Bulgaria has won the 70th edition of Eurovision held in Vienna thanks to DARA’s original video clip-type performance with ‘Bangaranga’, which has added 516 votes between the public and jury, after first leading the public votes and then winning the jury votes in a close dispute with Israel, which initially led the total votes with 343 points. Bulgaria has exceeded the minimum necessary to beat the controversial participating country, which, like last year, came in second place. Australia, initially one of the favorites, finally came in fourth place, when Romania won.
It has been one of the most controversial editions in its history, the one with the fewest participating countries since 2004 (34), especially marked by the withdrawal of several countries in protest of the whitewashing of the genocide in Gaza by Israel, including Spain. In fact, TVE has reissued last year’s statement before giving way to its special musical program, and its only “presence” at the gala came in a segment on the historical origin of the votes.
The gala, presented by Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski, has included several mentions of the unitary power of music in the face of a world that is “often divided”, although the presence of Israel in the competition has once again awakened cries of support and very audible boos before, during and after Noam Bettan’s performance, especially during the voting.
Finland, which started as one of the favorites thanks to the violin moment of Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen, has finally finished in sixth place. Among the biggest surprises of the voting are the good performance of Romania and Italy and the discreet result of Sweden, which finished in 20th place, although it is true that it did not have one of its best songs. Comment on Eurovision in the forums.
🇧🇬 | URGENT: BULGARIA WINS EUROVISION WHILE ISRAEL REMAINS IN SECOND PLACE. pic.twitter.com/lqxKg8rwkm
— Alerta News 24 (@AlertaNews24) May 16, 2026

