Bulgaria's Dara wins Eurovision 2026

Bulgaria’s Dara won the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna on Saturday with “Bangaranga,” giving the country its first title in the competition’s 70-year history. The European Broadcasting Union said Dara topped both the jury vote and the public vote in the Grand Final at Wiener Stadthalle on May 16. Bulgaria finished with 516 points, ahead of Israel’s Noam Bettan on 343 and Romania’s Alexandra Căpitănescu in third. The win hands Bulgarian broadcaster BNT the right to host the 2027 contest, subject to the usual organizing arrangements. ### How decisive was Dara’s win? The EBU said Dara’s margin of victory was 173 points, the largest in Eurovision history. Bulgaria led after the national juries voted on the dress rehearsal performance and then held first place after the televote was added. BTA reported that Bulgaria scored 204 points from juries and 312 from viewers. (ebu.ch) Malta, Australia, Denmark and Lithuania each awarded Bulgaria 12 points from their juries, according to BTA’s account of the final scoreboard. ### Who is Dara and what won the contest? Dara, whose full name is Darina Yotova, performed the song “Bangaranga” for Bulgaria. (ebu.ch) The EBU said the song was written by Anne Judith Stokke Wik, Yotova, Dimitris Kontopoulos and Monoir. AP described “Bangaranga” as the winning song in a final that ran about four hours in Vienna. The contest was hosted by Austrian broadcaster ORF after Austria won in 2025. (bta.bg) ### How big was the field in Vienna? The Grand Final featured 25 countries at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, according to the EBU. The broadcaster said 35 countries took part in the 2026 contest overall, with juries from all 35 competing nations revealing votes in the final. (ebu.ch) BTA said songs in 23 languages were performed in the final and that about 10,000 spectators were in the arena. (apnews.com) The EBU said votes were received from 148 countries across participating nations and the “Rest of the World” system. ### Why was this year’s contest under heavier scrutiny? Vienna hosted the final amid protests and a boycott by five countries over Israel’s participation, according to Reuters, France 24 and other outlets covering the event. (ebu.ch) Those withdrawals reduced the field to 35 participating countries, the smallest Eurovision lineup since 2003, according to PinkNews and other reports. (bta.bg) The EBU’s winner release did not address the boycott directly, but it confirmed Israel finished second with “Michelle,” performed by Noam Bettan for broadcaster KAN. ### What does the result mean for Bulgaria now? BNT secured Bulgaria’s first Eurovision victory after the country first entered in 2005, the EBU said. The broadcaster had returned to the contest this year after a three-year absence, making the win a successful comeback on the scoreboard. (usnews.com) Under Eurovision practice, the winning broadcaster gets the first right to stage the next contest. (ebu.ch) That puts BNT and the EBU at the center of preparations for Eurovision 2027, after ORF staged the 2026 event in Vienna on May 16.