Hungary made a very successful Eurovision debut
in Dublin in 1994, finishing 4th. However after a series of
disappointing results, they disappeared after being relegated in
1998. Returning in 2005 in Kyiv in 2005, they just missing making
the Top 10 and opted out of the 2006 contest in Athens. Now Hungary
has decided to return to the Eurovision Song Contest and for the
first time, their song will be in English.
Hungarian broadcaster MTV decided to have a
rather unusual selection process to choose its entrant for 2007
offering a ticket to Helsinki to whoever won the "Best New
Act" category at the annual Hungarian music awards. The act
the public chose as as the best newcomer and Hungary's Eurovision
performer was casting show winner Magdi Rúzsa
21 year old Magdi (Magdolna) Rúzsa comes from
Kishegyes, a Hungarian speaking area in the Serbian province of
Vojvodina, near the Hungarian border in Serbia and she was
discovered in 2006 through the casting show
"Megastar" Hungary's, Hungary version of "Pop
Idol". She grew up in her hometown and studied in Subotica as
a maternity nurse. After secondary school, her first wish was to
go to Medical University, but as she could not afford it she
decided to try her luck at being a singer.
During the course of the show Magdi built up a
huge fan club with her stunning voice being used on a variety of
songs from traditional Hungarian folk music, to AC/DC's
"Highway To Hell". She was a convincing winner of the
show and after her victory her album of cover versions of
songs performed in the finals went to triple platinum status and
has sold to date around 80 000 copies. Her first artist album
"Ördögi Angyal" (Devilish Angel) was released on her
birthday (28th November) and has sold almost 40,000 copies. One of
the tracks from that album was released as a single;
"Aprocska Blues", which Magdi had co-written, became a
huge local hit, and the clever video which features a story of
infidielity being told backwards was very popular on Hungarian
music channels.
By now Magdi had also become one of the most
popular live performers on the Hungarian music scene and during
late 2006 and early 2007 she played many live concerts,
enthralling the audience with her stunning voice and surprisingly
strong stage presence, considering her lack of previous live
experience.
On February 24th, Magdi Rúzsa won the Fonogram
award for Best Hungarian Newcomer 2006 and thus she qualified to
represent Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki.
However, it later came to light that her widely anticipated
victory came by a much smaller margin than people expected, with
just 18 votes separating her and runners up, the heavy-metal band
Wendigo. Magdi's win apparently caused a little controversy in
Hungary, as she was born and raised in Serbia, and there had been
some disquiet in the audience before the announcement of her
victory.
Magdi's problems didn't end there. With the final deadline for
submission of Eurovision entries just three weeks after her
selection, she did not have a song suitable for Eurovision ready,
and had no time to find and record one. Instead it was decided to
re-record her first single "Aprocska Blues" in
English.
With that in mind, American born songwriter and musician Imre
Mozsik was drafted in to write a suitable set of English
lyrics. Imre started musical studies at the age of 11 and h
participated in a number of amateur musical acts - from punk-rock
to big band - before permanently moving to Budapest in 1989.
Now a well known drummer Imre has played in some of the most
known live-acts in Hungary, the present one being a rock'n'roll
band named Supernem. In the past 15 years, Imre has written song
lyrics for some of Hungary's top performers, as well as for
singers/performers from other countries.
Magdi's preparation for Helsinki has been distinctly low key,
and her eather unusual voice and the very authentic blues style of
the song has divided Eurovision fans. However after a slow start
with the bookmakers, it is now among the songs considered likely
to qualify for the final, perhaps helped by the late draw in the
semi-final.
Magdi has apparently decided on very minimalist performance of
the song in Helsinki, with the possibility of her singing barefoot
and just having a stage prop of a bus-stop as the sole on-stage
distraction.
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HUNGARY @ EUROVISION