Bulgaria's Dara wins Eurovision 2026

Bulgaria’s Dara won the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna on May 16 with the song “Bangaranga,” securing Bulgaria’s first victory in the competition. Reuters reported the final was marked by a five-country boycott tied to Gaza, while Israel’s Noam Bettan finished second. Official results published after the show gave Dara 516 points to Israel’s 343. (usnews.com) The United Kingdom finished 25th and last with one point. (eurovisionworld.com) ### How did Bulgaria win the night? Dara won both the jury vote and the public vote, according to the published results from Eurovision World. Bulgaria received 204 jury points and 312 public points, enough for a total of 516. (eurovisionworld.com) The official scoreboard listed Israel second on 343 points and Romania third on 296. Australia placed fourth with 287, and Italy finished fifth with 281. AP described “Bangaranga” as a dance anthem and said the result gave Bulgaria its first-ever Eurovision title. Reuters said the track came ahead of Israel when points from national juries and the public vote were tallied. (usnews.com) ### Who is Dara, and what song did she perform? Eurovision World identified the winner as Dara, the Bulgarian entry performing “Bangaranga.” A separate Eurovision World report said Dara wrote the song with Anne Judith Wik, Cristian Tarcea and Dimitris Kontopoulos, and that staging was handled by Fredrik Rydman. (eurovisionworld.com) AP named her as Bulgarian singer Dara and said she won in Vienna on Saturday night. (eurovisionworld.com) Reuters described “Bangaranga” as a crowd-pleasing dance track. ### Why was this year’s final politically charged? Reuters reported that five countries boycotted the 2026 contest over Gaza. (apnews.com) Eurovision World identified those countries as Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain, and said the boycott reduced the field to 35 participating countries, with 25 in the final. Reuters said Israel’s participation had again drawn controversy and that the final followed protests earlier in the week. (eurovisionworld.com) A Reuters dispatch carried by other outlets said Israel’s large public-vote haul prompted audible booing in the arena when the points were announced. (apnews.com) ### Where did the other leading countries finish? The final took place at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle, where 25 countries competed after the semifinals. The published results showed Romania in third, Australia in fourth, Italy in fifth and Finland in sixth. The same results page showed France in 11th, Germany in 23rd, Austria in 24th and the United Kingdom in 25th. (usnews.com) The U.K. entry, “UK Eins, Zwei, Drei” by Look Mum No Computer, received one point, all from juries and none from the public vote. ### What happens after Bulgaria’s victory? Eurovision’s format gives the winning country the right to host the next contest, and reporting after the final said Bulgaria would now host Eurovision 2027. (straitstimes.com) Politico said Bulgaria “will now host the competition in 2027,” while the results page described the prize as the honor of hosting next year’s contest. (eurovisionworld.com) The next formal step is expected to be confirmation by Bulgaria’s broadcaster and Eurovision organizers of the 2027 host city, venue and dates. Those details were not yet listed in the results material available on May 17. (eurovisionworld.com) (politico.eu) (eurovisionworld.com)