Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Eurovision is a big music contest in Europe. Many countries send a singer to it every year. The contest is on television.
This year, the contest was in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Twenty-five countries sang in the final on May 16.
The winner was Bulgaria. The singer's name is Dara. She is 24 years old. Her song is called 'Bangaranga.'
It is the first time Bulgaria has ever won Eurovision. Next year, the contest will be in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
- contest
- a competition where people try to win
- music
- sounds that singers and instruments make
- singer
- a person who sings
- song
- a piece of music with words
- country
- a place like Bulgaria or Austria
- capital
- the main city of a country
- winner
- the person or team that comes first
- television
- a screen that shows pictures and sound
Level 2 — Elementary
Bulgaria won the 70th Eurovision Song Contest on May 16. The grand final took place at the Wiener Stadthalle, a large indoor arena in Vienna, Austria. Twenty-five countries performed in the final, and Bulgaria received 516 points in total.
The winner was 24-year-old Darina Yotova, who performs under the stage name Dara. Her song 'Bangaranga' is a high-energy dance-pop track inspired by the Bulgarian Kukeri tradition, in which people wear bells, animal skins, and large masks to chase away evil spirits at the start of the year.
Dara won both the public vote (312 points from viewers' phone votes) and the jury vote (204 points from music experts in each country). She is the first artist since Portugal's Salvador Sobral in 2017 to lead in both rankings.
The victory is historic for Bulgaria. The country first competed at Eurovision in 2005, and its best finish before now was second place in 2017. Bulgarian National Television will host the 71st contest in Sofia in May 2027.
- arena
- a large building where shows or sports take place
- grand final
- the last and most important round of a competition
- stage name
- the public name an artist uses, often different from their real name
- Kukeri
- a Bulgarian tradition with costumes, bells, and masks
- energy
- lively spirit and excitement
- jury
- a group of judges who choose a winner
- victory
- a win in a competition
- historic
- important enough to be remembered for a long time
Level 3 — Intermediate
Bulgaria notched its first-ever Eurovision Song Contest victory on the evening of May 16, when 24-year-old Darina Nikolaeva Yotova — performing as Dara — claimed the trophy at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna with the dance-pop track 'Bangaranga.' She finished with a commanding 516 points, ahead of the runner-up by a comfortable margin, and triggered a long ovation on the arena floor.
Dara's victory is historic on two counts. First, Bulgaria had been participating in the contest since 2005 with only modest success; before this year, the country's best result was Kristian Kostov's runner-up finish in 2017. Second, Dara is the first contestant since Portugal's Salvador Sobral in 2017 to top both the public televote (312 points) and the international jury vote (204 points) — a sweep that Eurovision insiders consider the gold standard of a clean win.
'Bangaranga' is a percussion-heavy production written by a Bulgarian–Greek–Norwegian songwriting team that includes Anne Judith Wik and Dimitris Kontopoulos. Its visual identity draws directly on the Bulgarian Kukeri tradition: dancers in towering bell-and-fur costumes representing the masked figures who, in folklore, roam villages each January to drive out malevolent spirits and bless the coming year.
Under European Broadcasting Union rules, the broadcaster of the winning country normally hosts the following year's contest. Bulgarian National Television has already confirmed it will accept the duty, with Sofia as the most likely host city. Officials there said they would announce the venue, dates and logistical plan after consultations with the EBU and the Bulgarian government.
- ovation
- long, enthusiastic applause
- runner-up
- the person or team that comes second
- televote
- voting carried out by viewers using phones or apps
- sweep
- a clean win in multiple categories or rounds
- percussion
- drums and other instruments played by being struck
- folklore
- traditional stories and beliefs of a community
- malevolent
- wanting to cause harm
- broadcaster
- an organization that produces radio or television programs
Level 4 — Advanced
Bulgaria captured its first Eurovision Song Contest title on the evening of May 16, when 24-year-old Darina Nikolaeva Yotova — performing under her stage name Dara — finished atop the 70th edition's leaderboard at the Wiener Stadthalle with 516 points for the dance-pop entry 'Bangaranga.' The result, announced after the final televoting reveal, was greeted with an extended floor ovation and immediate celebrations among the Bulgarian delegation in the green room.
Two structural features of the win underscore its scale. First, Bulgaria had been competing at the contest only since 2005 and had hovered around mid-table for most of that span; the country's previous high-water mark was Kristian Kostov's runner-up finish in 2017. Second, Dara is the first contestant since Portugal's Salvador Sobral, also in 2017, to lead simultaneously in both the international jury aggregate (204 points) and the pan-European televote (312 points) — a double sweep traditionally read by Eurovision analysts as a signature of consensus rather than tactical or diaspora-driven voting.
'Bangaranga' itself is a meticulously engineered production helmed by a Bulgarian-Norwegian-Greek songwriting team led by Anne Judith Wik, Cristian Tarcea, Darina Nikolaeva Yotova herself, and the prolific Eurovision veteran Dimitris Kontopoulos. The arrangement layers Balkan modal vocal lines over a percussion-forward EDM substrate, with the staging tableau quoting directly from the Kukeri folk masquerade — a January ritual in which men in towering bell-and-fur costumes parade through Bulgarian villages to ward off malevolent spirits and bless the agricultural year.
Under European Broadcasting Union convention, the winning broadcaster ordinarily hosts the following edition. Bulgarian National Television has signaled its acceptance of the duty, with Sofia widely expected to be selected as the 2027 host city pending consultation with the EBU reference group and the national cabinet. Government officials in Sofia, sensing both the soft-power dividend and the logistical scale of staging an event of Eurovision's magnitude, are reportedly already coordinating with the EBU on venue, timeline and security planning.
- leaderboard
- a ranked list showing who is winning a competition
- delegation
- the official group representing a country at an event
- green room
- a backstage room where performers wait
- high-water mark
- the highest level something has previously reached
- double sweep
- winning two parallel rankings at once
- modal
- based on musical modes, scales used in folk traditions
- substrate
- an underlying layer that supports something built on top of it
- soft power
- the cultural and diplomatic influence a country exerts without force
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