Joci Pápai will represent Hungary at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. He won Hungary’s national selection and will be representing his country at Kyiv in May with the song ‘Origo’. Eight artists including Joci took part in the final, before the public and a panel of judges voted. Joci won both the judges and public vote.
Joci was first in the public eye back in 2005 when he took part in Megasztár – a Hungarian talent show much like Pop Idol. He has since released a number of singles including ‘Ne nézz így rám’.
You can watch Joci perform ‘Origo’ below:
Hungary have never won the competition or even finished in the top three. The closest they came was back in 1994 when Friderika Bayer finished in fourth place. In recent years, the best result for the country was in 2014 when András Kállay-Saunders finished in fifth. The country will be hoping to better these results this year.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 is set to be a competitive year once again. It will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine after Jamala won with “1944” last year.
With under three months to go, many countries have selected their acts for this year’s contest. These are the acts who have been announced so far: Cyprus’ Hovig, The Netherlands’ O’G3NE, Belgium’s Blanche, Macedonia’s Jana Burceska, Azerbaijan’s DiHaj, Ireland’s Brendan Murray, Austria’s Nathan Trent, Albania’s Lindita, Armenia’s Artsvik, Montenegro’s Slavko Kalezic, Greece’s Demy, Georgia’s Tako Gachechiladze, Belarus’ Navi, The United Kingdom’s Lucie Jones, Finland’s Norma John, Switzerland’s Timebelle, Germany’s Levina, France’s Alma, Spain’s Manel Navarro, Italy’s Francesco Gabbani Israel’s Imri Ziv, Czech Republic’s Martina Barta, Croatia’s Jacques Houdek, Malta’s Claudia Faniello, and Poland’s Kasia Mos.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 semi-finals will take place on 9 May 2017 and 11 May 2017, with the Grand Final expected to take place on 13 May 2017.
Let us know your thoughts on Hungary’s selection. Do you think they have a chance of making the final and winning the competition? You can tweet us @CelebMix.