The Bulgarian singer says her historic victory in Vienna came close to never happening.
1 day ago
Pete AllisonBBC Newsbeat
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Eurovision Song Contest winner Dara says she wanted to quit the competition twice before securing Bulgaria's first ever victory.
The Bangaranga singer has told BBC Newsbeat she considered dropping out to protect her mental health.
Dara says she was left "shaking in her bed" after being announced as her country's act, fearing her newly diagnosed ADHD would be exacerbated by participating in Vienna.
"That was how my body reacted," the 27-year-old says, "and I was trying to calm myself down for three hours."
Dara won Eurovision by a record-breaking points margin in May, despite initially being little more than an outside favourite.
As polished as it was quirky, the performance was packed with personality and one of the sharpest hooks to ever sink its claws into the contest.
But Bulgaria's historic win may never have happened had its star followed through with her plan to quit.
"The first time I said no because there were some things that I was not okay with in the contract," says Dara.
Already an established artist, problems started to stack up when she was announced as Bulgaria's first Eurovision entry since 2022.
"I immediately felt like I did something bad, that I'm not worthy," she says. "I didn't want to risk my mental health to such a degree that I couldn't heal it."
Alma Bengtson / EBU
When commentator Graham Norton asked Olly Alexander what advice he'd give acts based on his own experience in 2024, Alexander's reply was telling.
"Get yourself a really good therapist."
Dara says professional help she received after her ADHD diagnosis prepared her for the contest.
"I work with a therapist and she helped me with how to feel in a place full of people," she says. "I think she did a great job. I really felt in my zone wherever I went."
Dara says breathing exercises, drawing, journalling and meditation helped "keep her in the centre".
"Eurovision is so, so big - the biggest thing that artists can do," she says. "But I've never felt more calm on stage, more secure."
Vienna saved its biggest moment for Dara until last - one of the most emphatic wins in Eurovision history.
"I was just calm," Dara says, recalling how she felt as points flowed in from across the world.
"I opened my heart and just kept repeating, 'Thank you God for putting me on that stage and for these people around me.'"
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The ticker tape had barely settled in Austria before Bulgaria's national broadcaster BNT confirmed Sofia as next year's host city.
Dara was met by huge crowds as she returned to the Bulgarian capital, where she will play a key role in whatever the country plans for 2027.
But after securing her place in Eurovision's hall of fame in Vienna, Dara's idea of future success is a little closer to home.
"I want to have kids some day," she says. "I want to be healthy and that is much more important than being successful in my career.
"Being successful as a human being is pretty big on my list."
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