Ferenc Molnár (born 1 February 1982,

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian ...

), known by the stage name Caramel, is a Hungarian singer. He is most well known for winning the second season of

Megasztár ''Megasztár – Voice of the Year'' is a Hungarian music talent show that started in 2003 on TV2. While it is widely considered an unlicensed clone of the British television show ''Pop Idol'' (and sometimes even referred to as ''Hungarian Idol ...

Personal life

Caramel was born on 1 February 1982 in the town of

. He is of Hungarian Roma descent. At age 16, he moved to

Törökszentmiklós Törökszentmiklós is a town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary. It is the third-largest settlement in the county. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 23,145 (2002). Histo ...

with his stepfather, mother and siblings. His parents' relationship deteriorated after his brother was killed in a car crash, leading him to move out at age 17. Work was hard to find because of his

herniated disc A disc herniation or spinal disc herniation is an injury to the intervertebral disc between two vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, ...

. He got his nickname Caramel from a friend when he received a negative response from a publisher.

Musician

In 2004, he applied to Megasztár. In 2005, Caramel narrowly won over fellow contestant Tamás Palcsó to become the first contest's winner. He started to compile his first album in his apartment. In 2005, he released two albums: a compilation of the songs he sang at Megasztár, the second one being called ''Nyugalomterápia''. Both reached number one at the JAHASZ charts. In December of that year, he held his first release concert with other artists, such as István Lerch, Eszter Szabó,

Joci Pápai József "Joci" Pápai (; born 22 September 1981) is a Hungarian singer, rapper and guitarist of Romani people in Hungary, Romani descent. He represented Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 wit ...

, and Eszter Bartók. In 2006, he released his next album, ''Újrahangolva'', with music videos filmed in London. More albums followed in 2010, 2011 and 2014. He took part in multiple music shows as judges, including the Hungarian version of The Voice, and ''Az ének iskolája'', a school-inspired music competition show. In 2011, Caramel was selected as a contestant for A Dal 2012, the first edition for the national selection of

Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest Hungary has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since making its debut in . Hungary attempted to participate in but failed to qualify from ''Kvalifikacija za Millstreet'', a special qualifying competition set up for seven ...

, with the song "Vízió". It was one of the top 4 by televoting, but lost to Compact Disco. He was a judge for the only season of The Voice – Magyarország hangja. He was a judge in A Dal 2017 and was also a jury member for

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song " 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molnar, Ferenc 1982 births Living people 21st-century Hungarian male singers Hungarian Romani people People from Szolnok