Hungary In The Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Hungary participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The Hungarian broadcaster, Magyar Televízió (MTV), confirmed their participation in November 2008.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries for the competition between 14 January 2009 and 2 February 2009. Artists were permitted to collaborate with international composers and submit songs in any language. After the submission deadline had passed, 105 entries were received by the broadcaster. On 3 February 2009, MTV announced during a press conference that the song "If You Wanna Party", written by Figge Boström, George Németh, Johan Lindman, Lasse Anderson, Zé Szabó and performed by Márk Zentai would be the Hungarian entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. The five-member jury that selected the entry consisted of Andrea Szulák (singer selected to represent Hungary in the 1993 contest), Zsolt Lengyel (director), Laszlo Szuts (representative of Mahasz), Levente Harsányi (television host) and Gabor Takács (television host).

On 4 February 2009, MTV announced that Zentai would be withdrawing from the contest as "If You Wanna Party" was presented in 2004 as the ''Swedish Big Brother'' theme song "We Became Friends", breaching the rules of the contest. On the same day, the song "Magányos csónak", written by Gábor Duba and Géza Pálvölgyi and to have been performed by Kátya Tompos was announced as the replacement selected by the jury from the remaining 104 received entries, however Tompos announced her withdrawal from the contest on 10 February 2009 as she wanted to focus on her theatre career instead, having to take part in eight plays of three different theatres meaning she had no time to prepare her Eurovision participation properly. On 23 February 2009, the song "Dance with Me", written by Zé Szabó and Kasai and performed by Zoli Ádok, was announced as the second replacement from three entries shortlisted by the jury that meet the contest requirements and had accepted to represent Hungary.

Controversy

Following the selection of Kátya Tompos as the Hungarian entrant, the Alliance of Hungarian Popular Music Composers and Songwriters published an open letter protesting that they did not feel as if the jury had long enough to make a correct decision, and were dissatisfied with the internal selection instead of organising a national selection show where the public could vote for the winning entry. Other claims such as that only songs from Hungarian songwriters should be eligible and that the jury was not professional were also made. MTV, however, stood by their decision of the internal selection, stating that the jury of television and music industry professionals chose the song all day long on 3 February 2009, and that they were satisfied with the jury's decision.

At Eurovision

Since Hungary is not one of the "Big Four" nor was it the host of the 2009 contest, it had to compete in one of the two semi-finals. At the semi-final allocation draw on 30 January, it was decided that the country would compete in the second semi-final on 14 May 2009.

Zoli performed for Hungary in position 11 in the running order, following Slovenia and preceding Azerbaijan. Hungary failed to qualify to the final for a second successive year.

On stage, Zoli was joined by three female dancers and two backing vocalists Gábor Heincz and Jnoffin Kasai. In the beginning of the performance, Zoli and his three female dancers wore black and white costumes. Then, the dancers removed Zoli's costume before undressing themselves, with only skimpy dresses remaining on the girls and a skin-tight shirt on the singer. The LED projections during the performance have floating shapes in the verses, and expanding white lines and the words "Dance with Me" written across them 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.

Voting

Points awarded to Hungary

Points awarded by Hungary

Detailed voting results

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2009

2009
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Eurovision