# Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest

Hungary has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since making its debut in 1994. Hungary attempted to participate in 1993 but failed to qualify from Kvalifikacija za Millstreet, a special qualifying competition set up for seven former Eastern Bloc countries. The current Hungarian participant broadcaster in the contest is Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (MTVA).
Hungary's first contest in 1994 remains its most successful, with "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" performed by Friderika Bayer finishing in fourth place. The country's only other top five result is a fifth-place finish with "Running" by András Kállay-Saunders in 2014. Other top ten results are "Unsubstantial Blues" by Magdi Rúzsa finishing ninth in 2007, "Kedvesem" by ByeAlex tenth in 2013, and "Origo" by Joci Pápai eighth in 2017, giving Hungary a total of five top ten placements.

## History

Magyar Televízió (MTV) was a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1 January 1993, thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest since then. It participated in the contest representing Hungary since its 39th edition in 1994. Since 2011, after a restructuring that led to the incorporation of MTV into the current Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (MTVA), it is the latter who has participated representing Hungary. Before becoming a member of the EBU, earlier contests had often been broadcast on MTV.
Hungary's first entry in the Eurovision Song Contest would have been "Árva reggel", performed by Andrea Szulák, in 1993, but a qualification round was held for former Eastern Bloc countries, and the song did not manage to qualify to the final. The first official Hungarian participation was with "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?", performed by Friderika Bayer, in 1994. Hungary received the maximum score of 12 points from the first three countries to vote. However, as the competition progressed, it attracted fewer votes and ultimately finished in fourth place.
The 1995 entry was not as successful, garnering only 3 points, narrowly beating last-place Germany. In 1996 Hungary again failed to qualify when "Fortuna", performed by Gjon Delhusa did not qualify from the pre-qualification round.
Hungary withdrew after the 1998 contest. It had planned to return in 2004, but ultimately did not take part in the contest. They eventually returned in 2005, where they finished in 12th place in the final with "Forogj, világ!", performed by NOX. However, Hungary withdrew again in 2006, returning in 2007 with "Unsubstantial Blues", the first Hungarian entry in English, performed by Magdi Rúzsa, the winner of the 3rd season of the Hungarian talent show Megasztár. The song came 9th in Helsinki, receiving 128 points in the final.
After coming last in the semi-final in the 2008 contest, MTV confirmed Hungary's participation at the 2009 contest in Moscow. After its original choice was revealed to have been released before 1 October 2008, breaking contest rules, it was decided that "Dance with Me", performed by Zoltán Ádok, would be Hungary's entry, after MTV's second choice to represent Hungary declined. The song placed 15th in the second semi-final, failing to qualify for the grand final for the second time since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004.
In October 2009, MTV confirmed that it would not participate in the 2010 contest due to financial limitations in the company which would prevent it from sending an entry. Duna Televízió broadcast the event live and applied for EBU membership to send a representative to Düsseldorf in 2011. However, during the EBU's 65th conference, Duna's bid to become an active member was rejected. In December 2010, it was confirmed that MTVA had agreed to return to the 2011 edition. MTVA internally selected the song "What About My Dreams?", performed by Kati Wolf. The song placed 7th in the first semi-final with 72 points and was the first entry representing Hungary to qualify for the final since 2007. In the final, the song placed 22nd with 53 points.
In 2012, MTVA organised a national final, A Dal, to select the Hungarian entry for the contest in Baku. The song "Sound of Our Hearts", performed by Compact Disco, was selected. The song placed 10th in the first semi-final with 52 points, and 24th in the final with 19 points. A Dal had been used as the Hungarian selection process every year since.
In 2013, Hungary reached the top 10, when the song "Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)", performed by ByeAlex, placed 10th with 84 points. Hungary reached the top 5 in 2014, when the song "Running", performed by András Kállay-Saunders, placed 5th with 143 points, achieving the best result Hungary has had since their first participation in 1994.
Hungary made it to the top ten once again in 2017, when the song "Origo", performed by Joci Pápai, placed 8th with 200 points, achieving their best result in three years. Pápai represented Hungary again in 2019 with the song "Az én apám", but failed to qualify for the final, marking Hungary's first non-qualification since 2009.
Hungary did not appear on the final list of participants for the later-cancelled 2020 contest; it has been absent from the contest since. MTVA stated that it would continue to organise A Dal to "support the valuable productions created by the talents of Hungarian pop music directly" instead of participating in the contest. The withdrawal came during a rise of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment among the leadership of Hungary and MTVA; while no official reason for the withdrawal was given by the broadcaster, an inside source speaking with the website Index.hu speculated that the contest was considered "too gay" for MTVA to participate.

## Participation overview

| Year | Artist | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
| 1993 | Andrea Szulák | "Árva reggel" | Hungarian | Failed to qualify X | Failed to qualify X | 6 | 44 |
| 1994 | Friderika | "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" | Hungarian | 4 | 122 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 1995 | Csaba Szigeti | "Új név egy régi ház falán" | Hungarian | 22 | 3 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 1996 | Gjon Delhusa | "Fortuna" | Hungarian | Failed to qualify X | Failed to qualify X | 23 | 26 |
| 1997 | V.I.P. | "Miért kell, hogy elmenj?" | Hungarian | 12 | 39 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 1998 | Charlie | "A holnap már nem lesz szomorú" | Hungarian | 23 | 4 | No semi-finals | No semi-finals |
| 2005 | Nox | "Forogj, világ!" | Hungarian | 12 | 97 | 5 | 167 |
| 2007 | Magdi Rúzsa | "Unsubstantial Blues" | English | 9 | 128 | 2 | 224 |
| 2008 | Csézy | "Candlelight" | English, Hungarian | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 19 ◁ | 6 |
| 2009 | Zoli Ádok | "Dance with Me" | English | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 15 | 16 |
| 2011 | Kati Wolf | "What About My Dreams?" | English, Hungarian | 22 | 53 | 7 | 72 |
| 2012 | Compact Disco | "Sound of Our Hearts" | English | 24 | 19 | 10 | 52 |
| 2013 | ByeAlex | "Kedvesem" (Zoohacker Remix) | Hungarian | 10 | 84 | 8 | 66 |
| 2014 | András Kállay-Saunders | "Running" | English | 5 | 143 | 3 | 127 |
| 2015 | Boggie | "Wars for Nothing" | English | 20 | 19 | 8 | 67 |
| 2016 | Freddie | "Pioneer" | English | 19 | 108 | 4 | 197 |
| 2017 | Joci Pápai | "Origo" | Hungarian | 8 | 200 | 2 | 231 |
| 2018 | AWS | "Viszlát nyár" | Hungarian | 21 | 93 | 10 | 111 |
| 2019 | Joci Pápai | "Az én apám" | Hungarian | Failed to qualify | Failed to qualify | 12 | 97 |

## Awards
### Marcel Bezençon Awards

| Year | Category | Song | Composer(s) lyrics (l) / music (m) | Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Ref. |
| 2007 | Composer Award | "Unsubstantial Blues" | Magdi Rúzsa (m) and Imre Mózsik (l) | Magdi Rúzsa | 9 | 128 | Helsinki | |

### Winner by OGAE members

| Year | Song | Performer | Place | Points | Host city | Ref. |
| 2011 | "What About My Dreams?" | Kati Wolf | 22 | 53 | Düsseldorf | |

### Barbara Dex Award

| Year | Performer | Host city | Ref. |
| 2009 | Zoli Ádok | Moscow | |

## Related involvement
### Conductors

Their first entry was conducted by Péter Wolf

### Heads of delegation

Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.
| Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
| 2008–2016 | Szilvia Püspök | |
| 2017–2019 | Lőrinc Bubnó | |

### Commentators and spokespersons

| Year | Channel | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson |
| 1965 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1966 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1967 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1968 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1969 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1970 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1971 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1972 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1973 | MTV | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1974 | MTV1 | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1975 | MTV1 | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1976 | Petőfi Rádió [hu] | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1977 | MTV2 | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1978 | MTV2 | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1979–1980 | No broadcast | No broadcast | Did not participate |
| 1981 | MTV2 | András Sugár [hu] | Did not participate |
| 1982 | MTV1 | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1983–1985 | No broadcast | No broadcast | Did not participate |
| 1986 | MTV1 | Unknown | Did not participate |
| 1987 | MTV2 | István Vágó | Did not participate |
| 1988 | MTV2 | István Vágó | Did not participate |
| 1989 | MTV2 | István Vágó | Did not participate |
| 1990 | No broadcast | No broadcast | Did not participate |
| 1991 | MTV1 | István Vágó | Did not participate |
| 1992 | MTV1 | István Vágó | Did not participate |
| 1993 | MTV1 | István Vágó | Did not participate |
| 1994 | MTV2 | István Vágó | Iván Bradányi [hu] |
| 1995 | MTV2 | István Vágó | Katalin Bogyay |
| 1996 | MTV2 | István Vágó | Did not participate |
| 1997 | MTV1 | István Vágó | Györgyi Albert |
| 1998 | MTV1 | Gábor Gundel Takács [hu] | Barna Héder [hu] |
| 1999–2004 | No broadcast | No broadcast | Did not participate |
| 2005 | m1 | Zsuzsa Demcsák [hr], András Fáber and Dávid Szántó | Zsuzsa Demcsák |
| 2006 | No broadcast | No broadcast | Did not participate |
| 2007 | m1 | Gábor Gundel Takács | Éva Novodomszky |
| 2008 | m1 (SF2, Final) | Gábor Gundel Takács | Éva Novodomszky |
| 2009 | m1 | Gábor Gundel Takács | Éva Novodomszky |
| 2010 | Duna TV | Zsolt Jeszenszky | Did not participate |
| 2011 | m1 | Gábor Gundel Takács | Éva Novodomszky |
| 2012 | m1 | Gábor Gundel Takács | Éva Novodomszky |
| 2013 | m1 | Gábor Gundel Takács | Éva Novodomszky |
| 2014 | m1 | Gábor Gundel Takács | Éva Novodomszky |
| 2015 | Duna | Gábor Gundel Takács | Csilla Tatár |
| 2016 | Duna | Gábor Gundel Takács | Csilla Tatár |
| 2017 | Duna | Krisztina Rátonyi and Freddie | Csilla Tatár |
| 2018 | Duna | Krisztina Rátonyi and Freddie | Bence Forró |
| 2019 | Duna | Krisztina Rátonyi and Freddie | Bence Forró |
| 2020–2024 | No broadcast | No broadcast | Did not participate |

## Photo gallery

* Magdi Rúzsa in Helsinki (2007)
* Csézy in Belgrade (2008)
* Kati Wolf in Düsseldorf (2011)
* ByeAlex in Malmö (2013)
* András Kállay-Saunders in Copenhagen (2014)
* Boggie in Vienna (2015)
* Freddie in Stockholm (2016)
* Joci Pápai in Kyiv (2017)
* AWS in Lisbon (2018)
* Joci Pápai in Tel Aviv (2019)