Saturday marked the 70th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest, hosted in Vienna, Austria, and it was undeniably a night of both celebration and tension right until its conclusion.
Austria constructed a beautifully unique stage for the competition, with 2025's winner JJ performing his operatic hit Wasted Love to accompany the flag parade. The opening of the night was a gorgeous display of what Eurovision is - 'United by Music' - and it is without question that Europe is in desperate need for a sense of unity amongst these uncertain times.
Video courtesy of Eurovision Song Contest on Youtube
Prior to this year's commencement, Eurovision was plagued with controversies, with the most significant being Israel's continued participation in the competition, despite their ongoing war with Palestine. These oppositions arose from the hypocrisy of removing Russia from the competition in 2022 following their invasion of Ukraine, yet nothing has been done to prevent Israel from partaking in the contest. Thus, five countries pulled out of the competition to demonstrate their solidarity with Palestine, being:
- Iceland
- Ireland
- The Netherlands
- Slovenia
- Spain
All of which participated in the 2025 contest, and most notably Spain being a part of the 'Big Five' countries who primarily fund the competition. It is reported that Spain contributed almost €600,000 in participation fees alone in 2024, with that being a significant decrease from their previous funding, so it is apparent that the contest would have lost a large proportion of funding from Spain pulling out of the competition. Furthermore, Spain's entries are always highly regarded, with one of the most recent example's being Chanel's SloMo in 2022 (which should have won in my opinion), so fans were equally disappointed yet understanding of the decision of Spain leaving for justified reasons.
Video courtesy of Eurovision Song Contest on Youtube
The boycotting of the competition has seemed to work though, with numbers in the UK reporting the lowest audience viewership has been since 2010 with just 5.2 million. This may have been accompanied by the UK's entry this year, where LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER's Eins, Zwei, Drei was widely reprimanded, achieving a single jury point, and 'nil pois' from the public televote, continuing the UK's streak of being Eurovision's laughing stock, despite our major involvement in the competition as part of the 'Big Five'.
However, apart from the UK, 2026 proved to be one of the best years for Eurovision in a while. There was a noticeable more upbeat tone to the competition, where ballads were few and far between, but still often enough to appeal to the masses, accompanied by a large amount of danceable tunes. It is inarguable that this year's running order was greatly curated so the show didn't appear elongated or boring to the viewers, allowing for each participant to have their time to shine, compared to 2025's acts sometimes blurring into one ballad-centred mess.
In particular, Saturday's winner was indisputably the star of the night, with Dara's Bangaranga, achieving 516 points overall, and marking Bulgaria's first ever win in the competition. The song came as an underdog in the competition, where it unexpectedly cruised its way through the semi-finals and qualified into the grand final with ease. Dara's performance was absolutely electrifying, with a catchy chorus, engaging set design, and an ode to her Bulgarian heritage, where Bangaranga represents "this inner feeling that everything is gonna be alright and that everything is possible", as Dara revealed to BBC Radio 2.
Video courtesy of Eurovision Song Contest on Youtube
Eurovision this year may have begun surrounded by controversy and scepticism, but it is without a doubt that it will continue to prevail for years to come, especially with the introduction of Asiavision on the horizon, kicking off in Thailand this November. For now, we can only wait another year to witness who is going to be crowned the next winner of the competition in Bulgaria, 2027.
Image banner courtesy of Eurovision Song Contest 2026 under Fair Use
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