Kállay-Saunders András has won the race to represent Hungary at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen with his song Running. The final of the A Dal competition took place tonight in Budapest and a combination of expert jury and televoting decided who would fly the flag for Hungary in Denmark in May.
After three quarter-finals and two semi-finals the grand final of A Dal took place with eight finalists taking to the stage. Over the previous weeks the jury and televoting public chose their finalists. The competition has proved very popular with the viewing public in Hungary.
The Songs –
1. Depresszió – Csak a zene
Some headbanging heavy rock gets the show off to a loud start. The five piece male band are all dressed as we would expect with jeans and leather. There are three guitarists including the lead singer plus a keyboard player and drummer. The background is flashing silver and blue bars and strobe lighting.
2. Bogi – We All
The song begins slowly and builds in to a strong beat with anthemic chorus. The lighting is very colourful with shapes of balloons and other shapes revolving. Bogi is dressed in jeans and white t-shirt with a balloon on the front. She is joined on stage by a male guitarist and pianist and two female backing vocalists.
3. Kállay-Saunders András – Running
The song begins with András sitting on a chair and a girl playing the piano. Then the rhythm increases with a jaunting beat increasing then pausing again. The background is red flashing images. There are two female backing vocalists and two dancers (one male and one female) wearing white manequin masks. The song finishes as the girl pianist runs to Andras with a big teddy bear.
4. New Level Empire – The Last One
New Level Empire are a four piece band consisting of three males and one female. The song is an upbeat electro pop song. There is fire effects on stage and the background shows Budapest at night. The lead singer has a guitar and we have a male drummer and keyboard player. The girl is at a DJ deck.
5. Pál Dénes – Brave New World
He is wearing a long black jacket and jeans. There are five backing vocalists (two male and three female). A 90s electro feel and song is medium paced. The background is space related with astronaunts and flying planets and use of strobe lighting.
6. Fool Moon – It Can’t Be Over
Here we go with some accapella sounds and light beat, It is a five piece band. There are trees in the background and revolving hands in pink. The guys are in chairs and then they stand. A little repetitive and boring in my opinion. The guys are all dressed in black.
7. Király Viktor – Running Out Of Time
A very colourful presentation by Viktor and his team. He is wearing a smart blue suit with white shirt and black tie and he has a guitar. There are four girls and one male backing singers. The background has lots of pink and red shapes flashing in and out. The song has a pop reggae feel in the style of Bruno Mars.
8. Honey Beast – A legnagyobb hős
The female lead singer is wearing a black veil and black flared dress with black top. There a male pianistwho also plays guitar in the song and four female backing vocalists. The background has a running script and strange shapes of people washing in a cup. The song is performed in the Hungarian language. It has a jolting rhythm.
The Show –
The two-hour show started at 20:25 CET hosted by Éva Novodomszky and Gábor Gundel. Tonight’s participants were introduced as well as the jury members among which were Magdi Rúzsa, who represented Hungary at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. The other jury members were Jenő Csizsár, Kati Kovács and Philip Rákay.
The set was the same as the previous shows. We had the same multilevel stage surrounded by several huge screens which gave it a stunning three-dimensional appearance. The judges were sat right in front of the stage with some people in front and behind them.
There were regular visits to the green room where the acts were interviewed by Krisztina Rátonyi and Levente Harsányi. ByeAlex, last year’s representative for Hungary, was also there bringing comments from the social media. Each performance was preceded by a video of each of the participants talking about their experience in A Dal from a place that looked like an airport with luggage and screens all around. Right after each performance the jurors gave their feedback to the artists and then awarded their points.
ByeAlex took to the stage and performed his 2013 Eurovision entry, Kedvesem, with a full orchestra during the interval.
The Result –
After the expert jury had voted the four acts with the most votes went forward to a super final. The four acts through to the super final were Bogi, Kállay-Saunders András, Fool Moon and Király Viktor.
The televoting alone now decided that Kállay-Saunders András and Running would go to Copenhagen and represent Hungary at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.
Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest –
Hungary has participated at the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times with Friderika Bayer as their first entrant in 1994. It left the competition after the 1998 contest, coming back in 2005 and reaching the 12th place with NOX. In 2006 the country announced it would not participate, although it returned in 2007 with Magdi Rúzsa. In 2010 it withdrew due to financial reasons being back in 2011 with Kati Wolf. Last year, ByeAlex made it to the final where he was ranked tenth with his song Kedvesem.
You can see the video for Running by Kállay-Saunders András below.
