Eurovision, Bulgaria’s “Bangaranga” wins. Sal Da Vinci 5th

Bulgaria (over)won Eurovision 2026 with Dara and “Bangaranga”, which obtained 512 points, trailing second-placed Israel by almost 200 points. Romania came third and Australia fourth, while Finland, the favorite on the eve, ranked only 6th. Bulgaria also won the quality juries vote with 204 points. In this ranking, Australia and Denmark are joint second with 165 points.

The Italy of Sal Da Vinci and “Forever Yes” achieved a good result, a 5th place, with 281 points (of which 134 points from the juries and 147 from televoting). Also in 2025 we had finished 5th with Lucio Corsi.

Here is the final ranking

The show and the controversies

This year too, a mammoth stage, a great spectacle in the performances and in the very fast sequence of songs – possible thanks to a half playback in which only the voice is live. A great show between trash and camp, with a blurred boundary between unconscious bad taste and conscious excess: a middle ground in which the winning song, “Bangaranga” is placed.

The songs, however, are in the background, always and this year even more so due to political tensions, with 5 countries boycotting due to the presence of Israel. AND tensions were seen in the final: the Israeli singer shouted “Am Yisrael Chai” (“The people of Israel live”) at the end of the performance, while some Palestinian flags could be seen in the arena (theoretically prohibited – only those from the competing nations are allowed). When Israel received 220 points from televoting, provisionally going top of the table, they felt it loud whistles and roars from the audience in the Vienna arena.
This week in the Austrian capital there were pro-Pal demonstrations and a “No stage for genocide” concert also supported by Roger Waters, one of the great artists who signed the letter requesting a boycott of the event. In the days preceding the demonstration, the NYTimes published an investigation into the methods used by Israel to influence and manipulate the vote in 2025. And this year too Israel was rewarded by televoting – but not enough to beat Bulgaria.

The songs?

Beyond politics and returning to the songs, every year the impression is that the level of entertainment rises but the musical level drops further. It’s difficult to identify decent songs this year that stand up to listening outside of the context and performance – while at the entertainment level, the “Eclipse” from Australia and the “Bangaranga” from Romania which won the competition stood out. Deservedly so, if the criterion is precisely that of the show, and not the music.