Eurovision 2027: Bulgaria Wins, Australia Fourth, Several Countries Boycott

Eurovision is done and dusted for another year, with Bulgaria taking out the top spot, followed by Israel and Romania.

Australia was second following the jury votes, but placed fourth overall after audience votes were counted.

If you missed all the action this morning, here are seven key moments from Europe's favourite song contest:

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Eurovision!

When Austria won Eurovision last year, the crown carried the weight of a milestone.

This year was Eurovision's 70th anniversary, and as such, the host nation shouldered the responsibility of throwing the platinum jubilee bash.

But, it was in safe hands in the historic home of music.

The stage itself was grand, extending into an enormous central catwalk directly through the audience and up a set of stairs to the green room, which had been designed as an Austrian cafe in the balcony seats of the arena.

And, between the final act and the announcing of results, an all-star cast of Eurovision icons took to the stage to perform a medley of mega-hits.

It ended in a group rendition of Abba's Waterloo and a moving arena-wide singalong to Volare.

Bulgaria takes the crown

Winning the competition with an enormous 516 points was Bulgaria's DARA with Bangaranga.

The win was somewhat of an upset to favourites Finland and Australia, but it was a sure victory.

The nation stood in a very comfortable lead after jury votes were counted and ranked among the highest of the audience share, too.

It was a nail-biting result for Australia, standing in second place following the jury voting, but fell below the podium after the audience votes were counted.

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DARA's performance carried a clear intention to be set apart from the competition, featuring quirky dance moves and a relentlessly catchy chorus.

This means that in 2027, the contest will head to the Balkans.

Delta absolutely dazzled

Australian organisers sent one of the country's biggest hitters to Vienna.

Delta Goodrem had the buzz behind her following the semi-finals, with bookies placing her as the second-favourite to win behind Finland.

Her entry, Eclipse, secured fourth place.

The song takes a classic Eurovision power ballad formula and paints it with Goodrem's signature brushstrokes of celestial imagery and intricate piano melodies.

The showstopper moment, as every Eurovision hall-of-famer must have, saw Goodrem play out the piano hook on a glittering gold instrument before climbing on top of it and onto a platform which lifted her into the air as pyrotechnics lit up the arena and the sun and moon collided on the screen behind her.

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Goodrem, who co-wrote the song, said ahead of the contest that it was about "alignment, when things all come into the right place."

During the first semifinal in Austria last week, which Australia did not compete in, our representative from last year joined the hosts on stage for an interlude act about confusing the two nations.

The joke was repeated in the final, when Austria was the last remaining act to take to the stage. Hosts Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski quipped that all the performances were done, that Australia had already performed.

United by music across generations

There was a broad age range across the performers this year as competing nations pinned their hopes on new talent and industry veterans.

There was a 40-year age gap between the youngest and oldest on the stage.

France sent 17-year-old Monroe as its representative with her song Regarde! which mixes pop and operatics.

On the other side, Italy sent 57-year-old Sal Da Vinci.

Da Vinci first began his career at the age of six, and brought his 50 years of experience to the stage with his performance of Per Sempre Si, a love song to his wife of almost 35 years.

The Austrian macarena

On home soil, COSMO's club track Tanzschein had the Austrian star lead his backup dancers, clad in silver suits and animal masks, in a macarena-style dance routine.

The dance, which features significantly less hip-swaying than the Spanish original, went viral on social media.

It wasn't enough to put Austria on the leaderboard, with the host nation placing 19th out of the 20 finalists.

Finland's controversial entry

If Goodrem was hoping her showy mastery of a musical instrument would help her stand out of the crowd she had tough competition in Finland.

The Finnish entry Liekinheitin, which translates to Flamethrower, came to a crescendo in a jaw-dropping moment that had pyrotechnics firing and violin bow hairs flying in all directions.

But, the country received special permission to enter Linda Lampenius as an instrumentalist.

Ordinarily, Eurovision carries a strict ban on live instruments, with only vocals performed live. However, Lampenius's violin playing, which she described as her voice in the song, was played live. And yes, this means Goodrem's piano solo had to be mimed in the broadcast – a shift from her usual approach to live performances.

With electronic pop beats keeping rapid time, Lampenius deftly bowed a rousing melody before being joined for the final chorus by vocalist Pete Parkkonen.

Boycott in force

Five countries boycotted the contest this year, and among them were some major participants.

Notably absent was Ireland, which holds the title for most Eurovision wins and Spain, one of the so-called Big Five sponsors of the contest which is automatically guaranteed a spot in the grand final.

The Netherlands, which has competed in the contest since its inception in the 1956, as well as Iceland and Slovenia also stepped away this year.

The national broadcasters in each country, which are responsible for sending performers and televising the contest, said the boycott was a protest over Israel's participation in light of the war in Gaza.

During the previous two years of Eurovision, some broadcasters had expressed discomfort with Israel's continued participation, citing the ban handed to Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But, none had taken the step to withdraw until this year.

Without Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain, the 2026 Eurovision song contest had its smallest pool of competitors in more than 20 years.