Castings are held in the five biggest cities in Bulgaria - Rousse, Varna, Bourgas, Plovdiv and Sofia.

After a pre-selection the contenders audition in front of the panel of judges seen on TV who will decide if they are going to make it to the next round.

In three days the judges chose among the top 100, from all cities, the semifinalists who would perform live during the show and face the public's vote.

Castings are held in the five biggest cities in Bulgaria - Rousse, Varna, Bourgas, Plovdiv and Sofia.

[1] After a pre-selection the contenders audition in front of the panel of judges, seen on TV, who will decide if they are going to make it to the next round.

This year saw a change in the semifinal format: After the judges picked their top 18 contestants (9 males, 9 females) the contestants were split in one girls/guys group and had to perform in the week of March 10 − March 15 with constant reduction of the number of singers in both groups to six: after the first performance show the two fewest votes getters got eliminated, leaving the top 7 of girls/guys perform again of which the top 5 vote-getters from each group will advance to the finals.

Later on the judges eventually decided to make a top 13 out of the supposed 12, giving three contestants a wildcard for the finals.

Stoyan Tsonev, Ana Topalova and Chanel Erkin fell victim to this unique rule despite not receiving the fewest votes on the performance night.