Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026

Dara gave Bulgaria its first Eurovision Song Contest victory on Saturday, May 16, winning the 70th edition of the competition in Vienna with “Bangaranga.” Official results published by Eurovision show Bulgaria finished first on 516 points, ahead of Israel’s Noam Bettan on 343 and Romania’s Alexandra Căpitănescu on 296. The final at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle featured 25 countries after two semi-finals earlier in the week. Britain’s entry, Look Mum No Computer with “Eins, Zwei, Drei,” finished last with one point. ### How decisive was Bulgaria’s win? Eurovision’s official scoreboard showed Bulgaria winning both parts of the vote. Dara received 204 points from national juries and 312 from the public vote, according to the published results. Israel placed second with 343 points, and Romania was third with 296. Eurovision World, which reproduced the final scoreboard, reported that Bulgaria’s total was the country’s first Eurovision win. (eurovision.com) The result came in the contest’s 70th edition, staged in Austria after JJ’s 2025 victory for the host country. ### Who is Dara, and what was “Bangaranga”? Eurovision World identified the winner as Dara, a Bulgarian pop artist whose full winning entry was “Bangaranga.” The site said the song was written by Dara with Anne Judith Wik, Cristian Tarcea and Dimitris Kontopoulos, and that staging was handled by Fredrik Rydman. (eurovision.com) The official Eurovision results page listed DARA as Bulgaria’s act and “Bangaranga” as the winning song. (eurovisionworld.com) AP described it as a pop banger and reported that Dara was crowned in Vienna on Saturday night. ### Why were there 25 countries in the final if 35 took part overall? Eurovision’s Vienna 2026 page listed 35 songs in this year’s contest. (eurovisionworld.com) Ten acts were eliminated in the semi-finals held on Tuesday, May 12, and Thursday, May 14, leaving 25 countries for the grand final on Saturday, May 16. NPR’s report, carried by public radio affiliates, said Dara’s song beat 24 other nations in the final. (eurovision.com) That matched the official final lineup published by Eurovision. ### What happened to Israel and the United Kingdom? Israel’s Noam Bettan finished second with “Michelle” on 343 points, according to Eurovision’s official scoreboard. (eurovision.com) The result meant Israel again ended the contest as runner-up. The United Kingdom’s Look Mum No Computer finished 25th with one point for “Eins, Zwei, Drei,” the official results page showed. (wuky.org) BBC reported that the British act, musician Sam Battle, ended at the bottom of the table with a solitary point. ### What does Bulgaria’s win set up next? Bulgaria’s victory means the country gains the right to host the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, subject to arrangements between Bulgarian National Television, the European Broadcasting Union and contest organizers. (eurovision.com) Eurovision’s format has the winning broadcaster stage the following year’s event, as Austria’s ORF did in 2026 after JJ won in Basel in 2025. The next formal steps are likely to include host-city discussions and announcements from BNT and the EBU in the coming months. No official 2027 host city had been announced in the sources reviewed as of Sunday, May 17. (en.wikipedia.org)