Bulgaria has won the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. Singer Dara’s dance-hall anthem “Bangaranga” claimed the top prize at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna on Saturday. Dara delivered the country its first ever Eurovision victory, and did so in the most dramatic and politically charged final the contest has seen in recent times.
Who Is Dara And What Is “Bangaranga”
Bulgarian singer Dara first gained attention on X Factor Bulgaria and has since built a reputation for explosive pop tracks and confident stage energy. She was not among the bookmakers’ favourites coming into the final, but her club-driven track proved equally persuasive with both the national juries and the public, winning both votes simultaneously.
This was the first time since 2017 that juries and public agreed on the same winner, per CNN. Asked on stage what “Bangaranga means”, Dara said it is “the feeling that everybody gets in themselves the moment you choose to lead through love and not fear.”
Dara earned a total of 516 points — 204 from the national juries and 312 from the public televote — finishing 173 points ahead of second-placed Israel’s Noam Bettan, which is the the largest winning margin ever in the popular song contest (although voting rules have changed over the years).
The Final Moments — And The Booing
Israel’s Noam Bettan surged into the lead midway through the public vote after finishing eighth in the jury vote, and held that lead until the last possible second when Bulgaria’s tally was announced.
The presence of Israel in a dramatic final-two split-screen with Bulgaria during the ceremony’s closing seconds prompted both booing and Jewish-solidarity calls of “Am Yisrael Chai” in the background as audiences watched with bated breath to see who would finish first, per the Hollywood Reporter.
The audience had already erupted into boos when Israel was temporarily bumped into first place following the public votes, per Euronews’s live coverage.
The Full Results
Israel finished in second place with 343 points, while Romania completed the top three with 296 points. Australia and Italy rounded out the top five. Finland, which had entered as the bookmakers’ favourite, ended with 279 points, enough for sixth place. Greece’s Akylas finished tenth. Look Mum No Computer, the UK’s entry, received just one point in the jury vote and zero in the public televote for “Eins, Zwei, Drei”.
The full final standings:
- Bulgaria: Dara, “Bangaranga” — 516 points
- Israel: Noam Bettan, “Michelle” — 343 points
- Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu, “Choke Me” — 296 points
- Australia — Delta Goodrem, “Eclipse” — 287 points
- Italy — Sal Da Vinci, “Per Sempre Sì” — points TBC
- Finland — Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen, “Liekinheitin” — 279 points 7-9.
- Greece — Akylas, “Ferto”
The Political Context
The result lands at the end of what was one of, if not the most politically fraught Eurovision in recent times. As covered earlier, five countries — Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Iceland, and Spain — boycotted this year’s contest over Israel’s inclusion, making it the smallest field since 2003. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez doubled down on the boycott in a video posted on the day of the final, saying Spain would not attend because “silence is not an option” and insisting the country is “on the right side of history.” A large anti-Israel protest took place in Vienna’s main square on Friday, coinciding with Nakba Day, and continued on Saturday. A “concert against genocide” was held with the motto “No Stage for Genocide”.
The EBU had issued a formal warning to Israeli broadcaster KAN earlier in the week over a campaign urging viewers to use all ten of their votes for Israel — a campaign KAN attributed to the artist personally, per our earlier coverage. The new voting rules introduced this year — halving the maximum televotes per person from 20 to 10 — appear to have had a measurable effect; Israel’s public vote, while still substantial, was not sufficient to overcome Bulgaria’s jury dominance in the way that last year’s Israeli surge might have done under the old rules.
What Happens Next
The 71st Eurovision Song Contest will be hosted in Bulgaria next year. According to the contest’s longstanding rules, the winning country hosts the following year’s edition, meaning Eurovision 2027 will take place in Bulgaria, the first time the country has hosted the contest.
