Bulgaria's Dara, the 2026 Eurovision winner, was trained by Philipp Kirkorov's team for the competition, our website reports, citing Super.ru.
According to the publication, Philipp Kirkorov agreed to help his "small homeland" prepare a participant for Eurovision in 2026. It was his team that selected the singer and began preparing her for the national selection.
Kirkorov admitted that he immediately saw the potential of a true diva in the girl, but, in his opinion, she lacked a strong hit to win.
"We chose a singer and started preparing her for the Bulgarian national selection. She's a wonderful singer, she once won the Voice project," — Kirkorov told Yana Churikova.
The song "Bangaranga" was written by Greek composer Dimitris Kontopoulos, a longtime collaborator of Kirkorov's. After winning the Bulgarian selection, the team began preparing the number for the international stage.
Ultimately, the production was entrusted to the renowned director Fredrik Rydman, who had previously worked with competition winners Måns Zelmerlöw and Nemo.
As a reminder, Bulgarian singer Dara won Eurovision 2026, bringing her country its first victory since its participation. She performed the song "Bangaranga" and scored 516 points.
The jury voted for the singer, who received 204 points, and the audience vote added another 312 points. Ultimately, the song won in both scoring systems.
