Bulgaria has won the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Bangaranga”, sung by the Bulgarian artist Dara.
The win is notable for being Bulgaria’s first-ever victory in Eurovision history. Sadly, it’s not notable for much else. “Bangaranga” lacks meaning, is formulaic, and, quite frankly, isn’t a serious attempt at music. It’s a meme song, nothing more.
As someone who has followed Eurovision for many years, it remains an enigma to me how the forces of society and pop culture from year-to-year combine to choose sometimes terrible songs — and, at other times, truly great ones. In 1974, ABBA won with their iconic song “Waterloo”; in 2020, Daði Freyr had what probably would have been a winner (had not the contest been cancelled due to COVID-19) with his song “Think About Things”.
…And of course there is arguably the best song ever to come out of Eurovision: Domenico Modugno’s “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” from 1958 — better known to us as Dean Martin’s cover titled “Volare”.
Eurovision has led to the creation of all manner of songs, from the wild and wonderful, to the ridiculous and terrible. Although one has to admit, even the meme song specifically created as a parody of Eurovision, “Jaja Ding Dong” from the 2020 movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, is pretty darned catchy. It will never be enough.
A good song should evoke some feeling or emotion in the listener. It should have a memorable, “tuneful” melody. It should employ lyrics that really make one think, or treat language as poetic art form. For bonus points: it could utilize unexpected harmonies or other pleasant surprises. This list is far from exhaustive, but the best songs, I find, exhibit these qualities.
I don’t get any of that with “Bangaranga”. It’s a forgettable song — one I think destined for a fate alongside other novelty songs, like the ever annoying “What Does the Fox Say?”. Once people have heard it enough times they’ll be done with it.
No disrespect is intended towards the Bulgarian people, who have every reason to be excited achieving the Eurovision title for the first time. But as an honest reviewer of music, I must say “Bangaranga” is disappointing.
