Bulgaria secured the win at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. Dara, performing “Bangaranga” was awarded the most points by the professional jury, narrowly defeating Israel, which had dominated the audience votes, mirroring the prior year’s result.
The German entry, “Fire” performed by Sarah Engels, finished in 23rd place among the 25 competing nations. This ranking is noteworthy when compared to Germany’s recent history, where the country placed 15th and 12th over the previous two years, and had finished last on two occasions prior to that.
In terms of audience support on Saturday, Israel was the favorite, receiving the most points from Germany, followed by the eventual winner, Bulgaria, and then Greece, Croatia, Italy, and Austria.
Overall, 35 countries took part in the competition. This number marked the fewest participants recorded since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. Participation was reduced because several nations-namely Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain-boycotted the event due to Israel’s presence. Compounding this, since Spain, one of the “Big Five” member states, was also absent, only 25 countries competed in the finale, rather than the customary 26 since 2012.