Dara's 'Bangaranga' delivers Bulgaria's first Eurovision win in Vienna

Bulgarian singer Dara claimed Bulgaria’s first ever Eurovision Song Contest victory on May 17 at the 70th edition of the competition in Vienna with the song “Bangaranga”, Danas reports from the grand final. The song received 516 points (312 from the public televote and 204 from the juries), placing it ahead of Israel and Romania.

Serbia, represented by the group Lavina with the song “Kraj mene” (By My Side), finished 17th with 90 points, in line with the bookmakers but below part of the public’s expectations. According to a Telegraf report ahead of the final, the Serbian selection team treated the result as “a success in the first year”, with the focus on the 27-year-old singer born in Varna, a coastal city on the Bulgarian Black Sea.

Dara, whose full name is Darina, was known before the Vienna win for the hits “Thunder” and “Call Me” and for her role as a mentor on the Bulgarian version of “The Voice”. According to esctoday.com, “Bangaranga” combines modern pop with traditional Bulgarian folklore motifs, with a concept inspired by the “kukeri”, masked figures that, in Bulgarian tradition, chase away evil spirits.

After the win, “Bangaranga” debuted on the UK Charts, the same portal notes, a rare result for a Eurovision winning song in recent years. With this victory, Bulgaria became the 28th country to win the contest, and hosting duties for the 71st edition shifted from Vienna to Sofia.

According to the portal evrovizija.rs, Serbia’s public broadcaster has not issued a statement on any change to the selection format for next year. After their performance, as announced on the group’s official Instagram, Lavina entered a pause ahead of summer festival appearances around the region.

According to the same portal, second and third place went to Israel with 463 points and Romania with 421. The Israeli entry was once again accompanied by protests from part of the audience over the situation in Gaza, which folded into the night’s dramaturgy. The performance by the Albanian representative, which also drew controversy, was covered by Telegraf in a report just ahead of the final, while the Belgian delegation had announced earlier that it was withdrawing from the contest over Israel’s participation.

Bulgaria had a thin Eurovision record before this year’s victory, with its previous best result being the second-place finish in 2017 by Kristian Kostov. According to comments on social media cited by the portal Republika, Dara’s win unified the Bulgarian diaspora behind the televote, a phenomenon Bulgarian commentators are now beginning to analyze.

Hosting of Eurovision 2027 passes to Bulgaria’s national broadcaster BNT, with the grand final expected to be held in Sofia Arena or in Plovdiv, a culturally significant city with modern concert infrastructure. According to BNT, the specific host city will be chosen by the end of July this year, following an EBU-administered tender.