Nine decent songs compete tonight for four coveted places. The jury might steal my thunder in picking their two songs before I can give my considered opinion, but they might surprise me. But in true X-Factor style, they’re introduced with some severe music. They look pensive tonight.

MuzikFabrik – “This Is My Life”

Straight into song 1 with our band Muzikfabrik, an audience pick in its heat. It starts the show on a nice upbeat tip. The band is enjoying themselves and it has a slight 1970s disco vibe about it. The banter between the lead singer and the bespectacled lady backing him works, and there’s a guy who probably ought to know better playing with a mixing deck. But all in all, I like it – it has a positive sound about it.

After a lot of chat, our esteemed jury give the song 34 (out of 40) tonight.

Lilla Polyák – “Karcolás”

We switch to the wonderful Magyar language for this song. Lilla has her four backing singers again and really gets into this song. Well she does by the earnest look on her face. All the performers are in basic black, and rely on the stage effects to give it more impetus. It’s anthemic and her assistants complement her well. With all the uptempo-ness that also crops up in A Dál, it’s good to have something classy with a very competent singer who can hold those more challenging notes.

There are (I think) kind words from the jury, before they give her 32 points (8 from each juror).

Dénes Pál – “Brave New World”

Dénes performed in last week’s third heat and was a jury qualifier. He keeps the slower tempo going and has a very very deep voice and David Schwimmer looks. And he sings in English. His backdrop of the earth from a space station is interesting, but is there to go with the words of the song. It may not be an anthem or a floor filler. He means well and likes his dry ice. I’m not sure whether the televoters will it though. Dénes gets 38 from the jury so he may well be through.

Before song four, we quickly go to the Green Room and see Lilla Polyák looking very happy with herself.

HoneyBeast – “A Legnagyobb Hős”

Another audience pick from last week saw the Magyar language being used again. The lead singer is striking looking on a modern take on widow’s weeds. The screens behind her are gothic in a very Tim Burton way. But for the chorus, we see the words of the song, just in case anyone wants to join in. It’s very wordy but just a little bit jaunty. Maybe too jaunty when you look at what she’s wearing. The jury’s vote could be interesting.

They give the song 37 points, putting it into second place at this stage.

Marge – “Morning Light”

Marge was a jury pick from the first heat. She still looks very Margaret Berger replete with long pony tail. There’s dry ice on stage, a big crystal behind her and a lack of backing singers. But she does have a dancer that surprises us midway through the song. And she (Marge that is) sports a black glove with a big LED on it. It bounces along nicely and she gets a big cheer from the crowd. But not a Homer in sight.

With the positive comments from the jury, they give her 35 points.

András Kállay-Saunders – “Running”

András was the jury winner of heat 1 with his very contemporary piano-influenced hit. As he’s half-American, his English is naturally very good – definitely an advantage when singing in the language. It really picks up towards the end when we have lots of red lights, dancers in white masks and a girl carrying a big teddy bear.

András scores the maximum 40 from the four jury members. He’s clearly through to the final next weekend.

With three songs to go, it’s back to Dénes Pál in the Green Room.

Ibolya Oláh – “Egy Percig Sztár”

Song seven is a televoter pick from heat 1. Ibolya is another striking woman, with a heavy pudding-bowl fringe and neck tattoos. She’s opted for a dark stage again with golden shooting stars which turn into gold computer screens. She’s certainly different, with a 40-a-day voice about her. But she may not have in voice projection she makes up for in character. And for all you lovers of key changes, this song has one of those too.

Ibolya scores 33 points.

Fool Moon – “It Can’t Be Over”

This was a jury pick from heat 3. The five members start seated and like clicking their fingers and clapping it seems. It’s arguably the most original song of the night – sort of imagine if NOX (Hungary 2005) did their stuff sitting down and you’d get the picture. For the final part of gthe song they stand, clap and stamp their feet. It’s also slightly a capella, which can be a very hit or miss art form.

The jury give Fool Moon 30 points.

Heni Dér – “Ég Veled”

Finally, televoter pick Heni does her swing number. Her baseball-capped dancers look a little incongruous but the song keeps moving enough for you to forgive them for it. To someone who can’t speak Hungarian, it’s slightly wordy in places, but she sells it really well.

Heni scores 35 from the jury.

So the four I would pick from these nine are András Kallay-Saunders, Marge, Muzikfabrik and Lilla Polyák.

As you can see, András Kallay-Saunders is through, but there’s a tie for the other jury place.

But after a bit of chat among the jury, they give the other place to Fool Moon.

Now it’s over the televoters and SMS-voters of Hungary. They need to pick two more songs from the remaining seven. So we get a few adverts while people make up their minds. The CD of all the songs is available if you want to relive all the songs again.

Whilst the lines are open, we talk to the acts, speak to Bye Alex (in his cap, T-shirt and jacket combo) and hear more words from our sponsors.

We then get our interval act. It’s a tribute to the heady days of rock n roll. It features a big name from Magyar pop and a young pretender. Sadly I didn’t catch their names, but they are very good at what they do.

So the lines are closed now, and two more acts (from the remaining seven) live to sing another day. But who will they be?

András and Fool Moon come on stage – they’re safe remember.

First name out is Dénes Pál. He tied for second place with the jury.

And the other finalists are Honeybeast.

Just shows what I know, liking one of the four songs!

The final takes place on Saturday 22 February. Eight songs will be in it, with a slightly different selection procedure.

But for now, thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to come back to http://www.eurovisionireland.net for a live blog of the final.