Jó estét Európa és jó reggelt Ausztrália! It’s time to find out who Hungary will be sending to the Eurovision Song Contest with the final of A Dal 2019!

Sit back and relax, and let Eurovision Ireland’s own James Scanlan entertain and inform you. As always, feel free to tell me what you think and give your opinions about tonight’s Final and who your favourites are! I might even shout out to you in the blog 😉

After 3 heats and 2 semi finals, we have 8 songs competing for that ticket to Tel Aviv in May, and they are:

Acoustic Planet – “Nyári Zápor”

Gergő Oláh – “Hozzád Bújnék”

Bence Vavra – “Szótlanság”

The Middletonz – “Roses”

Gergő Szekér – “Madár, Repülj!”

Bogi Nagy – “Holnap”

Joci Pápai – “Az Én Apám”

Fatal Error – “Kulcs”

If you want to watch too, have a look here HERE from 19:30CET / 18:30 GMT.

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LIVE BLOG STARTS HERE!!

Túl korán vagy! You’re too early! Come back later tonight for all the fun from Hungary 🙂

It’s almost show time in Hungary! Who do you want to go to Tel Aviv? Will the curse of 2019 strike the Magyars too? Keep checking back as we find out!

Ahh, the sounds of Hungarian… I’ve missed them! ❤ A speak a little Hungarian, it’s a truly unique language. Although natives always told me I spoke it well, they also said they could tell I wasn’t a native… oh well, have to try harder I guess!

Here we go!

Freddie from 2016 singing Pioneer with his female co-host (whose name I didn’t catch yet… ooops…)

I must say, this song actually works well as a duet!

For anyone wondering, I’ve been near Freddie (in the best possible way!) a few times, and yes, he really is that tall!

Here are the jury, who’s points later tonight will select the Top 4. These Top 4 will be put to a public vote, and the winner will be sent to Israel to sing for Hungary.

Meeting the acts now – Joci Pápai and the Fatal Errors got noticeably louder cheers from the audience!

Butterflies are soooo 2013! 😉

The female juror just said tonight’s decision is a really important one – persze! Of course!

And it’s on to the first song of the night!

The Middletonz – “Roses”

There’s a town in Ireland called Midleton… (random useless fact). Another more interesting fact is that András from 2014 is part of this duo… so he should know that swearing at Eurovision is a big no-no… what started sounding like a real Spanish infused guitar song has descended into rap, via reggae, grunge and I’m not sure what else… the rose dancers don’t add to the performance, they look like home-made monster extras from a budget remake of Dr Who… ultimately, it’s a mess… both to look at and listen to… sorry, no impressed.

The judges sounded more impressed than I did!

And we’re not hanging about tonight, it’s already onto song #2!

Gergő Oláh – “Hozzád Bújnék”

Sounding like a song straight out of a Broadway musical, Gergő sings well and the simple staging with lights and images of creeping vines allow his strong voice to take centre stage. Overall, it’s a solid contender, my one concern is that the bridge comes quite late in the song, and despite the power and emotion in his voice, it’s rather monotone and takes a while to kick in – not always a good gamble in those 3 minutes! This being said thought, Gergő has an incredible voice! Fantasztikus!

One of the judges also commented on Gergő’s impressive vocals. I just wonder if this song is the best way to showcase them

Bogi Nagy – “Holnap”

Singing about tomorrow, Bogi starts out the slow piano heavy number sitting in a hoop, which is then pulled high above the stage. This reveals her Elina Necheyava-esq dress, which is then covered with photos, presumably of Bogi as a child. Visually, it’s very Greatest Showman and vocally it’s almost flawless. If this did go to Eurovision, I suspect it would be relying on the staging a lot to get it to the final. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pleasant enough number, but it doesn’t have that crescendo a Eurovision ballad craves.

The audience cheered for her though, so she’s clearly popular

Our first trip to the Green Room – or a room with some white benches in it…

Wow, if that’s a competition prize bundle, they had everything but the kitchen sink in there!

Fatal Error – “Kulcs”

Now here it would be tempting to make a comparison to AWS from last year, but I won’t do that as I know a few rockers and they’ll string me up for not pointing out the nuances, of which there are many! This is a real arena shaker and would be amazing to witness live – but as 99% of the Eurovision audience watches at home and they’ve yet to connect with the camera once, I think this might not translate into televotes. I also suspect it may be too similar too soon to the undiscerning listener. But I applaud their energy and enthusiasm!

A returning artist up next… very excited to see this one!! 😀

Joci Pápai – “Az Én Apám”

Oh Joci, I was excited when I heard you were back in the selection as Origo is one of my all time favourite Hungarian Eurovision entries! And I’m not disappointed! Singing barefoot with his trademark emotional voice, he delivers a simple, heartfelt performance that tugs at your heartstrings – it even has some gorgeous violin chords thrown in too! Yes, I’m clearly biased, but he really is a strong performer and he did a fantastic job tonight! Szép munka! 😀

One of the judges said it was “gyönyörű” – that means beautiful, but it’s like a step up too. Exquisite, maybe? Ah, don’t you just love it how languages have words that don’t translate exactly? ❤

Back in the Green Room now with Bogi and Fatal Errors. And Joci has just arrived too.

Only 3 songs left tonight! Then it’s over to the jury to half them before the Hungarian public have their say!

Gergő Szekér – “Madár, Repülj!”

Fun fact! Gergő is from Štúrovo, a small town in Slovakia just over the border from Hungary and I’ve been there! This one has me stumped a little… a want to like it, I can hear a a nice melody and accordion underneath, but it keeps being drowned out by more contemporary thumping and rapping. That being said, he sings really well and it’s one of the few instances in which dancers actually add to a performance! Still undecided, but I suspect it would grow on me.

But before our last two songs, it’s time for a quick break here in Hungary! See you soon!

And we’re back – did you miss me? 😀

No time for anything more than a quick hello it seems, we’re back into the last few songs!

Acoustic Planet – “Nyári Zápor”

From Goodbye Summer to Summer Rain! The band are quite spread out across the stage and it’s pleasant in that easy listening kind of way. It doesn’t grab your attention or shake you, it just does its thing while you listen along. Is it a Eurovision winner? Probably not, but as summer rain often is, it’s light, refreshing and makes a nice change!

The judges are laughing a lot as they give their critiques… not sure why…

Back in the Green Room to catch up with the artists. One of them will be singing for Hungary in May, but which one?

Last song up now!

Bence Vavra – “Szótlanság”

Very interesting staging, which a dancer throwing herself through doors – it’s all very intense and moody, which is slightly at odds with the song of the song… at least it was until that key change! Wow! That was impressive! Prior to this though, the song is a bit flat and monotonous for my tastes. I liked the staging though, and if that change came in a bit sooner and was more sustained, I’d pin this as one to advance to the final 4 tonight!

So there you have it – those are the 8 Hungarian choices for Tel Aviv. What are the juries thinking now?

I think we’re about to find out, all the acts have assembled on stage

First juror gives 4 to The Middletonz, 6 to Joci Pápai, 8 to Gergő Szekér and 10 to Acoustic Planet

Second juror gives 4 to Bence Vavra, 6 to Acoustic Planet, 8 to Fatal Error and 10 to Bogi Nagy

Interestingly, no points for the wildcard Gergő Oláh yet!

Acoustic Planet currently in the lead, with Bogi Nagy second and Fatal Error 3rd

Third juror give 4 to The Middletonz, 6 to Bogi Nagy, Bence Vavra gets 8 and the 10 go to Joci Pápai – thought he’d have more by now!

Last juror about to give his points. Gergő Szekér gets 4, Acoustic Planet get 6. Bence Vavra gets 8 and another 10 for Joci Pápai!!

So that’s Joci Pápai, Bogi Nagy, Acoustic Planet and Bence Vavra through to the final!

I wasn’t quick enough to grab the results table from the live feed, thankfully as with most things in life, if you don’t know you go to Wikipedia!

While these Hungarian beat-boxers assault our senses, sorry, entertain us, I’m going to have a think about Hungary’s choices now. Oh, enjoy this recap, much nicer 🙂

OK, so you know I’m a big fan of Joci Pápai and would love to see him return to Eurovision. I think while some of the other songs tonight are more of a show than “Az én Apám”, it’s very much a case of style over substance. Acoustic Planet I fear would get lost in Tel Aviv, Joci is the best all round option for Hungary – but will the public agree?

Some very excited faces in the Green Room!

Ooooh now… an orchestral version of Viszlát Nyár… it’s amazing what a different arrangement can do to a song! I really liked the original, but this is fantastic too!

Time for a recap again – I think the jurors made the right choices tonight, the 4 options left in the selection are all really different. Also really nice to see they’re all in Hungarian!

Hungary, stop voting now! Have you made good choices?

The acts are all on stage… are we about to get a result?

YES!!! Joci Pápai is going to Tel Aviv!! YESSS!!!

I’m delighted! Who said this was the worst Eurovision ever? 😉

Wow, awesome! Thanks for reading along with me tonight everyone, I’ve been James, this has been A Dal, thank you and good night! ❤

Author: James Scanlan
Source: Duna Elo
Image Source: Duna Elo