Balint Gajer is taking part in A Dal for the third time in a row this year! After his first try in 2014 with “Elmaradt pillantok” which failed to qualify for the semis, and his last year’s massive hit “That’s How It Goes” which was in the final, Balint brings us now something completely different – “Speed Bump”!

We met up with Balint in Budapest, and spoke to him about his brand new song, his experience in A Dal, and his upcoming plans and concerts. Check out everything Balint told us in this interview right here (due to technical problems, this interview is going to be posted as text instead of a video):

Balint, first of all, how did you decide to enter A Dal once again?

I am constantly preparing new songs, and my goal is always to show the new music I’m currently recording. I applied for this year’s edition of A Dal with two songs – one was latino, and the this one that made it, which is more pop. And this is a different song to the ones I entered in the past.

How was your experience in last year’s A Dal?

My song qualified for the Grand Final last year, which was very surprising for me. It was a proper swing song and I didn’t think that a song like that would ever qualify for the Final. It qualified thanks to the audience, and I actually prefered it like that, because the audience proved me that Hungarians do love swing music. Of course, I was a bit worried what if I fail to achieve at least the same result as the year before, and to be honest – this worries me now as well. But now we are starting all over again, and we are focusing on achieving great success in the heat, then in the semi, and step by step always a level higher.

Can you tell us more about your song?

The song can be about a closer look into a relationship, life, work, so I will explain… The song is trying to point out that a person should not remain in a bad environment. If he/she thinks that the thing can be worked on, then definitely do so, but if not, then try and concentrate on the positive things. The song tells about one of the partners slowing down the other one in achieving his/her goals, and that is the “speed bump”. Speed bump is the partner who was slowing you down, either in a relationship, in your work or your surrounding, and you just need to change things around, work on them, and pass this speed bump. Fly, don’t cry.

How are your rehearsals going?

I rehearsed with my band only once so far. I’m working with professional musicians, and everyone’s got the chords, the music, so we don’t need that many rehearsals, especially because we won’t be playing the music live in the show. I am focusing more on the stage performance, and I am rehearsing with my dancers. Aniko Szabo is my choreographer, and apart from working all together with the dancers, I will also have solo rehearsals as well.

How is everything going to look like on stage?

I will be joined by four musicians who I usually play with in all my gigs, and two dancers on stage. I haven’t actually worked together with the two of them before, but they are very professional dancers. I have challenged myself, and this year I will be dancing together with my dancers and I will get much more involved in the performance than last year. The performance will start as if we are recording a video clip, as we want to show the audience a little bit how do things usually look back-stage. There will also be someone joining us on stage playing the role of a “Director of the video clip”. The guy who is going to be in this role, his wife is going to have their baby any of these days, so I might actually need to find someone very last minute. Something will be happening in all of those three minutes. I think nowadays it’s not good enough to just stand out on stage in a TV show and sing your song, but you need to think and make a whole story on stage.

What will be your next step after A Dal?

My next step after A Dal is going to be a concert on Valentine’s Day. I will perform a concert with my eight-member band, six dancers, and we will make a nice little show. This is going to be my first big concert after the one in 2014 where I presented my latest CD. I will also want to tour around the country, and thank God I have quite a lot of invitations as well. I am also planning to release a new album as well in autumn, and a concert where I would present all of these songs. But I am currently only focusing on putting everything together perfectly in A Dal. We finished the most difficult parts – the planning. Now we are thinking about our outfits, and they will be still very elegant, but there will be no tie and the whole thing will look a little bit more relaxed and more fun.

And finally, what would representing Hungary in Eurovision mean to you?

I would like to show that you can be other things as well, and not just sad here in Hungary, and that happy people live here as well. I always try to show the sunny side of the street to the audience, and I can see that lately the big ballads are not that well received anymore in Eurovision, as there is so much struggle in every part of the world, so we need to show a more happy side, unity, positive energy.

Give a listen to Balint Gajer’s entry in A Dal this year – “Speed Bump”, right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re6rBVMgA5Y

If Balint is one of your favourites in the third heat of A Dal, make sure you cast your vote for him and for five other acts in our poll right here: