Monday, May 18, 2026

MUSICAL MONDAY: Bangaranga (DARA)


Here it is: the winner of the weekend's 70th annual Eurovision Song Contest.

In the "home jury", both Rachel and I gave this one our top scores and so were delighted - and rather surprised - that the bouncy Bangaranga actually won the contest.

Our scoresheets for the evening - Rachel even made notes!
Sadly, the UK's Look Mum No Computer (which we'd voted into second place) ended up at the bottom of the 25 acts participating in the grand final, with just a single point.

In comparison, DARA scored 516 points - the biggest margin over second place in the history of Eurovision.

See below for the final tally, which includes both the international juries' and the public votes.

2 comments:

  1. I am disappointed we don't have a good way to watch Eurovision here in the States. But I also think we are missing out on some of the culture involved with it. It seems to be a pretty big deal from what I can see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is Eurovision not available live on YouTube? Or is it region-locked? https://www.youtube.com/@EurovisionSongContest

      If nothing else you are missing out on a yearly introduction to the current "pop" music of multiple nations, which, in turn, can act as a window into the cultures of those countries.

      To most, it is a very serious - even if their entries are light-hearted - international music contest. Unfortunately, I fear that's where the UK music industry goes wrong - generally adopting a slightly sneery, "we're too good for this" approach. Just look at this year's winner: Dara is currently the biggest pop star in Bulgaria. She didn't need to do Eurovision, but it's opened up her music to a global audience!

      Delete

My pop culture Odyssey: a slice of super-powered geek life with heavy emphasis on pulp adventure, superheroes, comic books, westerns, horror, sci-fi, giant monsters, zombies etc