Country Hungary Selected entrant András Kállay-Saunders | Selection process A Dal 2014 Selected song "Running" | |
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Selection date(s) Heats:
25 January 2014
1 February 2014
8 February 2014
Semi-finals:
15 February 2014
16 February 2014
Final:
22 February 2014 Selected songwriter(s) András Kállay-Saunders
Krisztián Szakos
István Tabár | ||
Hungary participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Their entry was selected through the national competition A Dal, organised by the Hungarian broadcaster Magyar Televízió (MTV). András Kállay-Saunders represented Hungary with the song "Running", which qualified from the first semi-final and placed 5th in the final, scoring 143 points. It is the second best position ever for Hungary, after 4th place in their debut year 1994.
Contents
A Dal 2014
A Dal 2014 was the third edition of the Hungarian national selection that selected Hungary's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. On 10 October 2013, MTV confirmed Hungary's participation in the 2014 Contest and opened the submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries until 1 December 2013. MTV abolished the language rule that required all song submissions to be in Hungarian and allowed for entries in English as well as thirteen recognized minority languages within Hungary: Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian and Ukrainian. However, songs that were submitted in a language other than Hungarian were required to be submitted with an accompanying Hungarian translation of the lyrics. At the close of the deadline, a record 435 submissions were received of which thirty were ultimately selected for the competition by a ten-member selection panel.
Format
The format of the competition consisted of six shows: three heats, two semi-finals and a final. The three heats, held on 25 January 2014, 1 February 2014 and 8 February 2014, consisted of ten songs competing in each show with the top three selected by the jury and the top three selected by the televoters qualifying to the semi-finals. The semi-finals, held on 15 and 16 February 2014, each featured nine songs competing with the top two selected by the jury and the top two selected by the televoters qualifying to the final. The final, held on 22 February 2014, featured the eight remaining artists and songs competing, with the eventual selection of the Hungarian entry for Copenhagen. All shows in the competition were hosted by Éva Novodomszky and Gábor Gundel Takács, with Levente Harsányi and Krisztina Rátonyi conducting backstage interviews. Last year's winner, ByeAlex, also took part in the show as a digital commentator, who provided reports and facts regarding the competition.
Judges
The jury panel participated in each show by providing feedback to the competing artists and selecting entries that advanced in the competition. The panel consisted of:
Competing entries
A ten-member jury evaluated the received submissions and the thirty selected artists and songs were announced during a press conference on 11 December 2013. Gergő Rácz, competing as a member of Fool Moon, previously represented Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 as part of the group V.I.P., in addition to having competed as a solo artist in A Dal 2013. Bogi, Dénes Pál, Gigi Radics, Laura Cserpes, Lilla Polyák and Tamás Vastag all previously competed in A Dal 2013. Linda Király and Viktor Király previously competed in A Dal 2012 in the group The Kiralys. András Kállay-Saunders participated in both A Dal 2012 and A Dal 2013.
Heat 1
The first heat took place on 25 January 2014. The jury assigned scores to the ten participating songs resulting in the top three advancing further in the competition. The remaining seven songs faced an SMS vote which selected an additional three qualifiers to advance to the semi-finals. "Running Out Of Time" performed by Viktor Király, "Morning Light" performed by Marge and "Hogy segíthetnék" performed by Leslie Szabó were the jury qualifiers. "1 percig sztár" performed by Ibolya Oláh, "Retikül" performed by Group'N'Swing and "Csak a zene" performed by Depresszió were the SMS qualifiers.
Heat 2
The second heat took place on 1 February 2014. The jury assigned scores to the ten participating songs resulting in the top three advancing further in the competition. The remaining seven songs faced an SMS vote which selected an additional three qualifiers to advance to the semi-finals. "Running" performed by András Kállay-Saunders, "Waterfall" performed by Joni and "We All" performed by Bogi were the jury qualifiers. "Karcolás" performed by Lilla Polyák, "This Is My Life" performed by Muzikfabrik and "Ég veled" performed by Heni Dér were the SMS qualifiers.
Heat 3
The third heat took place on 8 February 2014. The jury assigned scores to the ten participating songs resulting in the top three advancing further in the competition. The remaining seven songs faced an SMS vote which selected an additional three qualifiers to advance to the semi-finals. "It Can't Be Over" performed by Fool Moon, "The Last One" performed by New Level Empire and "Brave New World" performed by Dénes Pál were the jury qualifiers. "Catch Me" performed by Gigi Radics, "Játssz még jazzgitár" performed by Mystery Gang and "A legnagyobb hős" performed by HoneyBeast were the SMS qualifiers.
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final took place on 15 February 2014. The jury assigned scores to the nine participating songs resulting in the top two advancing further in the competition. The remaining seven songs faced an SMS vote which selected an additional two qualifiers to advance to the final. "Running Out Of Time" performed by Viktor Király and "We All" performed by Bogi were the jury qualifiers. "The Last One" performed by New Level Empire and "Csak a zene" performed by Depresszió were the SMS qualifiers.
Semi-final 2
The second semi-final took place on 16 February 2014. The jury assigned scores to the nine participating songs resulting in the top two advancing further in the competition. The remaining seven songs faced an SMS vote which selected an additional two qualifiers to advance to the final. "Running" performed by András Kállay-Saunders and "It Can't Be Over" performed by Fool Moon were the jury qualifiers. "Brave New World" performed by Dénes Pál and "A legnagyobb hős" performed by HoneyBeast were the SMS qualifiers.
Final
The final took place on 22 February 2014. Four songs from each semi-final, eight songs in total, qualified to compete. In the first round, the jury selected the top four songs to proceed to the second round. Instead of assigning scores immediately after each performance, the jury announced their votes after all of the songs are performed. A different voting system for the jury was used with each juror assigning 4 points to the song they placed fourth, 6 points to the song they placed third, 8 points to the song they placed second and 10 points to the song they placed first. "We All" performed by Bogi, "Running" performed by András Kállay-Saunders, "It Can't Be Over" performed by Fool Moon and "Running Out Of Time" performed by Viktor Király were selected by the jury for the second round of voting. In the second round, a public SMS vote solely selected "Running" performed by András Kállay-Saunders as the winner.
Advanced to the second round Winner
At Eurovision
During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Hungary was drawn to compete in the second half of the first semi-final on 6 May 2014. In the first semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Hungary would close the semi-final and perform 16th, following Montenegro. Hungary qualified from the first semi-final and competed in the final on 10 May 2014. During the winner's press conference for the first semi-final qualifiers, Hungary was allocated to compete in the second half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Hungary would perform 21st, following Switzerland and preceding Malta. Hungary placed 5th in the final, scoring 143 points.
On stage, András Kállay-Saunders was joined by dancers Alexandra Likovics and Tibor Nagy and backing vocalists Rozina Cselovszky and Kyra Fedor. The Hungarian performance was based on the song's theme of domestic violence with the choreography between the two dancers resembling a fight. The LED projections during the performance transitioned from a nighttime cityscape during the verses to fast moving red lines during the chorus.
In Hungary, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on M1 with commentary by Gábor Gundel Takács. The Hungarian spokesperson revealing the result of the Hungarian vote in the final was Éva Novodomszky.
Split voting results
The following five members comprised the Hungarian jury:
Semi-final 1
The Hungarian votes in the First Semi-Final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.
Final
The Hungarian votes in the final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.