Bulgaria Triumphs: How Dara’s Victory Changes Everything

Interview on Euronews Bulgaria

A historic night for Bulgaria. Dara’s Eurovision victory sparked a wave of emotions, pride, and enormous expectations for the future. Beyond being a musical success, it became a symbol of Bulgaria’s new place on the global stage. In the following conversation, the reactions after the triumph, the significance of the victory for the country, and what lies ahead are discussed.

Host: A huge victory. What is next now? First, how did this miracle happen? Because we know that Eurovision is not just a song contest, not just a singing competition, not just a contest for stage performance. It is very geopolitical.

Maxim: It seems that geopolitics did not play a role this time, because only those who vaguely understand what Eurovision is can realize that Dara was the winner from the very beginning. There was not a single marketing mistake. The song is, of course, a particularly good song. It is a very Eurovision-style song. Compared to many previous, I would say rather strange winners, it was clear that Dara was doing the best thing possible. And she achieved her success. We all witnessed how many circles of hell this girl went through.

Host: Yes, unfortunately. She showed remarkable mental strength because she was heavily shaken by all the criticism she endured.

Maxim: Yes, but that is normal. Such discussions happen in every country. Literally every single one. Usually, the groups or singers representing their countries have something different from the local folklore. They sing for the world. Just imagine everyone says things like: “Why isn’t she wearing a traditional costume? Why is she singing in English?” and all those things. Well, she sings for the world, she is not singing for the Golden Orpheus festival. Or for the center of Sofia, or the center of Gabrovo, or wherever. The song was wonderful. From a purely geopolitical perspective, this is the last step toward Bulgaria’s full integration into the European Union. Because we went through all the stages accession, before that NATO, then full EU integration, then Schengen, the Euro, and now we have Eurovision. This is the final dot, as they say, the last step. It is particularly good news. I don’t think we can compare it to the 1994 World Cup.

Host: The comparison with Bulgaria in 1994 in the United States fourth place keeps coming up.

Maxim: There is a comparison in the sense that none of us slept all night because of the emotions. But now that the emotions are fading, I realize that back in 1994 we were all incredibly happy. I have never seen a happier nation than Bulgaria back then. We all remember it, of course. You don’t understand you weren’t even born yet.

Host: I remember it, of course. For better or worse, I was alive. But that’s not the point. The point is that we remembered it again when the volleyball team also finished second at the European Championship. However, there was an enormous amount of criticism on social media over the past few days. You know very well that there were even people offended by the lyrics, by the messages, by claims that there were satanic elements or whatever. And did you watch Croatia’s performance afterward? Those beautiful girls who were singing. If that had been our entry, people here would probably have called them witches.

Maxim: But look, this is art. In the end, there will always be people who do not like it and others who do.

Host: The question is: how did everyone else like it while we tore it apart?

Maxim: No, that’s not true. There were many people in Bulgaria who liked it. But there was also a lot of criticism. Naturally, thank God. Because we cannot expect a work of art, or even just a song, even if it’s not some great masterpiece, to be liked by everyone. That’s not normal. The most important thing is this: why do I compare it to 1994? In 1994, our wonderful football team finished fourth, came home, received an incredible welcome and that was almost the end of it. Now something is happening in Bulgaria. And that something will be Eurovision 2027.

Host: I’m very curious how this will happen. But hold that thought, because Dara called on Sofia’s mayor, Vasil Terziev, to prepare a huge red carpet. Let’s watch more of her emotions.

DARA Statement

Maxim: So, the first important thing is that we will have Eurovision 2027 in Bulgaria. This is an exceptionally huge event. It means that for an entire year people in the media, in art circles, among performers, traders, and businessmen will talk only about this. About Bulgaria. For an entire year.

Host: Do we even have a venue where we can host it?

Maxim: Ah, I can’t judge that. Will it be in Arena Sofia? Probably. But still, in one year a wonderful venue can also be built. It’s possible if someone finds the funding. The second point is that the song itself was extremely well-crafted. From a marketing perspective which I can best judge as well as in the performance, the composition, the choreography, there was not a single mistake. The third thing that makes me incredibly happy personally is that Dara herself did not make a single mistake. Look at the way she reacted. She reacted super professionally. There were no emotional outbursts, no exaggerated “ohs” and “has,” no empty words. This girl was prepared to win Eurovision. And that is fantastic news. For me personally, this is also a personal victory, because in 2001 or 2002 three of us got together Martin Zahariev, who is a music producer, Toni Georgiev, our particularly good friend, an excellent journalist and photographer, and myself. We wrote an open letter to Bulgarian National Television. And while I was driving to the studio today, I remembered this detail. We sent that open letter insisting that Bulgaria should begin participating in Eurovision. Of course, from a purely marketing perspective so Bulgaria could have representation and people would talk about the country. And here we are. We achieved it.

Host: But now we see footage from this magnificent arena. The stage for the first time was 360 degrees and so on. Where are we going to host such a show?

Maxim: Well, Vasil Terziev has the floor on that one, of course. But on average, a country earns between 500 and 700 million euros in revenue from hosting Eurovision. I emphasize revenue, not pure profit. But for someone to come and generate five hundred million euros in revenue in Bulgaria no investor here would do something like that. That’s why, starting today, everyone at the Ministry of Culture must get involved. The Minister of Culture is an excellent producer and understands these things. He’s not just some political appointment. Secondly, we have a young and intelligent mayor, and I assume he will immediately become interested. But honestly, that is the smallest issue. I’m not saying it’s not a problem, but it’s the smallest one. The important thing is that we achieved enormous success. Dara carried this great victory for Bulgaria on her back. And now, for an entire year, everyone will be talking about it. People will come here. This is an unbelievable success.

Host: Alongside all the criticism we already talked about, there were also many people who supported Dara. And not only after seeing how well she performed in the semifinal, or now after the victory when everyone will praise her even those who criticized her before. Some people supported her from the very beginning. One of them was Lili Ivanova. Just five hours ago she wrote on Facebook: “A historic success for Bulgaria. Congratulations to the winner, the young and incredibly talented Bulgarian singer Dara. Dear Dara, I sincerely wish you many, many more successes. With all my respect, Lili Ivanova.”

Maxim: But don’t you know that Lili is the ultimate professional? Ruthless when it comes to quality. And she has such a big heart that there’s no way she wouldn’t support Dara. This was a highly professional product that was successfully sold abroad. Last night I was communicating with many of my friends around the world and telling them to vote. Especially in Malta, which gave the highest score. And we gave them twelve points in return. One of my friends is a very influential person in Malta. There are three major families there. I told him jokingly: “If all three families vote for Bulgaria, I promise many people will vote for Malta too.” Of course, it was a joke. Then he texted me saying: “Everything is arranged, don’t worry, we will vote.” So, there were tens, even hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians around the world convincing their friends. This means that Bulgaria has its place, its image, its influence among so many people worldwide, because there are around two million Bulgarians living abroad.

Host: Maybe they really did vote because there were many calls to support her. I also have many friends who have lived abroad for years.

Maxim: Of course. But those are two million ambassadors of Bulgaria. They have their own circles, offices, friends, and people who love them.

Host: And the song itself, compared to all the others, flowed so naturally.

Maxim: From the very first round it was clear that we were the best. I’m really happy everything worked out. But now the challenging work begins. Now we must prove that, as a country, we can organize a global event.

Host: Hopefully. Do we have specialists for all this? Because everyone will be watching us under a microscope. The standards there are incredibly high.

Maxim: If we’re talking about event organization, marketing, PR, advertising we have top specialists who compete with the best in Europe. And if we don’t have them, we will bring the best specialists.

Host: What awaits Dara in the next year? Because I personally cannot remember another year where both the jury vote and the public vote aligned so completely and so decisively in favor of one performer.

Maxim: I haven’t followed the differences between the two votes over the years, but in my opinion, Dara is about to become a global superstar. Think of Dua Lipa. A Dua Lipa who came from a relatively small Balkan country and became a worldwide phenomenon. I believe many major international producers will now focus on Dara. They will begin developing their career globally. And Dara will be known as Dara from Bulgaria.

Host: Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully this will be the breakthrough. It is already a breakthrough. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. But the fact is that Dua Lipa was born and raised in the West and only has Balkan roots. While Dara is truly from Varna, Bulgaria. She studied folk singing and grew up entirely in Bulgaria. Could that hold her back? Or after Eurovision does everything change?

Maxim: Hold her back from what? A world career? She already has a world career. First. Second why would it hold her back? This is a wonderful opportunity for her. And it is particularly good for Bulgaria too. But now all of us need to forget our differences. Take a big marker and cross them all out. And tell us let’s make the best presentation possible. Bulgaria has never in its history had such a chance to present itself to the world. Especially now, when social media exists and there are incredible opportunities for the entire world to see that Bulgaria is full of young, intelligent, well-educated people.

Host: Something we also saw during the Giro d’Italia. Just a week ago they were in Sofia, before that on the seaside, then in Veliko Tarnovo. Another major event, a fantastic one. But this is much bigger.

Maxim: Exactly. Those events come and go. But here we have at least an entire year during which everyone will talk only about Bulgaria. And it depends on us-on-us Bulgarians how we present ourselves, how much we support Dara, how much we support everything happening in Bulgaria. Not only because of the money, which is significant, but because for the first time in our history we will have the opportunity to present our entire country. Everyone knows about the beaches, the mountains, Bansko, Pamporovo, and everything else. But few people know what Bulgarians are like. What kind of people are we? Because people are our greatest value. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed so that we will do well. I’m sure we will do well because usually, when we face great challenges, that’s when we are strong.

Host: Dara said earlier in the interview that now all eyes will be on Bulgaria, and that this is a chance for all artists and creators to show themselves to the world. Is that true?

Maxim: Absolutely true. Interest in Bulgarian culture will become much greater, especially in pop culture. Producers will come and probably search for other talented people singing here in Bulgaria. We know them, and there are many of them. They are incredibly talented. But when they meet global producers, when those producers prepare them and promote them on a world stage, naturally they have a much greater chance to succeed.

Host: What should Bulgaria do first now? The first three things to present ourselves well? I’m asking you as a marketing specialist and an expert in organizing major events.

Maxim: Just one thing. Bulgaria must clearly declare to the world that it is ready for Eurovision 2027.

Host: That became obvious from the very first second Dara stepped onto the stage. I don’t know where she found such strong yet stable confidence.

Maxim: She was prepared both to lose and to win. But now the Bulgarian government, Sofia Municipality, and all the institutions responsible must seriously declare that we are going to organize the best Eurovision ever held.

Host: Do we have the money for such a thing in a time of crisis? Prices are rising everywhere.

Maxim: We will earn ten times more than we invest. This is not an expense it is an investment. Of course, the money will be found. It simply must be done smartly and intelligently. And I would recommend involving more international experts and specialists who have organized similar events in other countries.

Host: Dara’s song involved many famous choreographers. And she was criticized for that?

Host: No, exactly the opposite. She absolutely should not be criticized. She should be encouraged to find the best people to help bring her this victory. Because this is teamwork. Yes, the whole team obviously did tremendous work. Dara is on the front line where she sings; she performs, she is an incredible artist. But there is a huge team behind her. And naturally there was major involvement from international experts. Such people should continue coming to Bulgaria. And once again, last night was a huge night. Today, because we didn’t sleep. We achieved remarkable success. We finally entered Europe completely and went through the grand entrance.

Host: Thank you very much for this first commentary on the topic, in the early morning hours after the Eurovision final and Dara’s victory, from Maxim Behar. Thank you very much for coming so early.

Maxim: We all love Dara just as much as we all love Bulgaria.

You can watch the whole interview here: https://www.maximbehar.com/bg/video/441/balgariya-triumfira-kak-pobedata-na-dara-promenya-vsichko