Bulgarians have rejoiced in their country’s first victory at the Eurovision song contest as fans welcomed home the singer whose party anthem Bangaranga proved an unexpected breakthrough hit.
“Dara is yet more proof that Bulgaria can win,” declared the new prime minister, Rumen Radev, of Darina Nikolaeva Yotova, known simply as Dara. He hailed “a young artist who, thanks to her talent and professionalism, has managed to rise above all the complexities and prejudices surrounding the [Eurovision] voting process”.
The final, which took place in Vienna on Saturday night, was boycotted by Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland over Israel’s participation. Outside the venue, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators had marched past chanting “boycott Eurovision”.
In the event, Israel’s entry, Michelle, sung by Noam Bettan, came second on 343 points, while Dara’s Bangaranga scored 516 points.
The United Kingdom, once again, performed poorly, with its entry, Ein, Zwei, Drei by Look Mum No Computer AKA musician Sam Battle, finishing 25th (last) with a tally of just 1 point.
Eurovision organisers highlighted that the Bulgarian entry ended up winning both the jury and public votes, which it said had not happened “in almost 10 years, since Kyiv 2017”.
The surprise Bulgarian success was met with delight in the south-eastern European country, where Dara, 27, was toasted by the foreign minister as the country’s greatest young ambassador and proof that “talent, courage and hard work” can pay off.
Ina Dobreva, Dara’s former acting teacher in her home town of Varna, said she was delighted for her old student and that she fully deserved her victory. The win, she added, was a much-needed ray of hope at a turbulent time in the country.
“Bulgarians really needed to have a moment like this where we can gather around common happiness,” Dobreva told the Guardian. Bulgaria, an EU member state, has undergone years of political instability, recently holding its eighth election in five years.
“I didn’t expect Bulgaria to win, so it was quite nice to see that for the first time, we actually managed to do it,” said Kristina Dureva, 25, a recruitment specialist from Sofia.
Ilayda Kayalar, 21, an interior design student also from the capital, said that winning the Eurovision cemented Bulgaria’s EU integration while helping to bolster the country’s popularity on the international scene.
“I’m really happy today,” said Kayalar. “Winning [the Eurovision] means that Bulgaria is finally known for something.”
Dara said that in a turbulent world “Bangaranga” represented “a quiet belief that everything’s going to be all right.”
“Nobody believed that we can win and that Bangaranga can win, and having this love from all the juries and all the audience tonight. It feels like a dream. I don’t know if I am sleeping or is it reality?” she told a press conference.
Bulgaria is already turning its mind to 2027, according to the general director of BNT, the public broadcaster. Both the mayor of Sofia and Burgas, a port city on the Black Sea, are reported to be lobbying for their city to host next year’s edition.
Dara made a triumphant arrival in Sofia on Sunday evening, with Vasil Terziev, the mayor of Sofia, saying “she will be greeted with a red carpet.”