Country Hungary Selection date(s) 5 February 1994 Final result 4th, 122 points | Selection process National Final Selected entrant Friderika Bayer | |
Selected song "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" | ||
Hungary was represented by Friderika Bayer, with the song '"Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?", at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 30 April in Dublin. "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" was chosen as the Hungarian entry at the national final on 5 February. This was Hungary's first appearance in a Eurovision final after their debut entry failed to progress from the pre-qualifier Kvalifikacija za Millstreet in 1993.
Contents
Final
The national final was organised by broadcaster Magyar Televízió (MTV) and held at their studios in Budapest, hosted by Dorottya Geszler. 15 songs took part with the winner being chosen by a jury of 16 who each awarded between 1 and 9 points per song. Votes were given out generously as "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" received only 4 points short of the maximum total possible, and even the last placed song had an average score of 6.1.
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Bayer performed 22nd in the running order, following Spain and preceding Russia. Prior to the contest "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" had been highly praised, and Bayer gave an affecting but unostentatious performance of the gentle acoustic ballad. "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" got off to the best possible start in the voting, receiving maximum 12s from the first three juries (Sweden, Finland and Ireland), a feat never achieved by any other song before or since. However the votes received then became more mixed, with only one further 12 (from Poland) and six juries bypassing the song altogether. At the close of voting "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" had received 122 points, placing Hungary 4th of the 25 entries, which remains the country's best Eurovision placement to date.
"Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" is a very highly regarded song, often cited as one of the very best heard at Eurovision in the 1990s.