Who is Dara, the Eurovision winner?

After a three-year break, Bulgaria returned to Eurovision and immediately won. The colors of this Balkan country were defended by singer Dara, who attracted great attention from the European audience with her performance and song.

Darina Nikolaeva Yotova, better known as Dara, is 27 years old and hails from Varna, the third largest city in Bulgaria. She first came to the public's attention in 2015 when she reached the final of the Bulgarian version of the "X Factor" competition.

The audience remembers her for the hits "Thunder", "Call Me" and "Mr Rover", which dominated the music charts for weeks. In addition to her successful music career, Dara was a mentor on the show "The Voice of Bulgaria" in 2021 and 2022. She released a new album in 2025, further strengthening her position on the international scene.

In an interview with The Independent, Dara spoke about how much representing her country at Eurovision means to her.

"Eurovision is taken very seriously in Bulgaria. We haven't been to the competition for three years, and our greatest success remains Kristian Kostov's second place in 2017. Kristian is a great friend of mine and that result meant a lot to our country," she said.

She added that winning is important to her, but that there is a much broader desire behind it all.

"Of course I want to win, but it is equally important to me that Bulgaria is noticed. We are a small country with a huge cultural soul - ancient, layered and stubborn in the best possible way. We have a rich musical heritage that the world has yet to discover," Dara pointed out.

She also said that she would like her song to encourage people to explore Bulgaria, its music, coast, literature, and culture.

She represented Bulgaria with the song "Banagaranga", which she describes as a blend of pop sound and folklore elements. She also explained the origin of the song's title.

"The word comes from Jamaican slang and means rebellion, chaos, but in a beautiful and energetic way. It's a word that you feel first, and only then understand," said the singer.

Bulgaria did not participate in Eurovision last year, and has been out of the competition since 2023. They last performed in 2022, when they failed to reach the final.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest was also marked by numerous controversies over the decision to let second-place Israel perform despite the war in Gaza. As a result, some countries decided to boycott the competition.