Bulgarian communities abroad played a key role in Dara’s Eurovision victory by managing to unite around the cause and mobilize broad support in dozens of countries, Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad (EABA) Executive Director Raina Mandzhukova said in an interview with BTA on Sunday. According to her, the positive wave coming from abroad also changed public attitudes in Bulgaria.
Dara won the contest with a total of 516 points. She received 312 points from the public vote and 204 points from the international jury, bringing Bulgaria its first victory in Eurovision history and securing the country the hosting rights for the next edition of the contest.
Mandzhukova said that the initiative to mobilize Bulgarians abroad in support of Dara at Eurovision had come precisely from the EABA. Once it became clear that the agency was a partner in the campaign, the singer recorded special video messages for Bulgarian communities in different countries, and separate addresses for some larger cities.
“We waited for a signal from the headquarters about when to distribute them and immediately sent them to our organisations - in more than 50 countries and to nearly a thousand Bulgarian associations, schools and folklore ensembles around the world,” Mandzhukova said. According to her, the reaction was immediate - organisations actively began sharing the videos, including through Bulgarian media abroad, while people widely circulated them on social media.
According to her, it was precisely this wave of support from Bulgarians abroad that changed public attitudes in the country. “The negativity in Bulgaria faded very quickly. It was literally drowned out by the positivity that came from abroad,” she said.
Mandzhukova expressed conviction that Dara’s victory was largely due precisely to Bulgarians abroad. “What was extremely important to me was that we showed how Bulgarians abroad can be united, as long as there is a cause they can stand behind,” she noted.
According to her, compatriots outside Bulgaria were not simply voting for the song, but for Bulgaria itself. “Bulgarians voted for Bulgaria. That was the unifying factor,” Mandzhukova added.
She also gave an example from Saturday's events at the Expats Join Hands in Worldwide Dance festival, where she had initially worried how the folklore audience would react to Dara’s video greeting. “But they sang and danced. The very first time I saw what was happening, I realised that everything would be fine,” she recounted.
Mandzhukova stressed that the support clearly did not come only from Bulgarians around the world, which, according to her, was also evident from the international jury vote. “The gap between first and second place was huge, and after that the results were much closer,” she added.
/MR/
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