Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013
Hungary participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. The Hungarian entry was selected through a national selection format titled again "A Dal", consisting of three heats, two semi-finals and a final, organised by the Hungarian broadcaster MTVA. ByeAlex represented Hungary with the song "Kedvesem", which qualified from the second semi-final of the competition and finished in 10th place in the final, scoring 84 points.
Before Eurovision
''A Dal 2013''
On 24 October 2012, MTVA announced the rules and regulations for their selection procedure, A Dal, and opened the submission period for artists and composers to send in their entries. The deadline was set to expire on 20 December; however, MTVA granted an extension until 31 December.On 4 January 2013, MTVA announced that the jury for the competition would comprise:
- Csaba Walkó - Member of Compact Disco who represented Hungary in Baku in 2012 with "Sound Of Our Hearts"
- Philip Rákay - Programme director
- Jenő Csiszár - Radio anchor
- Viktor Rakonczai - Composer and member of V.I.P. who represented Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997
- Magdi Rúzsa - Singer who represented Hungary in 2007 in Helsinki with "Unsubstantial Blues"
On 2, 9 and 16 February 2013, three heats took place where the jury and public selected 18 songs in total to proceed to the semifinals. The semi-finals were held on A Dal-hétvége on 23 February and 24 February, where the jury selected their top two in each show and the public selected an additional two songs from the remaining options to qualify to the final. Eight songs competed in the final on 2 March 2013.
The three heats, two semifinals and final were hosted by Gábor Gundel-Takács and Éva Novodomszky, with Márton Buda conducting backstage interviews.
Competing entries
The songs "Ha virág lennék" and "Anyáddal" were withdrawn from the competition on 11 January 2013 as the songs were in breach of the contest rules, which state that songs cannot be presented before 1 September 2012. The songs "Hullócsillag" performed by Mónika Hoffman and "Ne engedj el" performed by Odett were named as replacements. On 14 January 2013, the song "Katatón dal" was also in breach of the same rule and was replaced by "Élj pont úgy" performed by Laura Cserpes.Shows
Heat 1
The first heat of A Dal took place on 2 February 2013. The jury panel rated each song from 1-10 with the top three highest scoring songs qualifying as the jury's choice. Ildikó Keresztes, Gergő Rácz and Szilvia Agárdi and Pál Dénes were the jury qualifiers, which left the remaining seven songs facing a public televote. Gergő Baricz, Tibor Gyurcsik and Tamás Palcsó were the televoting qualifiers.| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury total | Result | |||||
| 1 | Zoltán Fehér | "Nincs baj" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 37 | Eliminated |
| 2 | Mrs. Columbo | "Játszd újra!" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 38 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Gergő Baricz | "Húz" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 43 | Advanced |
| 4 | Bogi | "Tükörkép" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 37 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Tamás Palcsó | "Ezt látnod kell" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 | Advanced |
| 6 | Background | "Neonzöld" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 | Eliminated |
| 7 | Tibor Gyurcsík | "Örök harc" | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 41 | Advanced |
| 8 | Ildikó Keresztes | "Nem akarok többé játszani" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 47 | Advanced |
| 9 | Gergő Rácz | "Csak állj mellém" | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 45 | Advanced |
| 10 | Szilvia Agárdi and Dénes Pál | "Szíveddel láss" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 48 | Advanced |
Heat 2
The second heat of A Dal took place on 9 February 2013. The jury panel rated each song from 1-10 with the top three highest scoring songs qualifying as the jury's choice. Gáspár Laci and Plastikhead and András Kállay Saunders were the jury qualifiers, while an additional tie-break vote after a three-way tie resulted in Odett being the third jury qualifier. Of the seven remaining song facing the public televote, Tamás Vastag, Veca Janicsák and ByeAlex were the televoting qualifiers.| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury total | Result | |||||
| 1 | Plastikhead feat. Laci Gáspár | "A szeretet él" | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 44 | Advanced |
| 2 | Odett | "Ne engedj el" | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 43 | Advanced |
| 3 | Ádám Szabó | "Hadd legyen más" | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 34 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Gabi Völgyesi | "Csak te légy" | 8 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 42 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Gyula Éliás | "Mindhalálig várni rád" | 9 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 42 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Rami | "Puzzle" | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 27 | Eliminated |
| 7 | Tamás Vastag | "Holnaptól" | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 43 | Advanced |
| 8 | ByeAlex | "Kedvesem" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 43 | Advanced |
| 9 | Veca Janicsák | "Új generáció" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 42 | Advanced |
| 10 | András Kállay-Saunders | "My Baby" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 48 | Advanced |
Heat 3
The third heat of A Dal took place on 16 February 2013. The jury panel rated each song from 1-10 with the top three highest scoring songs qualifying as the jury's choice. Lilla Polyák, Laura Cserpes and Gigi Radics were the jury qualifiers, which left the remaining seven songs facing a public televote. Fatima Mohamed, Péter Puskás and United were the televoting qualifiers.| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury total | Result | |||||
| 1 | Lilla Polyák | "Valami más" | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 43 | Advanced |
| 2 | Krisztián Burai | "Született szívtörő" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 36 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Mónika Hoffmann | "Hullócsillag" | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 36 | Eliminated |
| 4 | United | "Tegnap még más voltál" | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 41 | Advanced |
| 5 | Laura Cserpes | "Élj pont úgy" | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 45 | Advanced |
| 6 | Flash Travel | "Soha ne add fel" | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 42 | Eliminated |
| 7 | Fatima Mohamed | "Nem baj" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 37 | Advanced |
| 8 | Bence Brasch | "Túl egyszerű" | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 37 | Eliminated |
| 9 | Gigi Radics | "Úgy fáj" | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 47 | Advanced |
| 10 | Péter Puskás | "Amíg a tűz ég" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 42 | Advanced |
Semi-final 1
The first semifinal of A Dal took place on 23 February 2013. Of the 18 qualifiers from the previous three heats, nine were drawn to compete in the first semifinal. The jury panel rated each song from 1-10 with the top two highest scoring songs qualifying as the jury's choice. András Kállay Saunders and Gergő Rácz were the jury qualifiers, which left the remaining seven songs facing a public televote. Laura Cserpes and Ildikó Keresztes were the televoting qualifiers.| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury total | Result | |||||
| 1 | Péter Puskás | "Amíg a tűz ég" | 7 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 34 | Eliminated |
| 2 | Laura Cserpes | "Élj pont úgy" | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 33 | Advanced |
| 3 | Plastikhead feat. Laci Gáspár | "A szeretet él" | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 38 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Ildikó Keresztes | "Nem akarok többé játszani" | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 39 | Advanced |
| 5 | Tibor Gyurcsík | "Örök harc" | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 35 | Eliminated |
| 6 | Odett | "Ne engedj el" | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 33 | Eliminated |
| 7 | András Kállay-Saunders | "My Baby" | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 45 | Advanced |
| 8 | Lilla Polyák | "Valami más" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 | Eliminated |
| 9 | Gergő Rácz | "Csak állj mellém" | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 43 | Advanced |
Semi-final 2
The second semifinal of A Dal took place on 24 February 2013. Of the 18 qualifiers from the previous three heats, nine were drawn to compete in the second semifinal. The jury panel rated each song from 1-10 with the top two highest scoring songs qualifying as the jury's choice. Tamás Vastag was the first jury qualifier and after a tie between Gigi Radics and United, the jury selected Gigi Radics as the second jury qualifier. The remaining seven songs faced a public televote resulting with ByeAlex and Szilvia Agárdi and Dénes Pál being selected as the televoting qualifiers.| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury total | Result | |||||
| 1 | United | "Tegnap még más voltál" | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 42 | Eliminated |
| 2 | Tamás Palcsó | "Ezt látnod kell" | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 32 | Eliminated |
| 3 | Fatima Mohamed | "Nem baj" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 34 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Gergő Baricz | "Húz" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 37 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Veca Janicsák | "Új generáció" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 36 | Eliminated |
| 6 | ByeAlex | "Kedvesem" | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 37 | Advanced |
| 7 | Szilvia Agárdi and Dénes Pál | "Szíveddel láss" | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 38 | Advanced |
| 8 | Gigi Radics | "Úgy fáj" | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 42 | Advanced |
| 9 | Tamás Vastag | "Holnaptól" | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 43 | Advanced |
Final
The final of A Dal took place on 2 March 2013. Four songs from each semifinal, eight songs in total, qualified to compete. In the first round, the jury selected the top four songs which proceeded to the second round of voting. Instead of assigning scores immediately after each performance, the jury announced their vote after all of the songs were performed. A different voting system for the jury was used, 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. Tamás Vastag, András Kállay-Saunders, Gigi Radics and ByeAlex advanced to the second round after their songs achieved the highest scores from the jury. A public SMS vote exclusively decided the result in the second round. ByeAlex and the song "Kedvesem" was the winner. Overall, more than 244,000 votes arrived in the public round.| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury total | Result | |||||
| 1 | Tamás Vastag | "Holnaptól" | 6 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 22 | 4 |
| 2 | Ildikó Keresztes | "Nem akarok többé játszani" | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | — |
| 3 | András Kállay-Saunders | "My Baby" | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 46 | 2 |
| 4 | Gigi Radics | "Úgy fáj" | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 44 | 3 |
| 5 | Gergő Rácz | "Csak állj mellém" | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 | Szilvia Agárdi and Dénes Pál | "Szíveddel láss" | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Laura Cserpes | "Élj pont úgy" | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | — |
| 8 | ByeAlex | "Kedvesem" | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 1 |
At Eurovision
Hungary was allocated to compete in the second semi-final on 16 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Hungary would perform 12th, following Armenia and preceding Norway. On stage, ByeAlex was joined by backing vocalist Helga Wéber and guitarist Dániel Kővágó.Hungary qualified from the second semi-final, placing 8th and scoring 66 points. At the second semi-final winners' press conference, Hungary was allocated to perform in the second half of the final. In the final, the producers of the show decided that Hungary would perform 17th, following Sweden and preceding Denmark. Hungary placed 10th in the final, scoring 84 points.
In Hungary, both the semi-finals and the final were broadcast on M1, with commentary provided by Gábor Gundel Takács.
The national jury that provided 50% of the Hungarian vote in the second semi-final and the final consisted of: Fecó Balázs, Erzsébet Jeney, Áron Kiss, Viktor Rakonczai, and Magdi Rúzsa. The Hungarian spokesperson in the grand final was Éva Novodomszky.
Points awarded to Hungary
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
Points awarded by Hungary
Semi-final 2
Points awarded in second semi-final:| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |
Final
Points awarded in the final:| 12 points | |
| 10 points | |
| 8 points | |
| 7 points | |
| 6 points | |
| 5 points | |
| 4 points | |
| 3 points | |
| 2 points | |
| 1 point |