Bulgaria has stormed to victory at the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, claiming the trophy for the first time in the country’s history — while the UK suffered another crushing humiliation by finishing rock bottom yet again.
In a tense final vote during the 70th anniversary edition of the contest in Vienna, Bulgaria’s Dana triumphed with her infectious pop track Bangaranga, beating Israel’s Noam Bettan into second place and sending the competition to Bulgaria for the very first time.
But for the UK, it was another night to forget. British entry Look Mum No Computer crashed out with his eccentric song Eins, Zwei, Drei, receiving just one point from the jury vote and the dreaded nul points from the public televote.
It marks the third year in a row that the UK has failed to receive a single point from the Eurovision televote — a brutal result that left British fans once again questioning what has gone so badly wrong.
Bulgaria finished the night with a commanding 516 points, ahead of Israel on 343 and Romania in third place with 296. Finland and Greece, both tipped as strong contenders before the final, failed to live up to expectations, scoring 279 and 220 points respectively.
The final was not without controversy. Israel’s participation had dominated the build-up to this year’s contest, with Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland all boycotting the event over Israel’s inclusion.
When Israel was awarded its televote points, loud boos and jeers could be heard from sections of the crowd, briefly putting Noam Bettan at the top of the leaderboard before Bulgaria surged ahead to take the crown.
The slogan for this year’s contest was United by Music, but the atmosphere around Eurovision 2026 was anything but united. Pro-Palestine protests took place in Vienna, while Israel’s performer reportedly received heavy security protection during his time in the Austrian capital.
Outside the Wiener Stadthalle arena, demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and held signs including “don’t mention Palestine” and “united by genocide”.
One protester, Viktoria Eibensteiner, said: “I think it’s very important to show a symbol of Austria being against war crimes, about not offering a stage for Israeli crimes in Palestine, in Lebanon, wherever. So… we want to take a stance against genocide, against war crimes, and that’s why we’re here today, it’s a celebration that serves to counteract the Eurovision Song Contest and the normalisation of war crimes.”
Jamil Sawalmeh, Country Director for ActionAid Palestine, also said: “Justice cannot be a song Europe sings for some and silences for others. As Eurovision takes centre stage across Europe today, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues, with Palestinians facing bombardment, forced displacement and deepening suffering, while the Israeli Government steps up its assault on Palestinian life and rights in the West Bank.”
Earlier in the week, BBC commentator Rylan Clark was praised by viewers after directly acknowledging the controversy at the start of the first semi-final.
He told audiences: “As I’m sure you’re aware, this year Eurovision has faced one of its most challenging years, five countries have withdrawn following the continued participation of Israel, which leaves us with 35 acts competing in this year’s live shows.”
Fans quickly reacted online, with one writing: “Rylan immediately starting off with mentioning 5 countries withdrawing because of israel… honestly wasn’t expecting it.”
Another said: “Big on Rylan for mentioning the withdrawals and that is because of Israel.”
A third added: “Rylan is making his feelings known, good for him.”
While Bulgaria celebrated a landmark Eurovision triumph, the UK was left facing another painful post-mortem after yet another disastrous night on the scoreboard.
For a country with such a long Eurovision history, finishing last again — and being blanked by the public for a third consecutive year — may be the most embarrassing result yet.
