Bulgaria's song, Illusion by Krassimir Avramov, failed to qualify for the final at the Eurovision 2009 song contest in Moscow on May 12 2009.

In the first semi final of the contest Avramov's high-pitched lead vocals were supported by female singer Petya Buyuklieva and two other female choir singers with two dancers on stilts performing acrobatic dance in the background. Avramov performed 11^th out of 20 songs right after Israeli performers Noa & Mira Awad who reached the final.

Interestingly, one of the two singers in the Israeli duet has a Bulgarian mother. This is Mira Awad who was born in Rama village in Gallillee to a Palestinian father and Bulgarian mother.

"I am disappointed but still happy that I had the chance to perform in Moscow," Avramov was quoted as saying by Bulgarian National Television after it became clear that Bulgaria was not going through.

When Avramov was chosen - via text voting as Bulgaria's representative - many of his colleagues suspected that he had fixed the voting and that he did not deserve to go to Moscow. He was asked to withdraw from the contest because some perceived that he did not have the qualities to perform live.

The row lasted for couple of weeks with an initiative committee formed in support of Avramov's runner up Poli Genova who, her fans claimed, would have more success singing live in front of the Eurovision audience.

Bulgaria first took part in the contest in 2005. The country's best showing came in 2007 when the duo Elitsa Todorova (vocals) and Stoyan Yankulov (drums) finished fifth. Last year, Deep Zone & Balthazar did not make it through to the final.

After the semi final on May 12, 15 out of 25 participants to appear in the May 16 2009 final became known. The remaining 10 finalists will be known after the second semi-final scheduled for May 14 2009.

Last year's winner Russia as well as the UK, Spain, Germany and France automatically qualify for the final.

This is full list of the countries who have qualified for the final so far:

Turkey with the song Düm Tek Tek performed by Hadise
Sweden with the song La Voix performed by Malena Ernman
Israel with the song There Must Be Another Way performed by Noa & Mira Awad
Portugal with the song Todas As Ruas Do Amor performed by Flor-de-lis
Malta with the song What If We performed by Chiara
Finland with the song Lose Control performed by Waldo's People
Bosnia and Herzegovina with the song Bistra Voda performed by Regina
Romania with the song The Balkan Girls performed by Elena
Armenia with the song Jan Jan performed by Inga & Anush
Iceland with the song Is It True? performed by Yohanna