József "Joci" Pápai (; born 22 September 1981) is a Hungarian singer, rapper and guitarist of

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

descent. He represented

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 ...

at 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 ...

with the song "

Origo Origo may refer to: * ''Origo'' (album), an album by the band Burst * ''Origo'' (moth), a genus of moth in the family Gelechiidae *Origo (pragmatics), a concept in pragmatics * "Origo" (song), by Joci Pápai, representing Hungary in the Eurovision ...

" finishing in 8th place. He represented Hungary again at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2019 The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "Toy" by Netta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

with the song "". However he failed to qualify for the grand final being the first Hungarian entry not to since returning in 2011.

Career

Pápai came into contact with music early as his older brother had started writing songs and playing guitar at the age of four. He was influenced by music of the

1960s File:1960s montage.png, Clockwise from top left: U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War; the Beatles led the British Invasion of the U.S. music market; a half-a-million people participate in the Woodstock, 1969 Woodstock Festival; Neil Armstrong ...

and

1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War ...

, and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and R&B music. His public debut was in 2005, when he was a part of the second season of the TV2 show

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 ...

, where he was eliminated in the consolation rounds, but was interviewed by the Budapest daily tabloid

Blikk ''Blikk'' is a Hungarian news website and daily newspaper covering current affairs, politics, entertainment, economy, sports and lifestyle. It is the only independent media outlet and the most widely read newspaper in Hungary. It is published i ...

. Afterwards, he started to produce his official debut. His first big success was ''Ne nézz így rám''. In 2006, he collaborated with his then-roommate, rapper

Majka Majka, Slavic-language feminine given name, originally a diminutive of the name Maria or Maja, it can be a spelling variation of Mayka. Given name * Majka Jeżowska (born 1960), Polish singer * Majka Olkowicz, Majka (soap opera) character * ...

with ''Nélküled'' and ''Nekem ez jár'', but his greatest success came in 2015 with ''Mikor a test örexik''. He then released a song in collaboration with

Caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

and Zé Szabó titled ''Elrejtett világ''. His last collaboration with Majka appeared together with the pop-funk song ''Senki más''. On 8 December 2016, it was announced that Pápai would be one of the thirty acts participating in the 2017 edition of

A Dal ''A Dal'' (English: The Song) is an annual music competition in Hungary organised by the national broadcaster Duna since 2012 and served as the national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest between 2012 and 2019. The contest was i ...

, the national selection for

in the

with the self-penned "

", in which he progressed to the final and won the competition, giving him the right to represent Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, coming in 8th place overall. He competed again in the 2019 edition, with the song "". He won that as well and represented Hungary again at the

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. This time, however, he failed to qualify from the semifinal. Following his Eurovision 2019 participation, Pápai moved away from the apartment him and Majka were renting, but the two remained close friends.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

External links

Pápai Joci on MédiaKlikk
* 1981 births Living people 21st-century Hungarian male singers Hungarian rappers Hungarian male guitarists People from Tata, Hungary Hungarian Romani people Romani rappers 21st-century Hungarian guitarists Eurovision Song Contest entrants {{Hungary-musician-stub