Bulgaria won the Eurovision Song Contest on Sunday with Dara’s catchy floor-filler “Bangaranga” sweeping the 70th edition of the world’s biggest live televised music event and pushing into second place Israel, whose participation had triggered a major boycott.
Bulgaria has missed the last three editions of the glitzy extravaganza but took the crown in Vienna for the first time ever, overtaking Israel at the very end as the points came in, with Romania finishing third, AFP reported.
Pop singer Darina Yotova, known as Dara, was not among the favourites going into Eurovision week but the 27-year-old gained traction following a strong performance in the semi-finals, with her highly-choreographed dance routines.
“Everything is possible: Bulgaria just won Eurovision!” Dara told a press conference.
“I really like breaking rules. I’m really good with following my rules – not anybody else’s. We wanted to give to the audience something new and fresh, something that is not expected.”
Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov on Facebook hailed a “magnificent story of immense talent, tireless effort, and faith in success, against all criticism”.
Around 10,000 glammed-up fans filled the Wiener Stadthalle arena in the Austrian capital to watch Saturday’s showpiece final of Eurovision, where, as always, the razzmatazz didn’t escape the geopolitics in the background.
Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia staged the biggest political boycott in Eurovision history over Israel’s participation, citing the war in Gaza.
