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 introduced by the MTVA, the organisers of the contest, with a different philosophy than the contest used previously. A Dal was introduced to produce a Hungarian contest, with Hungarian musical tastes being presented to a European audience. The contest is also an open one, with all information of the songs being revealed in the selection process.
Format The selected songs in the contest are shown to the Hungarian public through a number of special shows. It includes three heats (four in 2021), two semi-finals, and then a final.
Ten songs compete in each heat, with six moving on to the semi-finals, five from the jury and public together and one from the public exclusively selected in a second round. Nine songs compete in each semi-final. Four songs from each semi-final move on to the final, three advancing due to the jury and public and one due to the public exclusively. The final winner is selected through two rounds of voting: the first round selects the top four songs out of the eight finalists; the second round selects the winner from the four remaining songs. The first round uses only the jury and the second round uses only the public.
Between 2012 and 2019, A Dal was used as the selection process for the Hungarian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Hungary withdrew from Eurovision in 2020, but despite this, A Dal is still being held as a standalone music competition.
Winners The first winner of A Dal was the electronic band Compact Disco with the song "Sound of Our Hearts". At the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, the group qualified to the final (10th place in the semi-final with 52 points), and placing 24th in the final with 19 points.
The most successful A Dal winner in the Eurovision Song Contest is András Kállay-Saunders and his song "Running". At the , Kállay-Saunders qualified for the final (placed 3rd in the semi-final with 127 points) and later placed 5th with 143 points, earning Hungary's second best placement ever and only top five finish since 1994.
YearSongArtistSongwriter(s)In the Eurovision Song ContestFinal placeFinal pointsSemi placeSemi points2012"Sound of Our Hearts"Compact DiscoBehnam Lotfi, Csaba Walkó, Attila Sándor, Gábor Pál241910522013"Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)"ByeAlexAlex Márta, Zoltán Palásti Kovács "Zoohacker"10848662014"Running"András Kállay-SaundersAndrás Kállay-Saunders, Krisztián Szakos514331272015"Wars for Nothing"BoggieBoglárka Csemer, Áron Sebestyén, Sára Hélène Bori20198672016"Pioneer"FreddieZé Szabó / Borbála Csarnai1910841972017"Origo"Joci PápaiJózsef Pápai820022312018"Viszlát nyár"AWSDániel Kökényes, Bence Brucker, Áron Veress, Soma Schiszler, Örs Siklósi2193101112019"Az én apám"Joci PápaiJózsef Pápai, Ferenc Molnár Caramelcolspan=2 12972020"Mostantól"Gergő Rácz and Reni OrsovaiMáté Bella, Szabolcs Hujber, Gergő Ráczcolspan=4 rowspan=7 2021"Egyetlen szó"KaukázusJános Kardos-Horváth, Tamás Kontor2022"Nem adom el"Ibolya OláhSándor Födő, György Hegyi, Vivien Csakmag2023"Éjféli járat"TitánElőd Szabó2024"Legényes"Evelin LászlóEvelin Gréta László2025"Szél úgy beszél..."Gypo Circus and Jennifer SzirotaKosta Velcsev Dejanov, Gellért Nagy, Zsolt Préda-Kovács, Sándor Kecskeméti, Dzsenifer Szirota, Zoltán Muhel, Andrea Delia Miron, Ádám Gergő Drahota2026"Veled álmodtam"Re Va Dame Milán Hodován, Rebeka Valéria Balogh
See also Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest
External links