The Bulgarian national broadcaster addresses rumors and explains the voting process in the local Eurovision national final, following online allegations of vote manipulation after the results were announced.
On Saturday, DARA was announced as Bulgaria’s representative for Eurovision 2026. Shortly after the announcement, various allegations began circulating on social media regarding alleged manipulation of the public vote. Users shared images and tables containing unofficial voting data, alongside claims that the selected representative had not been chosen fairly and that the voting results did not reflect viewers’ actual preferences. These publications sparked public controversy and led to widespread speculation about how the voting process in the ״Natsionalna Selektsiya 2026״ was conducted.
In response to the allegations, the Bulgarian national broadcaster, BNT, issued an official statement yesterday (Sunday), emphasizing that information circulating on social media should not be considered credible. The national broadcaster clarified that the claims constitute fake news, and that the interpretations and allegations spread online are entirely incorrect and not based on official data. According to the statement, the public vote was conducted in accordance with pre-established rules, while maintaining fairness and equality among participants, and without any interference in the results.
“One and a Half Million Votes from Asia”
In addition, the national broadcaster revealed that during the broadcast of the second night of the Bulgarian Eurovision national final, a targeted cyberattack on the voting system was detected. As part of the attack, approximately 1.5 million votes originating from Asian countries were identified, all cast in favor of one of the competing participants. These irregular votes were detected in real time by security systems, immediately blocked, and excluded from the public vote count.
This incident was among the factors behind claims that the public voting results on the second night were not presented live on air, unlike during the first night of the national final. However, the Bulgarian national broadcaster clarified that the decision not to display live voting results is fully aligned with the regulations and guidelines of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which state that public voting results should not be shown live, partly in order to reduce the risk of manipulation attempts and cyberattacks during the voting process.
It was further stated that, in the interest of full transparency toward the public, the Bulgarian national broadcaster published the official, final, and detailed table of results from the second night of the ״Natsionalna Selektsiya 2026״. The table includes the exact number of public votes received by each participant. According to the official data, DARA secured first place with 21,267 votes.
DARA – Who Are You?
DARA, whose full name is Dara Nikolaeva Yotova, is one of the most prominent pop singers of her generation in Bulgaria. She rose to public attention in late 2015 after reaching the final of the Bulgarian version of The X Factor. Since then, she has established herself as a leading figure in the national pop scene.
She launched her solo career in 2016 with the hit “K’vo ne chu“, which topped the Bulgarian charts and later received an international English-language version titled “Onto You“. In the years that followed, she released a series of successful singles, appeared on major television productions such as the Bulgarian edition of “Dancing with the Stars”, and became widely recognized beyond music audiences.
Since 2021, she has served as a mentor on The Voice of Bulgaria, where she has guided contestants to victory on two occasions.
Bulgaria at Eurovision 2022
For Eurovision 2022, Bulgaria sent Intelligent Music Project with their song “Intention”, which interrupted Bulgaria’s streak of successes as they failed to qualify for the final for the first time since Eurovision 2013. The band finished sixteenth out of seventeen countries in the first semi-final held in Turin, Italy, receiving a total of 29 points, split to 11 points from juries and an additional 18 points from public voting. Following this participation, drummer Stoyan Yankoulov became the first artist to represent Bulgaria three times at Eurovision after participating in both Eurovision 2007 and Eurovision 2013.
Eurovision 2026: This will be Bulgaria’s 15th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Bulgaria joined the competition in 2005 and achieved its best result in Eurovision 2017 when the singer Kristian Kostov finished in second place with the song “Beautiful Mess”.
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