‘Eurovision Is Coming to Sofia’: Dara Wins Bulgaria’s First Eurovision Title
Jerusalem, 17 May, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Vienna/Sofia (BTA) Bulgaria won its first ever Eurovision Song Contest, with 27-year-old Dara singing “Bangaranga” in Vienna on Saturday night.
“Oh, my God,” she cried, not hiding her emotions on stage when receiving the crystal statuette. “Next year Eurovision is coming to Sofia and we have to prepare! Thank you to everyone who supported me! This is a big victory not only for me, but also for Bulgaria.”
Dara dedicated the award to her fans and on the occasion of 10 years since she has been on the big stage.
“I feel wonderful. I can’t understand what’s happening. My job is to be on stage and perform the song, to open my heart, to radiate light and love. The rest is points. Everyone has high expectations, but everything we’ve done makes me happy. I hope you open up and find the Bangaranga in yourself,” said Dara from the so-called “green box” immediately after her performance. “I can’t believe what’s happening. Thank you for the appreciation of the jury from these countries. All the performers in this hall put on a great show,” she added.
She won both the audience vote with 312 points and the support of the international jury, from which she received 204 points. Thus, Dara collected 516 points, and Bulgaria marked a triumphant return to the Eurovision stage, where it last participated in 2022. I
Israel took second place with 343 points, while Romania came in third.
The victory means Bulgaria will host the next edition of Eurovision next year.
Dara, born Darina Yotova, was born in 1998 in Varna and graduated from the National School of Arts “Dobri Hristov.” She became popular in 2015 with her participation in the music show X Factor, where she reached the final. She is a coach in “The Voice of Bulgaria” and a participant in the television shows “Like Two Drops of Water” and Dancing Stars. She has two albums behind her – “Born Like This” from 2022 and ADHDARA, which is from this year.
The jury vote from the participating countries also determined Bulgaria as the winner with the most points – 204, with a significant lead over the countries in second place – Australia and Denmark with 165 points each. The juries of Malta, Australia, Denmark and Lithuania voted with a maximum of 12 points for our country. Bulgaria gave its 12 points to Malta.
The grand final stage featured songs in 23 languages, performed by representatives of 25 countries. The finalists performed in the following order: Denmark, Germany, Israel, Belgium, Albania, Greece, Ukraine, Australia, Serbia, Malta, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Croatia, Great Britain, France, Moldova, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Sweden, Cyprus, Italy, Norway, Romania and Austria.
Minutes after the final , Dara was congratulated by the great Bulgarian star – Lili Ivanova . “Historic success for Bulgaria! Congratulations to the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest – the young and very talented Bulgarian singer DARA / Darina Yotova!”, Lili Ivanova wrote on her Facebook profile.
Hours before the start of the final, Dara and the Bangaranga stage team received the Marcel Besançon Award in the category for best artistic performance, determined by the commentators of the participating countries. The awards, named after the creator of the contest, Marcel Besançon, are presented annually in three categories – the media award, the artistic award and the composition award. This year, the media award was awarded to Australia, represented by Delta Goodrem with the song “Eclipse,” and the composition award went to Søren Torpegaard Lund for Før Vi Går Hjem, BNT reported.
