MTVA held a press conference yesterday afternoon, where the 30 acts taking part in A Dal 2016 were presented. We decided to bring you a closer look into who all of these artists are. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

1. Andre Vasary – Andre is a 33 year old singer, a soprano. He has been on the Hungarian music scene for nine years now, and has released eight albums – three of which went Gold, and one Platinum. His latest album reached number two in the album charts. During this year, he became a lead soloist in the Red Army Choir. Check out Andre’s cover of Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life”.
2. Anna Patai – The Hungarian scene got to know Anna in the fifth edition of Megasztar (Pop Idol), where she finished in 8th place. Nevertheless, Eric Gast (the producer of Britney Spears) saw her, and gave her the original Platinum disc of Britney’s “Oops! I Did It Again”. After that, she started getting engagements in various theater plays, and many composers wrote songs for her. In A Dal 2016, she will perform the song “Colors”, a song that has almost 65,000 views in three weeks.
3. B The First – The lead vocalist of B The First is Barna Pely, and this will be his third entry in A Dal. In 2012 he entered in a trio with Eszter and Istvan Pal, and in 2013 as the lead vocalist of United – and didn’t manage to reach the final in any of the two occasions. The other two members of the band are Attila Peterfi (bass) and Akos Kottler (drums). Their latest hit is “Kovetem a szivem” (Eng. I Follow My Heart).
4. Balint Gajer – Balint is no stranger to A Dal, as he took part in 2014 and 2015. In 2015 his swing entry “That’s How It Goes” made it to the Final, and remains one of the bigger hits from this edition. He is often called The King of Swing in Hungary, but apart from swing, his music range also includes latin, pop, jazz, boogie,…
5. Benji – After being a wildcard in the last edition of X Faktor in Hungary, Le Quang Huy (a.k.a. Benji) managed to win the hearts of the spectators, and finish in third place. His first song “Atmosphere” was released a couple of months ago. Give it a listen here.
6. ByTheWay – This boy-band is the most successful boy band that ever took part in X Faktor in Hungary. After originally being eliminated in the fouth week, one of the favorites decided to withdraw which meant they would be back in the show, and in the end they finished as the runner-ups. At the Hungarian music awards, these guys were awarded the prize of the Newcomers of the year. One of their biggest hits is “Sose mulo nyar”.
7. C.E.T. – Alex Kabai (a.k.a. C.E.T.) was a member of the boy-band called Next. The audience got to know Alex in 2013 when he auditioned for X Faktor with Andras Kallay-Saunders’ A Dal entry “My Baby”, but failed to impress the judges. Check out his audition here.
8. Egy Masik Zenekar – This band was originally selected to take part in A Dal 2013 with “Kataton dal“, but unfortunately their song was released prior to the 1st of September and thus they got disqualified. In these two years, they had a change in their line-up, as they have a new lead singer – Lili Peterffy. Lili was one of the finalists of X Faktor in 2013, and was the best placed from the “Girls” category. Other band members are Istvan Cseh, Jeno Bartalos, Gyorgy Hellenpart, Andras Markovics, and Vivien Tiszai.
9. Fatima Mohamed – Fatima was a member of a very popular band Fekete Vonat from 1997, and their last album was released in 2004. After years of not being in the music scene, Fatima came back in 2012 as a participant in The Voice, and even though she was eliminated in the round of 24, it was her huge comeback. She took part in A Dal 2013 with “Nem baj“, a song which is often being played even nowadays. Other hits of hers are “Ragyog a szivem“, or “Amig fel nem kel a nap“.
10. Freddie – Alfred Fehervari Gabor, a.k.a. Freddie, was one of the four finalists of “Rising Star”, and his first song “Mary Joe” (written by Andras Kallay Saunders) has almost 2 million views on Youtube, and was in the top of the Hungarian music charts for more than 20 weeks.
11. Gergo Olah – The winner of the third season of X Faktor is back in A Dal once again. His last year’s entry “A tukor elott” unfortunately didn’t manage to reach the final. This year his entry “Gyoz a jo” was co-written by Begi Lotfi (a member of Compact Disco, who represented Hungary in Eurovision 2012) and Gergo himself.
12. Group’n’Swing – This 10 member band is Hungary’s number 1 swing band! Ever since the band was established in 2006, they are on tour! They received various awards, the most significant one being the Fonogram award for the Best Album. Their song from A Dal 2014, “Retikul“, is now the lead song of a very popular tv show.
13. Iv – After being a member of a few bands, Iv’s solo career started in 2013 when ByeAlex asked her to sing one of his songs together with him, to be included on his album. Her song “Fire” was one of the eight finalists of A Dal 2015, and she’s back again in 2016 A Dal with the same composer.
14. Jazmin Torok – Jazmin is a solo singer and a guitar player, who uses her music as a way of sound therapy. She composes her own songs, but she also enjoys doing covers of well-known songs. One of her latest covers is Jackson 5’s “Can You Feel It“.
15. Julia Horanyi (a.k.a. Youlï) – Julia’s music career started in an underground duo, but the Hungarian scene got to know her in the last season of X Faktor, where she managed to impress the mentors and the audience from her very first audition. She finished in second place in this competition, and her first hit “Electrical” got released shortly after. Her dream is to have an international career, and she is entering A Dal with “Come Along“.
16. Kallay Saunders Band – Andras Kallay Saunders represented Hungary in Eurovision 2014 with “Running” and achieved Hungary’s second best result in this contest – 5th place. This song was also awarded The Song Of The Year in Hungary. His very first album came early this year together with his band, and various songs from this album are very high in the charts for months now – “Victory“, “Juliet“, and “Young“. He is entering A Dal for the fourth time, this time with his band, and the song “Who We Are“.
17. Karmapolis & Bobe Szecsi – After they took part in Hungary’s Eurovision selection – Karmapolis with “Time Is Now“, and Bobe together with her sister Saci with “Our Time“, they decided to make a collaboration for this year’s edition. Karmapolis are an electro indie band established in 2010, while the audience got to know Bobe in The Voice, where she finished in the top 12.
18. Laci Gaspar – Laci became popular in the talent show Megasztar back in 2004. His very first album went Gold only a week after its release, and then Platinum as well. He has won almost all the music awards in Hungary, and he recently won the third season of the Hungarian version of “Your Face Sounds Familiar” (check out Laci as Olivia Newton John right here).Laci has already entered A Dal back in 2013 with “A szeretet el“, but didn’t reach the Final. In 2016 he is entering with “Love And Bass“.
19. Maszkura es a Tocsokraj – This band was established in 2007, and ever since then they are playing their music in different clubs and festivals. Their music goes between pop, soul, funk and hip-hop. They released six albums so far, three of which were nominees for The Album Of The Year. Their latest album was released in October 2013, from which the lead song “Lady Maga!” became the biggest hit. They are entering A Dal with “Kinek sirjam“, a song they wrote themselves.
20. Misztral – This band was established back in 1997, and since then they released 9 CDs, 1 CD for children, 1 DVD, and 2 MCs. Their music received the highest recognitions in the country, and their latest one is The Hungarian Arts Award. Their music consists of both Hungarian and foreign poems, together with folk song adaptations.
21. Mushu – Mushu is a newly formed band by one of the finalists of Rising Star – Izsak Palmer. He is joining forces with Antal Kert (guitar) and Ors Kozak (drummer) on the Mushu project. Izsak’s strong voice and being full of energy kept impressing both the viewers and the jurors of Rising Star. Check out Izsak’s cover of ABBA’s “Gimme Gimme Gimme” here.
22. Nika – Monika Veres (a.k.a. Nika) started singing when she was only four years old. Her first album was released in 1999, on which a well-known pop/rock singer Agnes Vanilla was also collaborating. Nika took part in various festivals in Hungary, Montenegro and Slovenia, and she took part in A Dal in 2012 with “This Love“, and was one of the finalists. Nika then took part in The Voice, where she was in the top 8. Now she’s back in A Dal with “Beautiful Love”.
23. Odett – Odett took part in the 2013 edition of A Dal with the song “Ne engedj el“. Her very first album received a prestigious Fonogram award. The song “Egy lepes” from her second album released last year was one of the most played songs in Hungary during summer. Her entry in this year’s A Dal was written by her father.
24. Oliver Berkes – Oliver is an actor, singer and a producer. He started his career as a musical singer and actor as a member of Musical World. He took part in The Voice, where he reached the semi finals. Currently, he is writing and co-producing various projects, and he is working on his album. Oliver has recently released his new EP, which included his hit single “Don’t Be Anxious“.
25. Parno Graszt – This Roma ensemble was formed back in 1987. Their very first album reached number 2 in the World Music Chart Europe, and then MTV and the BBC made a documentary about them. For their second album, Parno Graszt were voted as one of the best 10 artists of the year (2005) in Switzerland. After two more albums, the band is now entering A Dal with the song “Mar nem szedulok“, which is written by members of the band.
26. Passed – One of the biggest favorites in A Dal 2015, and the winners of our polls are back! Since March, David left Passed, and the band gained a new member – Aron Farkas. Since the Final in March, they haven’t stopped performing all over Hungary. Passed released an EP with four songs, from which their entry in A Dal “Mesmerize” remained the biggest hit. They are back in the competition this year with “Driftin'”.
27. Petra Veres-Kovacs – Petra is a 19 year old singer/songwriter. She started singing at the age of four, and her biggest music influence was Britney Spears. She started working with her producer Tamas Subecz four years ago, and he is also the composer of her A Dal entry “Singing Peace“. Petra already entered the International Songwriting Competition earlier this year.
28. Petrushka – Andras Petruska is a singer and composer, who plays the guitar since the age of 9. His first album was released last year, and the concept of this album is linked to the mood of the Metro line number 4 in Budapest, and the entire album is a postcard of Budapest. The biggest hit from this album is the song “Szent Gellert ter“. He also collaborated with many well-known Hungarian artists, one of which is Boggie – Hungary’s Eurovision entrant from this year.
29. Reni Tolvai – Reni was the winner of the fifth season of Megasztar, and she has been publishing a hit after a hit. Her music is generally R&B-pop, but she also incorporates electro pop, jazz and soul into her songs. Reni’s very first single “Hagylak menni” received many awards in Hungary and Romania. She took part in the very first A Dal with “Elek a szemeidben“. Her new entry “Fire” is a written by Reni herself, Todd Williams and Sean Darin.
30. Szilvia Agardi – Szilvia became known in the Hungarian music scene when she took part in The Voice, and competed in a duet with Denes Pal, who ended up winning the competition. Their duet in The Voice resulted in a new song that the two singers entered to the very first edition of A Dal – “Sziveddel lass“. Szilvia continued her career as a solo singer, and very recently she won an international music festival in Krakow, Poland. Her entry for the 2016 A Dal “It Is Love” was written by Viktor Rakonczai, who represented Hungary in Eurovision 1997 as a member of V.I.P., composed Csezy’s “Candlelight” in 2008, co-wrote Kati Wolf’s “What About My Dreams” in 2011, and was a jury member of the first two editions of A Dal.

 What do you think of all of these entrants? Any early favourites? Let us know!