Bulgarian song "Bangaranga" won Eurovision with a historic lead

The song “Bangaranga”, performed by DARA — Bulgaria’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest — won the competition with a remarkable lead of 173 points over the runner-up, marking the largest winning margin in the contest’s history.

Incredible success for Bulgaria as DARA wins Eurovision 2026 with the song 'Bangaranga'

The previous record stood at 169 points, held by “Fairytale”, performed by Alexander Rybak, who won Eurovision in Moscow in 2009.

Bulgaria claimed victory in this year’s contest with a total of 516 points, combining scores from both juries and viewers. A total of 35 countries participated in the 2026 edition, with rules preventing both national juries and viewers from voting for their own country’s entry.

Israel was in second place with “Michelle”, performed by Noam Betan, which received a total of 343 points from jury and public voting.

The Bulgarian entry “Bangaranga”, performed by DARA, achieved an impressive result in the jury vote, earning 204 points, according to the official Eurovision Song Contest website. The song also collected 312 points from the public vote.

“Bangaranga” topped both rankings, marking the first time in almost a decade that both juries and viewers selected the same winner — the first such case since Kyiv 2017, according to the contest organisers.

As noted by The Conversation, Eurovision remains centred around music, but the way people vote increasingly reflects changing attitudes towards identity, solidarity and international developments across Europe.

When the contest began in 1956, viewers had no voting rights and winners were decided solely by national juries. That changed in the late 1990s with the introduction of televoting, allowing audiences to support their favourite songs by phone and transforming Eurovision into a far more interactive event.

Over time, voting in the Eurovision Song Contest has become increasingly digital.

Between 1998 and 2008, Eurovision relied almost entirely on televoting, with juries used mainly as a backup in case of technical issues.

Today, viewers can vote via phone calls, SMS, the official website, or through a dedicated mobile application.

Since 2023, audiences from countries not participating in Eurovision have also been able to vote through a “Rest of the World” category on a special voting platform.