Eurovision is back! Delegations have landed/arrived in Vienna these last few days and rehearsals started last weekend. Just like last year, for the first rehearsal, the EBU releases information on the day of each reharsal, with a sets of three photographs publishe the day after. As such, today, we cover yesterday’s rehearsals, from the first half of the second semi-final (automatic qualifiers excluded). And the first act from yesterday, opening the semi-final, was Bulgaria’s “Bangaranga”.
🇧🇬 Bulgaria – DARA – First rehearsal
The following pictures have been published by the official Eurovision accounts. Exceptionally, only two pictures were published instead of the usual three.
What happened on stage?
This description is sourced from indications given by the official Eurovision Reddit account.
- DARA is wearing “a black skirt, black belt and black knee-high boots, with a short pink top and elbow-length pink gloves”, with a fur trim joining both colours on her gloves and belt.
- A large prop is set on stage, described as the “home” of DARA. It appears to be shown on the first picture, with a wall of wooden planks and red chairs
- The staging is inspired by the Kukeri tradition, a Bulgarian ritual to cast away evil spirits. DARA leads the ritual, performing it with her dancers. It seems to be divided in two parts
- During the first part, DARA remains in her home and her dancers dance in very exaggerated, manic moves (compared to the dancers of “Cha Cha Cha” (Finland 2023) or “Dizzy” (UK 2024))
- In a second part, she breaks away from her home and leads her crew, possibly on the catwalk, and the dances become more synchronised, less chaotic
- The actual song has been revamped for this second part
The stage director for Bulgaria this year is Fredrik Rydman, who is also working on the Swiss and British acts. Among his most famous Eurovision stagings are those of “Popular” (Sweden 2011), “Heroes” (Sweden 2015), “Cha Cha Cha” (Finland 2023), “The Code” (Switzerland 2024) and “Maman” (France 2025).
Here’s the small message DARA had for the Eurovision fans after her rehearsal:
Stay tuned for further coverage tomorrow, with the rehearsals of today, and for our live coverage on the ground starting on May 9, which will include (among other things) the full dress rehearsals and the live shows, live from Vienna!
