"Bulgaria hopes Eurovision victory will show its strength as a continental player", reads the headline of an article in the American daily "New York Times" dedicated to Dara's triumph in the 70th anniversary edition of the song contest last weekend in the Austrian capital Vienna, BTA reports.
Recent months have brought remarkable changes to the Eastern European country, which just adopted the euro and forced its government to resign through mass protests, notes the author of the article, Amelia Nirenberg. "Bulgaria shattered the status quo in European pop culture by winning "Eurovision". And he hopes that this victory - in a year in which it adopted the euro and elected a new government that promised to clean up corruption - can show that it is a serious player on the European stage, "writes Nirenberg.
She quotes what Prime Minister Rumen Radev wrote about the 27-year-old winner on the social network "Facebook": "Dara is yet another proof that Bulgaria can win."
"The victory in "Eurovision", the first for Bulgaria, marked the end of a period of internal upheaval and change for this country, which has been on the periphery of the European Union since it joined the bloc as a member state in 2007," continues the "New York Times".
Now, as the winner of "Eurovision", Bulgaria has a year to prepare for hosting the 2027 edition of the song contest, an event that will be 20 years after the country joined the EU, the American daily notes, pointing out that "the victory came as a shock to "Eurovision" circles.
Bulgaria, which has long been one of the poorest member states of the European Union, has not participated in the last three editions of "Eurovision", citing high costs, writes the "New York Times". "And the club song "Banagaranga" (Banagaranga) was not among the favorites before the show. But Dara, whose real name is Darina Nikolaeva Yotova, won with 516 points - far ahead of second-place Israel, which scored 343 points, and third-place Romania, with 296 points," the New York Times reported.
When she returned to Sofia, the capital of the country of 6.5 million people, on Sunday, crowds gathered at the airport, and Bulgaria's main television channels broadcast her arrival live, rearranging their programming, the American daily noted.
"Dara raised the Eurovision trophy above her head as applause nearly drowned out her performance of the song over the loudspeakers. Glittering gold confetti flew into the air. Some waved Bulgarian flags, others held children on their shoulders to help them see over the crowd. The radiant Dara told people that Bulgaria is an “extremely talented nation that will continue to receive more and more attention“, summarizes Amelia Nierenberg.