After winning the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in history in Vienna, Austria, Bulgaria is set to host the 71st edition of the event in 2027.
Performing her catchy hit Bangaranga on May 16, 2026, pop star Darina Yotova, known as DARA, gathered a total of 516 points after her final performance. The runner-up, Israel, scored 343 points with Noam Bettman’s Michelle.
Bangaranga, written by Anne Judith Stokke Wik, DARA, Dimitris Kontopoulos, and Monoir, became the first song since 2017 to win both the jury and the public vote.
What does Bangaranga mean?
Inspired by traditional Bulgarian culture, Bangaranga captivated audiences across Europe with its mix of folklore-inspired motifs and contemporary pop production.
“Bangaranga is the moment you choose love over fear,” Dara shared on social media platform Instagram. “It is your higher self stepping forward – stronger than anxiety, doubt, shame, and inner chaos.”
At its core, the song explores the struggle against inner fears and emotional turmoil. According to the pop star, her performance was inspired by Bulgarian Kukeri, an ancient ritual believed to scare evil spirits away.
The Kukeri predates Christianity in the Bulgarian lands and has pagan roots, and includes Bulgarian men dressing up in animal skins and masks to perform dances, which are also aimed at bringing health and fruitfulness during the coming year. The ritual is traditionally performed between New Year’s and the start of Lent.
The performers’ masks often represent animals or mystical creatures, characterized by big horns, sharp teeth, and bright colours – mostly handmade and decorated with feathers and other elements.
The ritual was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2015.
Climbing world charts
Days after DARA returned to Bulgaria following her historic performance in Vienna, a large crowd waving Bulgarian flags gathered in central Sofia to celebrate the country’s Eurovision victory.
“My dream has always been to bring people together. Thank you for making my dreams come true,” Dara said, addressing the crowd from a stage in the Bulgarian capital’s Knyaz Alexander I Square.
Bangaranga currently has almost 14 million streams on Spotify, and climbed to No. 12 in Spotify’s Global Top 50 chart several days after the competition.
The song rose in the rankings alongside releases from artists such as Drake, while also appearing on the Official Charts website alongside globally-acclaimed artists like Gracie Abrams and Ed Sheeran.
Israel and Russia: Controversies
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was also marked by political tensions surrounding Israel’s participation amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Protesters gathered near the venue during the competition, while Israeli contestant Noam Bettan was also met with boos during the semi-final.
Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain boycotted the contest in efforts to bring attention to the political dimension of both Eurovision and Israel’s participation in the context of the war in Gaza. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that the decision put Spain on “the right side of history.”
Regardless of controversy, Israel also came in second in 2025 with Yuval Raphael’s New Day Will Rise – which scored 357 and lost to Austria’s 436 points. However, the Israeli government was accused of unfairly influencing voting, which led to a change in rules for the 2026 edition.
In September last year, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said there was proven interference by Israel in Eurovision through which the event was used as a political instrument. Meanwhile, a New York Times investigation found in May 2026 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “embraced Eurovision as a soft power tool.”
Bulgaria’s win, however, was also a standalone scandal, as songwriter Dimitris Kontopoulos has been linked to Russian singer Philip Kirkorov.
In relation to Russia, Martin Green, Eurovision’s executive director, sparked outrage after saying the country could “theoretically” come back to the contest despite the ongoing war with Ukraine.
A new era for Eurovision?
Despite the controversies that have defined its latest editions, Eurovision will perhaps be remembered most for the moment a young Bulgarian pop star dressed in the spirit of ancient Jujeri ritual stood on a Vienna stage and united millions.
Whether Bulgaria can channel that same star power in 2027 remains to be seen. But if Bangaranga’s popularity with the international community and streaming platforms are any indication, DARA has already achieved something far harder than winning a song contest.
Featured image: DARA wins the 70th Eurovision Song Contest for Bulgaria, at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria
Author: Corinne Cumming/EBU
Via Eurovision
