By Jake Kantor, Deadline | Europe’s biggest music event has crowned a new victor. Bulgaria’s Dara triumphed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 on Saturday night in Vienna, Austria, with her catchy song “Bangaranga.” It is the first time Bulgaria has won the contest, sweeping the leader board with an impressive 516 votes.
The victory was unexpected. Watch the song below. Bulgaria’s previous best result came in 2017, when Kristian Kostov finished in second place with the song “Beautiful Mess.”
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Includes video of winner Dara:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/bulgaria-triumphs-eurovision-song-contest-230641813.html
Photo: Dara of Bulgaria | From Eurovision 2026’s Facebook page (no credit listed) https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1411335717706522&set=a.610522751121160
Bulgaria wins Eurovision Song Contest, Israel comes second again
By Francois Murphy, Reuters
VIENNA, May 16 (Reuters) – Bulgaria won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time on Saturday in a final overshadowed by five countries’ boycott over Gaza, claiming a dramatic victory despite another big public vote for Israel that secured it second place.
The garish and usually good-natured competition involving pop acts from countries across Europe and beyond, now in its 70th year, has been plunged into crisis by a dispute over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, a response to the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
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Read the full article here:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/eurovision-song-contest-final-takes-040739077.html
(Reporting by Francois Murphy, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien, Rod Nickel and Cynthia Osterman)
Eurovision Song Contest 2026: Here’s Where to Watch the Grand Final Live Online
By Rudie Obias, Billboard
Only one singer gets awarded the highly-coveted glass microphone trophy this year. Organized by the European Broadcasting Union, the 70th annual Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final features the best and brightest up-and-coming singers and pop groups in 25 countries (down from 35 countries in the semifinals) competing to win. These nations include France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, United Kingdom, Romania, Serbia, Austria, Poland and many others.
The event livestreams from Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. Keep reading to learn how to watch the event live.
How to Watch Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Peacock livestreams Eurovision Song Contest. For Peacock subscribers, you can tune-in to the live event at no extra cost. Just log into your account once the event begins, and you’ll have access.
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It’s free to stream on YouTube.
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Go here to read more about where to watch (the re-runs):
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/watch-eurovision-song-contest-2025-140804713.html
The 10 best songs competing at (a very contentious) Eurovision
By Glen Weldon, NPR/CPR News
The winner of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, whoever it turns out to be, will have a big ol’ asterisk next to their name in the history books, so let’s start there: Israel’s participation has caused a whopping, unprecedented five countries to boycott the event in protest of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, even as the contest’s organizers struggle mightily to project an apolitical, uncontroversial image. That effort is more doomed than ever this year, because the boycotting countries include dependable Eurovision powerhouses Ireland (which has won the seven-decade-old contest a record seven times, tied only with Sweden), The Netherlands (five wins) and Spain (which has only won twice, but is historically one of the contest’s “Big Five” main sponsors, alongside the U.K., France, Germany and Italy, so its absence is a very big deal). Iceland and Slovenia are staying home, too.
That leaves 35 countries in the competition in Vienna, Austria this year, ten of which have now been eliminated in semifinals held Tuesday and Thursday.
This Saturday, the 25 countries that made it through to the Grand Final will perform their songs in astonishingly rapid succession; despite its perennial veneer of sparkly chaos, Eurovision is, from a production logistics standpoint, the very tightest of ships. Here in the U.S., the ESC Grand Final will be streamed live on Peacock and on YouTube Saturday at 3 p.m ET. The whole megillah usually takes 4+ hours, so clear your day. Here’s how it works: To win, a song needs to do well in both the live televote, and in the votes collected from the 35 national juries — groups of music professionals in each participating country.
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https://www.npr.org/2026/05/14/nx-s1-5813511/eurovision-2026-predictions-top-songs
