Bulgaria wins Eurovision, Israel finishes second amid boycotts over its participation

Bulgarian film Dara triumphed at this year’s Eurovision following a politically charged edition of the contest, which was disrupted by a boycott by several countries due to Israel’s continued participation.

Her track “Bangaranga”, a catchy club hit performed with careful choreography, was expected to work well but proved surprisingly popular with the jury and public vote, beating second-placed Israel in a tense finale.

In the end, the 27-year-old achieved a truly decisive victory, finishing 173 points ahead of Israeli Noam Bettan – the largest margin of victory ever recorded in the history of the competition.

Her triumph also marked Bulgaria’s first-ever victory in the pop song contest, and the first time since 2017 that juries and the public agreed on the same winner.

But for all the glitz and glitz of Saturday’s grand finale in Vienna, Austria, the singing competition, in which artists representing different, mostly European, countries compete to win the public and jury vote, has been largely overshadowed by the politics surrounding it. Five countries – Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia and the Netherlands – boycotted this year’s competition over Israel’s participation, marking the biggest crisis for the event in its 70-year history.

“We will not participate in Eurovision, but we will do so with the conviction of being on the right side of history,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Friday.

Many fans also boycotted the usually joyous and glitzy spectacle, and on Saturday outside the arena, some people dressed as clowns, carrying a sign reading “United by Genocide” – a reference to the competition’s official slogan, “United by Music.” Israel has denied accusations that its war in Gaza following attacks by Hamas on October 7 constitutes genocide.

Although no boos could be heard on television during Israeli Noam Bettan’s performance, as had been the case in Tuesday’s semifinal, loud boos and jeers ricocheted around the arena when he briefly took the lead during the voting phase of the event.

The rest of the competition proceeded in its usual technicolor parade of heavy metal, dance bops and power ballads. Among them were the Croatian folk-pop track “Andromeda”, which mixed traditional Croatian music with modern pop, the lyrically inspired French track “Regarde! and the Lithuanian Lion Ceccah, covered in silver paint for his interpretation of “Sólo Quiero Más”, grappling with the rise of artificial intelligence, “Humanity, I love you”, he then concluded.

Bookies’ favorite Finland, represented by Pete Parkonnen and Linda Lampenius with a combination of pyrotechnic showmanship, nerve-wracking lyrics and a violin solo, finished sixth. Meanwhile, Australia’s Delta Goodrem, a bona fide pop star in her home country whose powerful voice has made her another favorite, finished fourth. Romanian Alexandra Căpitănescu finished third.

As tradition dictates, next year’s competition is expected to take place in Bulgaria, to celebrate their victory.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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