Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Hungary participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The local Media Services and Support Trust Fund (MTVA) and the Hungarian broadcaster Duna Media Service organised the national final A Dal 2018 in order to select the Hungarian entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country Hungary
National selection
Selection processA Dal 2018
Selection date(s)Heats:
20 January 2018
27 January 2018
3 February 2018
Semi-finals:
10 February 2018
17 February 2018
Final:
24 February 2018
Selected entrantAWS
Selected song"Viszlát nyár"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Bence Brucker
  • Dániel Kökényes
  • Áron Veress
  • Soma Schiszler
  • Örs Siklósi
Finals performance
Semi-final resultQualified (10th, 111 points)
Final result21st place, 93 points
Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 2018 2019►

Background edit

Prior to the 2018 contest, Hungary had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fourteen times since its first entry in 1994.[1] Hungary's best placing in the contest was fourth, which they achieved with their début entry in 1994 with the song "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" performed by Friderika Bayer. Hungary had attempted participate in the contest in 1993, however, their entry was eliminated in the preselection show Kvalifikacija za Millstreet. Hungary withdrew from the contest for six years between 1999 and 2004 and also missed the 2006 and 2010 contests. In 2014, Hungary achieved their second best result in the contest since their début, placing fifth with the song "Running" performed by András Kállay-Saunders. In 2016, Hungary placed 19th in the Eurovision final with the song "Pioneer" performed by Freddie. Next year they managed to finish in the top 10 again, now in the 8th place with "Origo" sang by Joci Pápai.

The Hungarian national broadcaster, Media Services and Support Trust Fund (MTVA), broadcasts the event within Hungary and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. MTVA confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 10 October 2017. Since 2012, MTVA has organised A Dal, a national selection show which has managed to, thus far, produce entries that have qualified the nation to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest each year and has resulted in three top 10 placings in 2013, 2014 and 2017.

Before Eurovision edit

 
Kriszta Rátonyi and Freddie, the hosts of A Dal 2018

A Dal 2018 edit

A Dal 2018 was the seventh edition of the Hungarian national selection A Dal, which selected Hungary's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The competition consisted of 30 entries competing in three heats, two semi-finals, and a final. The hosts were Kriszta Rátonyi and Freddie.

Format edit

Judges edit

The jury panel consisted of four people:

Competing entries edit

 
The top 30 entries of A Dal 2018

On 10 October 2017, MTVA opened the submission period for artists and composers to submit their entries up until 20 November 2017.[2][3][4]

Among the qualifiers, there are some artists and bands who made their comeback to A Dal-stage. Ceasefire X and Péter Szikszai (male part of Maya ‘n’ Peti) competed in 2016 as part of the boyband ByTheWay. Viki Eszes is in the running now with #yeahla, and took part in the past two times: in 2013 with the band Background, and in 2017 as part of The Couple. The Fourtissimo participated in A Dal once before; in 2015 they performed Run to You along Gyula Éliás. Gábor Heincz Biga and Viktor Király are no similar names in the national selection as well, they were part of the first ever A Dal-superfinal in 2012; the former with his song Learning to Let Go, and the latter with his siblings, performed Untried. Then in 2014 Viktor went on as a solo artist with Running Out of Time. Gabi Knoll took part in the 2014 national selection with her song Sweet Memories, but did not advance to the next round. Attila Kökény was the very first entrant of A Dal in 2012 with Tamara Bencsik. The lead singer of the band Leander Kills took part in the show before at two occasions: in 2015 with his former band called Leander Rising, and in 2017 with the existing formation, with the song called Élet. Maszkura és a tücsökraj competed in A Dal 2016, and gained the worst ever public score in the heats, scoring only 4 out of the maximum 10. This has since been given twice more in 2018, in the second semifinal for the entries sung by Cintia Horváth & Tomi Balogh and Nikoletta Szőke, Attila Kökény and Róbert Szakcsi Lakatos. The Noémo's lead singer, Noémi Takácsová "BülBüls" sang Minden mosoly in 2014, while Odett was a wildcard entry in the 2013 edition of the contest. Then A Dal 2016 started with her English language song Stardust, but did not advance to the next stage. Benjámin Pál (lead singer of Living Room) and the Peet Project were two of the qualifiers a year before with their entries Father's Eyes and Kill Your Monster.

Ádám Szabó was in the race in several occasions before: after a quick elimination in 2013, he came back in 2015, and placed second in the grand final with Give Me Your Love. In 2017 he sang the song Together, and this time he is back with his electro-rock formation called yesyes. The Matter (under the name Mushu) was a finalist in 2016 with Uncle Tom, and would've take part in the 2018 selection as well, but withdrew due to family issues. The band Patikadomb replaced them with Jó szelet!. Reni Tolvai made her first appearance in A Dal in 2012, and stayed at the first stage of the show with Élek a szemeidben. Later she came back in 2016, and advanced to the semi-finals. Tamás Vastag marked his third presence in the national selection, as he took part in A Dal 2013 with Holnaptól, and a year later with Állj meg villág.

  Disqualified/Withdrawn song
  Replaced song
Artist Song Songwriter(s)
Andy Roll "Turn the Lights On" András Dutka
AWS "Viszlát nyár" Dániel Kökényes, Bence Brucker, Áron Veress, Soma Schiszler, Örs Siklósi
Ceasefire X "Satellites" Bence András Vavra, Norbert Szűcs, Kata Kozma
Gergely Dánielfy "Azt mondtad" Gergely Dánielfy, Árpád Völgyesi
Fourtissimo "Kisnyuszi a kalapban" Valéria Ferencz-Kuna, Márton Kuna, Gyula Ferencz-Kuna, Bence Kuna
Roland Gulyás "Hypnotized" ByeAlex
Ham ko Ham "Bármerre jársz" G. Zoltán Tóth, Zsolt Kathy
Gábor Heincz Biga "Good vibez" Gábor Heincz, Adrián Méhes
Cintia Horváth and Tomi Balogh "Journey (Break Your Chains)" Tamás Balogh, Cintia Horváth
Tamás Horváth "Meggyfa" Tamás Horváth
Viktor Király "Budapest Girl" Viktor Király, Ashley Hicklin, Marcel Závodi, Tamás Kiraly
Gabi Knoll "Nobody to Die For" Gabi Knoll, Krisztián Burai, Stanislav Bendarzsevszkij
Leander Kills "Nem szól harang" Leander Köteles
Living Room "Kirakat élet" Benjamin Pál, Patrik Prommer
Maszkura és a tücsökraj "Nagybetűs szavak" Szabolcs Biró, Gábor Boros, Attila Földesi, Csaba Kertész, Dániel Vikukel
The Matter "Broken Palms" Izsák Palmer, Örs Kozák, Joel David Perez García, Kert Antal
Maya 'n' Peti "Nekem te" Edvárd Szalma, Péter Szikszai
Nemzenekar "Waiting" Gyula Pásztor, Tamás Károly, Gyula Pásztor
Nene "Mese a királyról" Milán Erik Vörös, Renáta Katalin Orsovai, József Márkosi, Evelin Boda, Szabolcs Balázs Varga, Péter Ferencz
Noémo "Levegőt!" Noémi Takácsová, Dániel Ferenc Szabó, Bálint Artúr Szeifert, István Tóth, Márton Jeszenszky
Nova Prospect "Vigyázó" József Kiss, Bálint Schautek
Odett "Aranyhal" Miklós Toldi, Odett Polgár, Szabolcs Hujber
Patikadomb "Jó szelet!" Gábor Dobos, Tamás Kátai, Gyula Ujvári
Peet Project "Runaround" Péter Ferencz, Olivér Magán, Attila Závodi, Martin Gudics, Marcell Gudics
SativuS "Lusta lány" Márton Szabó, Gábor Pájer
Viki Singh "Butterfly House" John King, Andy Vitolo
Zsolt Süle "Zöld a május" Zsolt Süle, Péter Bodnár
Nikoletta Szőke, Attila Kökény and Róbert Szakcsi Lakatos "Életre kel" Róbert Szakcsi Lakatos, Péter Müller "Sziámi"
Reni Tolvai "Crack My Code" Máté Bella, Johnny K. Palmer
Tamás Vastag "Ne hagyj reményt" Krisztián Sztevanovity, Dusán Sztevanovity
#yeahla feat. Viki Eszes "1 szó mint 100" Péter Jelasity
yesyes "I Let You Run Away" Ádám Szabó, Dániel Somogyvári, Flóra Petneházy

Shows edit

Heats edit

Three heats took place on 20 January, 27 January and 3 February 2018. In each heat ten entries competed and six entries qualified to the semi-finals after two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, five qualifiers were determined by the combination of scores from each judge and an aggregate score from a public SMS and mobile app vote. In the second round of voting, the remaining five entries that were not in the initial top five faced a public vote consisting of votes submitted through SMS in order to determine one additional qualifier.

In addition to the competing entries, other performers featured during the shows. János Kóbor and Balkan Fanatik performed as the interval act in heat 1, James Karácsony and Margaret Island performed in heat 2, and Fecó Balázs and Veca Janicsák performed in heat 3.

  Jury and public voting qualifier   Public voting qualifier

Heat 1 – 20 January 2018
Draw Artist Song J. Schell M. Mező K. Frenreisz M. Both Viewers Total Result
1 Living Room "Kirakat élet" 7 7 8 7 7 36 Eliminated
2 Tamás Vastag "Ne hagyj reményt" 7 7 7 7 8 36 Advanced
3 Noémo "Levegőt!" 9 8 7 8 7 39 Eliminated
4 Leander Kills "Nem szól harang" 9 9 9 9 8 44 Advanced
5 Zsolt Süle "Zöld a május" 10 10 8 9 7 44 Advanced
6 Gabi Knoll "Nobody to Die For" 9 9 8 8 6 40 Advanced
7 Fourtissimo "Kisnyuszi a kalapban" 6 6 7 6 8 33 Eliminated
8 Ceasefire X "Satellites" 9 8 8 8 8 41 Advanced
9 Viktor Király "Budapest Girl" 9 8 9 8 9 43 Advanced
10 Patikadomb "Jó szelet!" 7 6 7 6 7 33 Eliminated
Heat 2 – 27 January 2018
Draw Artist Song J. Schell M. Mező K. Frenreisz M. Both Viewers Total Result
1 Peet Project "Runaround" 7 7 8 7 7 36 Eliminated
2 Odett "Aranyhal" 8 9 8 8 6 39 Advanced
3 yesyes "I Let You Run Away" 10 8 8 8 9 43 Advanced
4 Maya 'n' Peti "Nekem te" 6 6 6 6 6 30 Eliminated
5 Viki Singh "Butterfly House" 7 7 7 7 6 34 Eliminated
6 SativuS "Lusta lány" 6 7 7 6 8 34 Advanced
7 Gergely Dánielfy "Azt mondtad" 10 10 8 9 8 45 Advanced
8 Nene "Mese a királyról" 7 8 8 8 6 37 Eliminated
9 Gábor Heincz Biga "Good Vibez" 9 9 9 8 8 43 Advanced
10 AWS "Viszlát nyár" 9 9 9 9 9 45 Advanced
Heat 3 – 3 February 2018
Draw Artist Song J. Schell M. Mező K. Frenreisz M. Both Viewers Total Result
1 Nova Prospect "Vigyázó" 7 7 8 7 8 37 Eliminated
2 Cintia Horváth and Tomi Balogh "Journey (Break Your Chains)" 8 8 7 8 6 37 Advanced
3 Maszkura és a tücsökraj "Nagybetűs szavak" 8 8 8 8 6 38 Advanced
4 Roland Gulyás "Hypnotized" 7 7 7 6 8 35 Advanced
5 Reni Tolvai "Crack My Code" 8 7 8 7 7 37 Eliminated
6 Ham ko Ham "Bármerre jársz" 7 8 7 8 8 38 Advanced
7 #yeahla feat. Viki Eszes "1 szó mint 100" 6 7 7 8 7 35 Eliminated
8 Andy Roll "Turn the Lights On" 7 6 7 6 7 33 Eliminated
9 Tamás Horváth "Meggyfa" 9 8 8 8 9 42 Advanced
10 Nikoletta Szőke, Attila Kökény and Róbert Szakcsi Lakatos "Életre kel" 10 9 9 9 7 44 Advanced
Semi-finals edit

Two semi-finals took place on 10 and 17 February 2018. In each semi-final nine entries competed and four entries qualified to the final after two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, three qualifiers were determined by the combination of scores from each judge and an aggregate score from a public SMS and mobile app vote. In the second round of voting, the remaining six entries that were not in the initial top three faced a public vote consisting of votes submitted through SMS in order to determine one additional qualifier.

In addition to the competing entries, other performers featured during the shows. Kimnowak and János Kardos-Horváth performed as the interval act in semi-final 1, and Adrien Szekeres and Charlie Horváth performed as the interval act for the show.

  Jury and public voting qualifier   Public voting qualifier

Semi-final 1 – 10 February 2018
Draw Artist Song J. Schell M. Mező K. Frenreisz M. Both Viewers Total Result
1 Ham ko Ham "Bármerre jársz" 7 8 7 8 6 36 Eliminated
2 Gábor Heincz Biga "Good Vibez" 9 9 9 8 7 42 Advanced
3 SativuS "Lusta lány" 6 7 8 7 5 33 Eliminated
4 Gabi Knoll "Nobody to Die For" 9 8 7 8 5 37 Eliminated
5 Maszkura és a tücsökraj "Nagybetűs szavak" 8 8 8 8 5 37 Eliminated
6 Zsolt Süle "Zöld a május" 10 10 9 10 6 45 Advanced
7 Roland Gulyás "Hypnotized" 7 7 8 6 7 35 Eliminated
8 Gergely Dánielfy "Azt mondtad" 10 10 9 10 8 47 Advanced
9 Leander Kills "Nem szól harang" 8 8 8 9 8 41 Advanced
Semi-final 2 – 17 February 2018
Draw Artist Song J. Schell M. Mező K. Frenreisz M. Both Viewers Total Result
1 Cintia Horváth and Tomi Balogh "Journey (Break Your Chains)" 8 8 8 8 4 36 Eliminated
2 AWS "Viszlát nyár" 10 10 9 10 7 46 Advanced
3 Odett "Aranyhal" 8 8 8 8 5 37 Eliminated
4 Viktor Király "Budapest Girl" 9 8 10 8 7 42 Advanced
5 Nikoletta Szőke, Attila Kökény and Róbert Szakcsi Lakatos "Életre kel" 9 8 8 8 4 37 Eliminated
6 Tamás Horváth "Meggyfa" 8 7 7 8 8 38 Advanced
7 Tamás Vastag "Ne hagyj reményt" 8 7 8 7 6 36 Eliminated
8 Ceasefire X "Satellites" 9 9 8 8 6 40 Eliminated
9 yesyes "I Let You Run Away" 10 9 9 9 8 45 Advanced
Final edit

The final took place on 24 February 2018 where the eight entries that qualified from the semi-finals competed. The winner of the competition was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the jury determined the top four entries that would advance to the second round. The voting system for the four jurors was different from the method used in the heats and semi-finals. Each juror announced their scores after all songs had been performed rather than assigning scores following each performance and the jurors ranked their preferred top four entries and assign points in the following manner: 4 (lowest), 6, 8 and 10 (highest). The four entries with the highest total scores proceeded to the second round. In the second round, "Viszlát nyár" performed by AWS was selected as the winner via a public vote consisting of votes submitted through SMS, mobile app and online voting.[5] In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included Joci Pápai, the winner of A Dal 2017 and representative of Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, as well as one of the judges, Misi Mező and his band Magna Cum Laude, and György Ferenczi.

  Advanced to the second round   Winner

Final – First Round – 24 February 2018
Draw Artist Song J. Schell M. Mező K. Frenreisz M. Both Total Place
1 Leander Kills "Nem szól harang" 0 0 6 0 6 5
2 yesyes "I Let You Run Away" 10 6 4 8 28 3
3 Zsolt Süle "Zöld a május" 0 0 0 0 0 7
4 Tamás Horváth "Meggyfa" 0 0 0 0 0 7
5 Gábor Heincz Biga "Good Vibez" 0 0 0 4 4 6
6 Gergely Dánielfy "Azt mondtad" 8 10 8 10 36 1
7 AWS "Viszlát nyár" 4 4 0 0 8 4
8 Viktor Király "Budapest Girl" 6 8 10 6 30 2
Final – Second Round – 24 February 2018[6]
Artist Song Percentage Place
AWS "Viszlát nyár" 32% 1
Gergely Dánielfy "Azt mondtad" 3/4
Viktor Király "Budapest Girl" 3/4
yesyes "I Let You Run Away" 29% 2

At Eurovision edit

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Hungary was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 10 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[7]

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Hungary was set to perform in position 13, following the entry from Malta and preceding the entry from Latvia.[8]

Voting edit

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.[9] In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.[10]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Hungary and awarded by Hungary in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Hungary edit

Points awarded by Hungary edit

Detailed voting results edit

The following members comprised the Hungarian jury:[13]

  • Janós Karácsony [hu] (James; jury chairperson) – composer, guitarist, singer
  • Balázs Bolyki – gospel singer, musician, composer, producer, lyricist, vocal coach
  • Alexandra Pintácsi (Szandi) – singer
  • Lilla Vincze – singer
  • Zoltán "Zé" Szabó – composer, producer
Detailed voting results from Hungary (Semi-final 2)[11]
Draw Country Jury Televote
James B. Bolyki Szandi L. Vincze Z. Szabó Rank Points Rank Points
01   Norway 4 3 2 14 5 4 7 3 8
02   Romania 2 4 1 3 1 1 12 14
03   Serbia 12 11 7 5 2 5 6 9 2
04   San Marino 10 17 15 9 10 14 17
05   Denmark 13 9 10 2 8 6 5 1 12
06   Russia 14 16 14 13 13 17 12
07   Moldova 16 12 8 12 14 15 2 10
08   Netherlands 1 2 3 4 6 3 8 7 4
09   Australia 3 1 4 1 7 2 10 8 3
10   Georgia 6 14 9 6 12 10 1 15
11   Poland 5 15 11 17 3 7 4 4 7
12   Malta 15 13 6 7 15 12 13
13   Hungary
14   Latvia 7 5 13 8 16 9 2 11
15   Sweden 8 6 12 16 4 8 3 10 1
16   Montenegro 9 10 16 15 17 16 16
17   Slovenia 17 7 17 10 9 13 6 5
18   Ukraine 11 8 5 11 11 11 5 6
Detailed voting results from Hungary (Final)[12]
Draw Country Jury Televote
James B. Bolyki Szandi L. Vincze Z. Szabó Rank Points Rank Points
01   Ukraine 20 20 7 19 16 17 11
02   Spain 19 7 22 14 18 16 24
03   Slovenia 16 14 21 21 19 22 18
04   Lithuania 10 10 12 9 4 6 5 17
05   Austria 5 4 2 8 1 3 8 8 3
06   Estonia 8 9 17 11 13 15 13
07   Norway 12 11 4 23 8 9 2 6 5
08   Portugal 24 23 25 7 20 18 25
09   United Kingdom 18 16 19 10 24 20 23
10   Serbia 25 21 10 17 21 21 16
11   Germany 11 5 15 12 14 14 10 1
12   Albania 3 2 1 3 9 2 10 19
13   France 23 17 24 15 23 24 22
14   Czech Republic 21 25 16 25 15 23 3 8
15   Denmark 1 1 3 1 2 1 12 1 12
16   Australia 7 3 5 2 6 4 7 20
17   Finland 9 24 18 13 25 19 14
18   Bulgaria 22 12 11 16 3 12 12
19   Moldova 2 22 20 24 17 13 9 2
20   Sweden 13 8 9 20 5 10 1 21
21   Hungary
22   Israel 14 13 6 6 7 5 6 2 10
23   Netherlands 17 6 13 4 12 7 4 7 4
24   Ireland 6 15 14 5 10 8 3 15
25   Cyprus 4 18 8 18 11 11 4 7
26   Italy 15 19 23 22 22 25 5 6

References edit

  1. ^ "Hungary Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. ^ Gallagher, Robyn (9 October 2017). "HUNGARY: BROADCASTER LAUNCHES A DAL 2018… AND CONFIRMS PARTICIPATION IN LISBON". wiwibloggs.com. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  3. ^ Juhász, Ervin (9 October 2017). "A Dal 2018 will once again select Hungary's Eurovision entry!". escbubble.com. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  4. ^ Jiandani, Sanjay (9 October 2017). "Hungary: MTVA confirms participation in Eurovision 2018". esctoday.com. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  5. ^ Mercereau, Damien (9 March 2018). "Eurovision 2018 : le rock musclé du groupe AWS pour la Hongrie" (in French). Le Figaro. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  6. ^ Klész, Imre (4 March 2018). "Viszlát fogadóirodák!". ESC Hungary (in Hungarian).
  7. ^ Jordan, Paul (29 January 2018). "Which countries will perform in which Semi-Final at Eurovision 2018?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Running order for Eurovision 2018 Semi-Finals revealed". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Here are the judges for Eurovision 2016!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  10. ^ Jordan, Paul (18 February 2016). "Biggest change to Eurovision Song Contest voting since 1975". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  11. ^ a b c "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  12. ^ a b c "Results of the Grand Final of Lisbon 2018". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  13. ^ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.

External links edit