Alexandra Nagy
Hungary’s national selection show for Eurovision Song Contest “A Dal” is famous for many artists who compete each year, and come back with a new style, a new formation or a new name. This year, we could see not less than 9 familiar faces, and every single one of them had something to surprise us with. However, out of the third heats of the show, the final one last Saturday was definitely the one that left us wanting a little bit more.
After two weeks, we expected something more explosive, which we sadly did not get this time, but we can’t complain, because we already saw some great performances, and we still got high hopes for the coming two semi-finals and then the final on February 23. Yep, in 20 days, we will find out who will represent Hungary on this year’s grandiose song contest in Tel-Aviv. Are you ready? We totally are, but first, let us tell you what the third heat brought us!
Everyone knows how it feels when you’re far from home, and you can finally go back. This is what Leander Kills tried to put into their song “Hazavágyom” (I wish I was home). The metal band appeared in “A Dal” for the third time now this year, so to them, it kinda felt like coming home. However, they didn’t bring their usual style to the stage: they came with a pop song, which brings a new colour, but in the usual quality. It seems like for them, it wasn’t too lucky to try something new – they couldn’t make it to the semi-finals
András Petruska is also a returning singer. In 2016, he became the Best New Artist in “A Dal”, and the country loved what he brought to the show. Now he said he just wanted to feel good in that 3 minutes on the stage with “Help Me Out Of Here”. Turns out, he will have another chance to prove he’s good enough.
We know how hard it is to lose someone: this was the inspiration for Monyo Project‘s “Run Baby Run”, however, the song itself has a completely different message. They wanted to tell us that we should dare to dream, and dare to fight for these dreams. Nice message, but not so nice performance – it wasn’t enough for the semi-finals.
But oh! We saw an angel on the stage, as the just 16 years old Bogi Nagy stepped on the stage with her “Holnap” (The Day After Tomorrow). This lady left her home and her family really early to pursue her career. It can be a hard decision at such a young age, as she had to grow up very quickly. However, as she states with her pure, beautiful voice in this ballad, there is a child inside each one of us. Yes, Bogi enchanted the jury, too, so we can see her at least once more.
There’s always one or two metal bands competing in “A Dal”, as the older generation is a huge fan of this music genre. However, they’re not so successful on the stage of this show. Salvus, that consists of four friends, who have stayed together since university, shared with us the importance of remembering old friends. “We should never forget them!”. They tried, but they didn’t convince the audience with “Barát” (Friend).
Ruby Harlem rings so well in our ears, and maybe just as well as their number “Forró” (Hot), which make us shout it out the window that the world is ours! Yes, we are in love, and we absolutely let us fall in love – this is also the message of this song, which they performed with so much energy! We want more, and Hungary wants more. Ruby Harlem, see you in the semi-finals!
Joci Pápai represented Hungary in 2017 and in a special hussar dress with “Origo”, finishing on the 8th place in the Grand Final, which was a success in Hungary’s musical history. He might be a huge candidate as a representative this year, as he returned with a lot more emotional and beautiful song “Az én apám” (My father), which is obviously about the person who inspired the title and the whole number. Joci confessed his feelings with extreme honesty and said this one is the most important song of his life. He won our hearts with it on Saturday, so we are looking forward to seeing how he will do in the next round.
Perhaps there is no other person who stood on the “A Dal” stage as many times as Kyra – she has been the part of the show since 2013 as a vocalist, and appeared behind several artists on the screen. In 2017, however, she came with her very own song, as she did it this year with “Maradj még” (Stay), too. From the stats, we can state we will see her in the following years without a doubt, but not in the semi-finals.
USNK is a very promising young rap duo, who won the Hungarian version of The X-Factor this year and already has a huge fanbase. Their songs are written by them and their former mentor ByeAlex, who represented Hungary in 2013 with “Kedvesem”. The lyrics are modern, recommended to the younger generation. Thus, “Posztolj” (Post it!) is about how we live in the online world, posting about what we ate, what we saw, what we read. The message is simple, and we can imagine ourselves shouting the words with hundreds of people, as the country’s audience – these two guys won the televote, advancing to the semi-finals.
The last act of the night was the rock band Mocsok 1 Kölykök, who came with a softer song “Egyszer” (Once), and will have the chance to perform it now twice or maybe three times, too.
That’s it, but guess what: next Saturday we will inform you about the first semi-final, which is going to be massive, we promise. We will now see only familiar faces, by name: Acoustic Planet, DENIZ, Konyha, Petruska, The Middletonz, The Sign, USNK, Bence Vavra and YesYes.
Arriving to the second semi-final, the artists performing their songs for the second time now will be Tímea Antal feat Gergo Demko, Fatal Error, Mocsok 1 Kölykök, Bogi Nagy, Nomad, Gergo Oláh, Joci Pápai, Ruby Harlem and Gergo Szekér.
Not long now to find out who will represent Hungary on Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel-Aviv!
