. Seventy-five-year-old Danche from Rousse got in touch with a message full of love to her daughter-in-law Nikolinka, who was widowed 15 years ago but never stopped taking care of Danche. She also had a message for US ambassador James Pardew. We tried to hand it over personally to him, but he was on a official trip outside Bulgaria. The consular section however seemed interested in the story. Nikolinka has four times tried to get a visa for the US, but had always been turned down. She wants to go and visit her only daughter who won a green card some time ago and lives in the US with her family. So, the letter to Pardew started: "Dear Mr. Pardew, I address you with all due respect to an ambassador, but also with the awareness that you are not only an ambassador, but a father, grandfather and a person. Please, let Nikolainka go to the US." The faith in his nobility was so compelling, I was sure this message would not go unheeded.
So, you see, the mission of our show is to inspire nobleness and a positive way of thinking. I believe this is the key to happiness. When you believe things may turn up well, they really turn up good for you in the end.

Has the show changed you in some way?

The feeling that I can affect many people with my way of thinking makes me be much more positive and makes me keep my faith in love always alive. This is now my obligation to the people who have put their trust in me. Many people watch the show, they have confided in me.

Don't you get exhausted from so many personal stories?

When I get home I forget all about it. My husband is very open and broad-minded. He has always showed respect for my personal freedom, he has always encouraged me and is every day issuing signals that he is happy with me because I am happy with what I am. I think this is the best thing that can happen to a woman with a career.