Bulgaria wins Eurovision Song Contest 2026 after nail-biting night

Bulgaria has won the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest with a huge 516 points. It is Bulgaria’s first time winning.

After an incredible night of performances, and a tense reveal of the votes, Bulgaria’s Dara was crowned the winner. And while the UK didn’t do too well, we at least didn’t end the night with zero points.

Drag Race favourite La Voix dished out the UK’s jury vote, giving the max 12 points to France’s Monroe.

Bulgaria took an early lead during the jury vote. They returned to the competition after a three-year absence, with Dara performing the song “Bangaranga”. After the jury vote, they were storming ahead with 204 points. They were up against Israel for the top spot, but ultimately clinched it.

Meanwhile, Australia and Denmark were tied second with 165 points after the jury vote. The UK, represented by Look Mum No Computer, had just one point and, as commentator Graham Norton said, nobody could take that away from us!

When it came to the audience vote, the UK scored a whopping… zero points. That meant the UK came in last place, with just one point. Better than nothing!

Going into the night, Finland were the favourites to win, with Australia the second favourites. Finland ended the night with 279 points.

This year’s contest didn’t come without controversy though, with five counties pulling out – the largest boycott in the competition’s history since 1970. Spain, Slovenia, Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands confirmed they would not be taking part, after it was confirmed that Israel would be competing.

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