All posts tagged: Dara

Meet Dara, the singer representing Bulgaria at Eurovision 2026

Meet Dara, the singer representing Bulgaria at Eurovision 2026

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Already a pop star in her own country, DARA is hoping to win glory for Bulgaria with her song “Bangaranga”, which she will perform at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria. Known for hits such as “Thunder” and “Call Me”, she has achieved a string of number one hits in Bulgaria and has also mentored future generations of musicians on The Voice of Bulgaria, in 2021 and 2022. Her latest album, ADHDARA, was released last year. Dara is representing Bulgaria at ESC (Getty) Hi DARA, what should our readers know about you? I’m Darina, a 27-year-old singer and songwriter from Varna, a city on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. I grew up with music the way some children grow up with sport: obsessively, constantly, like there was no other option. I attended the National School of Arts in …

Who is Dara? Meet Bulgaria’s Eurovision 2026 entry

Who is Dara? Meet Bulgaria’s Eurovision 2026 entry

Published by Daniella Wilson

Bulgaria WON the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 after a three year absence from the competition. This year, the Balkan nation was represented by Dara, whose songs and videos had amassed over 80 million listens and views before the competition had even started. Dara was crowned the winner with a whopping 516 total points, 304 points from the jury and a further 312 from the public vote, marking the first time Bulgaria has ever won the Eurovision Song Contest. Read on for everything you need to know about the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 winner, Dara. Who is Bulgaria’s Eurovision 2026 entry Dara? Dara. Christian Bruna/Getty Images Instagram: @darnadude TikTok: @darbiethings Darina Nikolaeva Yotova, known professionally as Dara, is a singer who first rose to fame in 2015 after reaching the final in the Bulgarian edition of The X Factor. Dara is best known for her biggest smash hits Thunder, Call Me and Mr Rover, all of which dominated the music charts for weeks upon their release. Alongside her rising musical career, Dara was also a mentor on …

View from My Sofa: Dara Ó Briain

View from My Sofa: Dara Ó Briain

Published by Daniella Wilson

Add Mock the Week to your watchlist What’s the view from your sofa? In the room where we all sit around and watch The Traitors or whatever, there are two fairly comfy couches, but side on. It gives the illusion that they’re there for conversation, but actually we just sit like emperors and watch the television off the two sides. We’re nominally facing each other, but very much looking to the side, and going, “Shush, Claudia’s talking.” You’re clearly a fan — would you do The Celebrity Traitors? Yeah! And I don’t do shows like that, as a rule. It’s kind of known that I’m not planning on going into the jungle, or dancing. It’s just not my thing. But for The Traitors, I would probably make an exception because my family would be furious if I didn’t. Because of my persona – the science shows – there’s a perception that I would somehow be very good at it, but I’d be awful! Still, it didn’t stop Alan Carr… After four years away from Mock …

Mock the Week host Dara O Brian reveals one BBC rule he won’t miss when show returns on TLC TV channel

Mock the Week host Dara O Brian reveals one BBC rule he won’t miss when show returns on TLC TV channel

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter When former BBC series Mock the Week returns on a completely different channel next month, there’ll be one big difference that’s relieved host Dara Ó Briain: the panellists will be able to joke about politics with abandon. The corporation cancelled the satirical panel series in 2022 after 17 years “to create room for new shows”, but Irish comedian Ó Briain is back for a brand new nine-episode edition, airing on new free-to-air channel TLC. Ó Briain, 53, is particularly excited to be on another channel as he won’t have BBC bosses breathing down his neck about “balance”. He told The Telegraph: “What I won’t miss is the people with stopwatches timing how much we did of each [political] party, because you had to have BBC balance.” But, he said, save for the introduction of a few new rounds, the show won’t …