Who Won Eurovision 2026? DARA Makes History With Bulgaria’s First Victory
Who won Eurovision 2026? DARA took Bulgaria to its first Eurovision victory with “Bangaranga”, scoring 516 points and breaking a major Contest record.
Bulgaria made Eurovision history in Vienna as DARA stormed to victory with “Bangaranga”, securing the country’s first ever Eurovision Song Contest win and setting a new Contest record in the process.
DARA won the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with an impressive 516 points, finishing a huge 173 points ahead of second place. The result gave Bulgaria its first victory since joining Eurovision in 2005 and came during the country’s return to the competition after sitting out the previous three Contests.
“Bangaranga” proved popular on both sides of the Eurovision vote. DARA finished top with the national juries on 204 points before receiving another 312 points from the public vote, becoming the first Eurovision winner since 2017 to top both the jury and televote.
Her 173 point advantage over the runner up was also the largest winning margin ever recorded at the Eurovision Song Contest. It surpassed the previous record of 169 points set by Norway’s Alexander Rybak when “Fairytale” won Eurovision in 2009.
Israel finished second with Noam Bettan and “Michelle”, while Romania completed the top three with Alexandra Căpitănescu and “Choke Me”. Australia finished fourth and Italy took fifth place as 25 countries competed in the Grand Final at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle.
For Bulgaria, however, the night belonged to DARA. Before 2026, the country’s best Eurovision result had been Kristian Kostov’s second place with “Beautiful Mess” in 2017, while Poli Genova had previously finished fourth with “If Love Was A Crime” in 2016.
DARA’s win was particularly significant because Bulgaria had only just returned to the Contest. BNT had last competed in 2022 before returning for Eurovision’s 70th edition, meaning the comeback ended with the country lifting the trophy for the first time.
“Bangaranga” was written by Anne Judith Stokke Wik, Darina Yotova, Dimitris Kontopoulos and Monoir. DARA had already established herself as one of Bulgaria’s biggest contemporary pop artists before Eurovision, with a string of hits and appearances as a mentor on The Voice of Bulgaria.
The 2026 result has now opened another major chapter in Bulgaria’s Eurovision story. As the winning broadcaster, BNT earned the opportunity to bring the Contest to Bulgaria, with the EBU later confirming that the Black Sea city of Burgas had been selected to host Eurovision 2027.
It means DARA’s victory will be remembered for far more than one night in Vienna. “Bangaranga” delivered Bulgaria its first Eurovision trophy, broke the record for the biggest winning margin and paved the way for the country to host the world’s biggest live music competition for the first time.
