After months of political discourse, boycotting and disruption, the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest ended with a nail-biting final tally which saw Bulgarian entry Dara romp to victory with energetic track ‘Bangaranga’. In a night packed with typical Eurovision excesses, the UK’s delegate Look Mum No Computer failed to make an impression, leaving with a paltry 1 point despite an exciting and unique performance.
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This past Saturday, Vienna’s Stadthalle played host to the 70th annual Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), following singer JJ’s victory with song ‘Wasted Love’ in Basel last year. This year’s competition had attracted global attention due to the controversies surrounding Israel’s inclusion. Their military activity in Palestine has received international condemnation since 2024, amplified by recent conflicts with Lebanon and Iran. The national broadcasters for Ireland, Slovenia, The Netherlands and Iceland all withdrew their entries in protest.
But their behaviour pertaining to the ESC has also brought the integrity of the competition into question. Israel’s 2025 entry ‘New Day Will Rise’, performed by Yuval Raphael, narrowly missed out on winning due to unprecedentedly high backing from the phone voting, which makes up half of the scoring system. After seeing a similar pattern in 2024, where they also placed second, more than a few eyebrows were raised – this led the New York Times to conduct an investigation, which suggested that the Israeli government heavily invested money and influence in order to sway voters across Europe. Social media accounts including those owned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu encouraged fans to vote the maximum of 20 times for their entrants. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs Eurovision, changed the rules this year in response, reducing the maximum phone votes to 10, and restricting unfair endorsement practices.
As the contest in Vienna got underway, two songs were predicted as standout favourites after their semi-final performances in the preceding days. Australia’s Delta Goodrem dazzled fans with an alluring stage show and fantastic range on power ballad ‘Eclipse’, while Finnish duo Pete Parkkonen and Linda Lampenius set the stage alight with their vocal and violin duet ‘Liekinheitin’ (which is Finnish for ‘flamethrower’). Elsewhere, Israel were again expected to thrive with the phone votes for Noah Bettan’s love song ‘Michelle’, despite boos and heckles throughout his participation, and the BBC’s host Graham Norton anticipated big things for controversial Romanian rock epic ‘Choke Me’, performed by Alexandra Căpitănescu. Our own entry, singer-songwriter Sam Battle performing under his act Look Mum No Computer, was a wildcard electronic entry with ‘Eins, Zwei, Drei’.
One song that flew just under the radar was the eventual winner ‘Bangaranga’. Bulgarian pop singer Dara’s performance had everything Eurovision loves – a pounding dance beat, bizarre aesthetics, and a simple but infectious hook. As the scores from the international juries tallied up, Dara was in first place on 204 points, ahead of Australia in second on 165. However, as the phone votes came in, Israel shot straight to first with a massive surge of support, while unlucky Sam Battle was left with a single meagre point. With a score of 343 points to beat and only Bulgaria left to be declared, the tension for their final total was immense. In a twist, Bulgaria received an enormous boon of 312 points, for an end result of 516 and a landslide victory. With the UK tragically in last place of 25, the top 5 looked like this:
1. Bulgaria: Dara – ‘Bangaranga’ (516 points)
2. Israel: Noam Bettan – ‘Michelle’ (343 points)
3. Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu – ‘Choke Me’ (296 points)
4. Australia: Delta Goodrem – ‘Eclipse’ (287 points)
5. Italy: Sal Da Vinci – ‘Per Sempre (281 points)
27 year old Dara is a well-known pop star in Bulgaria, and has gone home a hero after winning the country its first Eurovision Song Contest. Speaking backstage after her victory, she said “I want to thank everybody who felt the Bangaranga and felt connected to the force.” Bulgarian National Television, their broadcaster who represents the country in the EBU, has confirmed that the 2027 song contest will be held in the capital Sofia.
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