Bulgaria won the Eurovision Song Contest on Sunday with Dara’s catchy song “Bangaranga,” sweeping the 70th edition of the world’s biggest live televised music event and beating runner-up Israel, whose participation had sparked a major boycott.
Bulgaria have missed out on the last three editions of the glitzy extravaganza, but took the crown in Vienna for the first time ever, pipping Israel in the final on points, with Romania finishing third.
Pop singer Darina Yotova, known as Dara, was not among the favorites going into Eurovision week, but the 27-year-old gained traction after a strong semi-final performance with her highly choreographed dance routines.
“Anything is possible: Bulgaria just won Eurovision!” Dara said at a press conference.
“I really like to break the rules. I’m very good with following my own rules – not someone else’s. We wanted to give the audience something new and fresh, something unexpected.”
‘Great Story’
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov on Facebook hailed a “wonderful story of extraordinary talent, tireless efforts and belief in success, against all criticism”.
Around 10,000 glitzy fans packed the Wiener Stadthalle arena in the Austrian capital to watch Saturday’s Eurovision final, where, as always, the razzmatazz did not escape the geopolitics in the background.
Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia staged the largest political boycott in Eurovision history of Israel’s participation, citing war in Gaza.
And it looked like Noam Bettan was going to win the competition for Israel with his song “Michelle” after a huge result in televoting from the public across Europe.
But as Bulgaria’s polling stations were revealed, Dara ultimately won by a comfortable margin.
Bulgaria finished with 516 points, ahead of Israel with 343, Romania with 296, Australia with 287, Italy with 281 and Finland with 279 points.
It was the second year in a row that Israel finished runner-up.
Johannes Pietsch, known as JJ, who won Eurovision 2025 for Austria with his song “Wasted Love”, presented Dara with the winner’s trophy.
JJ had opened Saturday’s musical extravaganza with a nod to Austria’s great musical history, singing the Queen of the Night aria from composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 1791 opera The Magic Flute.
“Bangaranga, it’s a feeling that everyone has in themselves,” Dara said earlier on Sunday as the votes were coming in.
“It’s the moment you choose to lead through love rather than fear, and that’s a special energy that I know everyone has within themselves.”
The fans leaving the arena were delighted with Dara’s triumph.
“I didn’t like the song at first… but I saw it, I saw the performance and I was amazed,” said Katerina, a Eurovision fan from Greece.
Finnish shot, Romanian choke
The bookies’ overwhelming favorites going into the final were the Finnish double act of violinist Linda Lampenius and pop singer Pete Parkkonen, with their song “Liekinheitin” or “Flamethrower”.
As the song reached its climax, the 56-year-old Lampenius was shredding her bow as she worked her way to the top of the fingerboard.
Romanian singer Alexandra Capitanescu changed the atmosphere with the 22-year-old’s heavy metal song “Choke Me” causing controversy in the accumulation of her repeated lyrics: “I want you to choke me”.
Australia’s Delta Goodrem, who has sold nine million albums, came in fourth after wowing the crowds with her song “Eclipse”, which was packed with powerful moments, ending with her rising to the top of a glittering piano.
Serbian metallers Lavina had the most deep-throated roar of the night, Czech Republic’s Daniel Zizka navigated a hall of mirrors, while Lithuania’s silver-plated Lion Ceccah brought an air of mystery.
protests
Some 166 million viewers watched the competition on television last year when it was held in Basel.
Earlier on Saturday, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched chanting “boycott Eurovision” and holding placards reading “Don’t celebrate genocide”.
Spanish public broadcaster RTVE – traditionally one of Eurovision’s main supporters – not only boycotted, but refused to show the show.
As it began, it showed the message: “The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition, but human rights are not. There is no room for indifference. Peace and justice for Palestine.”
Belgian broadcaster VRT said before the final that it was unlikely to compete in next year’s Eurovision if the European Union of Broadcasters, which organizes the event, did not hold a direct vote on Israel’s participation in the contest.
