Bulgaria wins the 2026 Eurovision grand final as Australia places fourth — as it happened

Friends, it's just about that time for me to say goodbye.

Thank you all so much for joining me as I manically live-blogged this year's Eurovision.

These things are only fun if you've got people on the other end to speak to. It also helps if they're also slightly unhinged and the type of people willing to wake up at 5am to watch a bunch of people do weird stuff on the telly.

We'll absolutely have some more pieces in the coming days as the dust settles, so look out for that.

My editorial overlords would also love for me to remind you that if you would like to rewatch the chaos, you can do so over on SBS and SBS On Demand.

We'll also be airing a prime-time 'access all areas' broadcast today at 7.30pm AEST, so get that in your system.

Until next year.

MWAH.

— Alexandra Koster (Commonly confused with Romania's entrant)

Darina Yotova, 27, was born in the Black Sea port city of Varna, where she graduated from the National School of Arts.

She began singing traditional Bulgarian folklore music at the age of seven before later shifting her focus toward contemporary pop.

She became known to the general public thanks to her participation in X Factor Bulgaria in 2015.

You can read more about her journey as an artist here:

READ MORE

Who is DARA, the Bulgarian singer who won Eurovision 2026?

Often, the jury votes aren't much of a shock. Douze points from Cyprus to Greece, anyone?

But Australia receiving 12 points from Israel certainly caught my attention.

The juries are supposed to base their decision solely on the songs and the performance. But we all know politics creeps into it. Relations between Israel and Australia have been pretty poor recently.

So either the Israeli experts loved Eclipse (entirely possible, it's great), or relations have improved a little, at least in the cultural world.

Interestingly, an interview I did with Delta earlier this week, in which I asked her stance on the boycott and Israel's involvement in the contest, has been republished in Hebrew by several major Israeli news outlets in recent days.

— Ben Lewis

Our Delta has spoken after her Eurovision grand final performance, where she came in fourth place.

"Representing Australia on the Eurovision stage and being part of this incredible community has been unforgettable," Delta said.

"I’m so grateful for all the love and support from home and around the world, it has carried me every step of the way."

Delta Goodrem stood out with her performance of Eclipse in the Eurovision grand final. Source: AP / Martin Meissner

She also teased new music on the horizon, an entrepreneurial queen.

"Sharing Eclipse with you at this moment feels perfectly timed, and I’m excited to continue the journey we’ve started together and to share new music with you soon."

"From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

— Alexandra Koster

Our correspondent Ben Lewis, who is on the ground in Vienna, says cheers erupted throughout the press room when Bulgaria won — and Israel lost — this year's contest.

After Israel skyrocketed to first place following the audience votes, loud booing could be heard from the crowd — for several minutes.

That dissipated when Bulgaria was announced as the winner.

Here's what Ben told me the energy was like on the ground:

"Wild cheers in the arena. Eurovision content creators dancing in the press room. EBU bosses are likely breathing a sigh of relief.

For the second year straight, Israel was in the top two. For the second year straight, they lost.

Given the amount of controversy about Israel's inclusion, the boycott by five nations and the protests, hosting a contest in Tel Aviv would have been challenging, to say the least.

Instead, Sofia awaits."

— Ben Lewis, Alexandra Koster

The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-profit event and is mostly financed by contributions from participating broadcasters (or, the participation fee).

That cost is different for each country. The official Eurovision website says there is a "solidarity principle that the strongest shoulders carry the most weight".

Some of the largest financial contributors are France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain, known as the "Big Five" countries, who automatically qualify for the Grand Final.

Several countries, including Spain, boycotted this year's contest over Israel's participation, calling for it to be excluded over the conduct in the Gaza conflict.

Austria's national broadcaster, ORF, said in December that the loss of the countries would be a "financial burden".

The fees each country pays are usually shielded by pesky non-disclosure agreements, but they were enough to make Bulgaria pull out of the competition for several years.

— Alexandra Koster

With Bulgaria's win, they'll officially be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027.

It's the first time Bulgaria has ever won the contest.

DARA won both the audience and the jury vote with her song Bangaranga.

There was a 173-point lead over Israel in second place, making it the biggest winning margin ever seen at Eurovision.

It returned this year after a four-year break. And damn, what a return.

Bulgaria dropped out of the contest due to rising financial costs for participating nations.

I am about to go down a rabbit hole to see just how much participation costs. Stay tuned...

— Alexandra Koster

These are the faces of two beings who have been up since 4am.

Source: Supplied

One of us has been working hard. The other is a freeloader who refuses to pay rent.

— Alexandra Koster

Here's how the scoreboard ended up after combining jury and audience votes.

Pour one out for the UK.

The final leaderboard for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. Source: Supplied

— Alexandra Koster

As a quick refresh, I've dropped the final four performances below, so you can go back and relive the last few hours over and over and over and over and over again.

You can also relive the excitement on SBS and SBS On Demand. SBS will also air prime-time 'access all areas' broadcasts today at 7.30pm AEST.

— Alexandra Koster

Gold glitter floods the stage.

The credits roll.

The world has been blessed with Bangaranga.

My new stim will be Bangaranga.

I feel like I have been sprinting for four hours non-stop. I need to eat food and pry myself away from the television, but I've developed almost a Stockholm Syndrome type relationship with my television.

Australia may not have won, but honestly, Bulgaria winning is just SO. FUN.

What a ride, dudes.

— Alexandra Koster

Bulgarian icon DARA is now gifting us with her winning performance.

The audience is bangaranga-ing. I'm bangaranga-ing. Everyone be bangaranga-ing.

Honestly, I welcome our new overlord.

BREAK IT DOWN BEBS!!!

— Alexandra Koster

BULGARIA HAS WON THE 2026 EUROVISION!!!!!

They absolutely cleared audience and jury votes, with a total of 516 points.

It's their first win EVER.

Israel has come second with 343 points.

Romania is in third with 296 points.

Australia came fourth with 287 points.

— Alexandra Koster

Australia has earned 122 points!

It's not enough to win.

We love you still, Delta.

— Alexandra Koster

The hosts are talking about Israel being in the lead, with loud boos heard in the audience.

Finland, the competiton's favourite, earn just 138 points. They're out of the count now.

France flops with 14 points.

Denmark grab 78 points, not much.

— Alexandra Koster

Israel is awarded 220 points, moving them to the top of the leaderboard.

I can hear boos in the audience.

— Alexandra Koster

Ukraine earns A LOT of points and move into a (very temporary) second place.

Albania get slightly less than they hoped, but they still scoot up to some of the top spots (for now).

Romania grab 232 points — let's GOOOOOO brunette Alexandra with bangs! They're at the top right now.

Greece gets 147 points, which is a bit surprising considering audiences (myself included) ate this up. Soooo not ferto.

Malta, who cleared in the jury votes, absolutely flop in the audience category. Poor leatherdaddy.

— Alexandra Koster

Moldova SWEEPS with audience points and skyrockets to the top of the board.

I'm elated.

We know it's only going to last for a few moments, but we'll take it anyway.

VIVA MOLDOVA!!!

— Alexandra Koster

There's a lot of technical speak right now and I'm a little confused.

But alas, the hosts start announcing how many audience votes each country has received.

The United Kingdom received zero (count 'em, zero!) audience votes. But he's a great sport about it.

It doesn't mean he hasn't received any votes, he just hasn't made it into the top ten of any country.

Germany and Belgium also received zero points, big RIP.

— Alexandra Koster

Alright folks, jury votes are finished.

Audience votes are next, so anything could happen.

The current state of play is:

Bulgaria is SWEEPING up first place.

Australia and Denmark are tied (!!!) in second place.

We're about to start the audience points now. Stay tuuuuuned.

— Alexandra Koster