Bulgaria wins Eurovision for the first time; Israel finishes second ...Middle East

Bulgaria won the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna after a huge surge in the public vote clinched the victory for Dara with her dance track “Bangaranga”.

The result came as a surprise, given Bulgaria did not feature among the pre-show favourites. After a nail-biting finish, Bulgaria’s act, Dara was only revealed as the winner in the last minute, beating Israel’s Noam Bettan, who came second.

Bulgaria triumphed over favourites Norway and Greece with a catchy song that performed well with juries and resonated strongly with the public vote, securing 516 points.The result showed that even the pundits can get it wrong.

Israel surged up the leaderboard after receiving 343 points from the public vote.

Eurovision has been increasingly political in recent years. When it began in 1956 it was only a small contest, decided upon by judges but in recent years it has become shaped by public voting which often mirror international tension.

In the modern age, audiences can vote by phone, SMS, or at an official voting website or app. Ukraine’s victory in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion, which came after massive support from telephone-voting , is a clear example of global political solidarity being intertwined with the contest.

At this year’s contest Israel’s continued participation in the contest amid its conflict with Palestine has led to the biggest boycott of the contest in its 70-year history, with Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain refusing to take part.

During the semi-final Bettan was booed and heckled by part of the audience – but tonight his performance passed without incident.

Some chants and booing could be heard in the crowd, where many Israeli flags and banners could also be seen during quieter moments of the song, but the performance was met with loud applause at its conclusion.

Bettan made a dramatic entrance, emerging from from the centre of a giant spinning diamond, at the start of his performance of Michelle.

Political tensions aside, Eurovision this year, in keeping with its tradition, served up a cocktail of woeful entries that were horribly out of tune, magnificent pop tracks, pyrotechnics and wacky costumes.

The UK entry Sam Battle (Look Mum No Computer) with the song “Eins, Zwei, Drei.” scored just 1 jury point and 0 public points, finishing in last place overall.

The UK’s entrant was considered one of the most flamboyant acts. Sam Battle, performed his track which combines synths and electronic bass while wearing a pink boiler suit.

He was met with a chorus of cheers as he danced energetically with performers dressed as computers in a mock workshop while playing a synthesiser.

Czechia’s act Daniel Zizka was plagued by technical difficulties during his performance of his song Crossroads.

He performed inside an elaborate hall of mirrors, but at several point the picture became distorted and seemed to freeze as gasps were heard from the audience.

Afterwards, BBC commentator Graham Norton appeared baffled and asked: “Did the cameraman fall over?”

Australian star Delta Goodrem – one of Australia’s biggest-selling female artists – gave a powerful semi-final performance of her power ballad “Eclipse”.

The singer was accompanied by a harpist before miming the playing of a sparkling gold piano herself.

At the climax of the former Neighbours star’s performance, she was elevated into the air from the top of the piano as fireworks went off around her.

She then waved to the crowd as she left the stage and said: “Thank you so much.”

Greece’s entrant, Akylas, was one of the most entertaining and jaw-dropping acts of the night.

At the start of his song “Ferto”, the singer – who donned a tiger-print outfit and furry moon boots – mounted a scooter and rode it across the stage as fireworks erupted around him.

Later, the stage was transformed into a living room, an Ancient Greece-inspired area, a golden vault and eventually a tiger print room, where he danced with an array of characters.

The Greek delegation has been handing out replicas of the singer’s hat to fans and media during the week, with Akylas being among the best supported acts in Vienna this week.

Lithuania’s Lion Ceccah, real name Tomas Alenčikas, perhaps had the most bizarre outfit of the night.

He took the stage painted head-to-toe in silver – resembling the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz – to perform Sólo Quiero Más, a track about wanting to escape the shallowness of social media and artificial intelligence, and make real human connections instead.

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