A-Dal 2014 – Heat 2 Live Rolling Blog. Photograph courtesy of i-Tunes and MTVA

HUNGARY – LIVE BLOG (Just Refresh This Page for real time updates)

Tonight Hungary continues its selection to choose a song for Copenhagen in May. This second  Heat of A Dál 2014 will feature 10 songs. Six of them will progress to the semi-final round on 15 and 16 February. Of these six, three will be chosen by the televoters of Hungary and three by a jury made up of Jenő Csiszár (TV and radio host), Magdi Rúzsa (Hungarian representative in 2007), Philip Rákay (MTV programme director) and Kati Kovács (singer and actress).

You can watch the show live with our blog at 20:20 CET HERE on the Eurovision.tv weblink and the the MTVA Website 

LIVE BLOG

Welcome to our coverage of A Dál.just refresh this page for real time updates.

Hungary’s A Dál show has just started. You know the form from last week, so just sit back and enjoy the show. it’s bound to be better than anything coming from Malmö tonight.

Just like last week, after a word from our competent hosts, we get introduced to the four jurors.

In the Green Room, which is actually various shades of purple and black, we get introduced to the other hosts. And local hero ByeAlex.

Onto song 1, sung by brunette Heni Dér. She performs ‘Ég veled’. She’s in sparkly blue and pink and has a complement of three singers and two dancers with her. The song is a little bit funky to start with and her backing singers help her along nicely. She then gets all swingy on us. She gets polite applause from the audience. Heni scores 35 (out of 40) from the jury.

Next on is five-piece group Belmondo. They perform ‘Miért ne higgyem?’. Our lead singer is seated on a stool with his acoustic guitar. All the band members are in pale blue shirts and dark ties. They’ve gone a little syncopated and has a singalong vibe to it – maybe better if you can speak Magyar though. The audience really seemed to enjoy it. They score 33 from the jury.

Before song 3, we quickly switch to the Green Room to see Bogi. An interesting name. More from her later.

Brunette girl Joni sings the next song ‘Waterfall’, or first English language offering of the night. It has a cast of thousands behind it. She’s on stage in a black dress and lots of dry ice. An unashamed power ballad, she has pretty good English diction. The backdrop is effective during the chorus when it becomes – you’ve guessed it – a waterfall. Joni receives 36 from the jury.

‘Come On Babe (Meg akarom mondani)’ is song four tonight, performed by four-piece band 2Beat or not 2Beat. We have a very bright backdrop for the band who sound more than a little like the Beatles. Three guitars and a drumkit. It’s a fairly authentic take on the 1960s band. It even has the trademark ‘middle 8’. It scores 30 from the jury.

Aforementioned soloist Bogi is next on with a song ‘We all’. She’s accompanied by two musicians and two backing singers. There’s a strong piano element to this English language song, and she’s very young. The chorus is more uptempo and we see lions and tigers in the backdrop. This builds very well although the chorus does get a little repetitive. Bogi gets 35 from the jury.

Tamás Vastag performs ‘Állj meg világ’, and appears to have Michael Bublé as an influence. He’s co-written the song. We get more dry ice and a backdrop of ice-covered mountains. It’s a half-decent ballad with an emphasis on two guitars. It has elements of last year’s Icelandic song ‘Ég á líf’ about it too. We reach a slow end. Tamás scores 35 from the jury.

Four songs to go, so it’s back to the Green Room for a quick chat with Heni (song 1). And ByeAlex with Belmondo who are all wearing Alex’s trademark beanie hats.

Song seven tonight is a female duo – Saci Szécsi and Böbe Szécsi – and they sing ‘Born to fly’ in English. Böbe is sat on the stage wearing a bug floppy hat. Saci is at a piano. This one also has overtones from the 1960s. Think ‘Tell me’ by Águst & Telma from 2000. They harmonise together fairly well, and it’s nice refreshing song. The jury gives Saci and Böbi 30 points.

At this point, we’re reminded that Joni leads, but we have three songs in equal second place. Only the top three jury songs go through to the next round.

Our eighth song tonight is from soloist Lilla Polyák, singing ‘Karcolás’. Lilla is in a dark floor length dress. We have the first appearance of the wind machine for this mid-tempo power ballad that wouldn’t have been out of place in the 1980s. She has four backing singers with her. She scores 31 from the jury.

Penultimate song of the night is ‘This is my life’ by Muzikfabrik. They are a five-piece band. This is more in the mode of an uptempo Compact Disco song. There’s a good stage presence here and their extra member – a female backing singer – plays a large part in the song. It could also be a good floorfiller at a Euroclub. The jury gives Muzikfabrik 34 points.

Finally, half-Magyar half-American Kállay-Saunders took to the stage with his song ‘Running’. He starts off seated, before standing moving around the stage when the beat kicks in. He has a selection of musicians and dancers (in white masks) with him. It all ends with a hug and a teddy bear. Kállay-Saunders scores 38 from the jury.

So after all that, the results so far are:

The jury needs to pick one from Bogi, Tamás Vastag and Heni Dér, so goes from Bogi. She joins Kállay-Saunders and Joni in the semi-finals. The remaining seven are now subject to the public vote. Three of them will also qualify for the next stage.

We now have a short interval while the good people of Hungary cast their votes. Magdi Rúzsa and Gábor Presser (on piano) treat us to a slow ballad. It gets a standing ovation.

During this further break in proceedings, we speak to the three lucky jury qualifiers. They all seem very happy to have made it through to the next stage.

So, to the results…

Joni, Bogi and Kállay-Saunders come on stage as qualifiers.

The three televoting qualifiers are… Lilla Polyák, Muzikfabrik, and Heni Dér.

Thus ends this heat of A Dál. Four acts go home. Six acts live to fight in the semi-finals that start in two weeks’ time. The final heat is next weekend.

Thanks for watching. Catch you soon.

Author : John Stanton

Source : MTVA and Eurovision Ireland