As we all know, Hungary withdrew from the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, however – A Dal is still going to be organized, and the winner of this competition is going to win various types of promotions on the national broadcaster’s channels, as well as a chance to perform in various festivals in Hungary in the coming months.
Various media as well as artists in Hungary are disappointed with this decision made by MTVA, and lots have spoken out about it. In an interview to the commercial channel RTL, Hungary’s Eurovision entrant from 2011, Kati Wolf, says that she has a lot to thank the Song Contest:
I gained lots of new fans thanks to Eurovision. Ever since competing in 2011 I have been travelling and performing all around Europe, and I think that we should go, perform, and not just sit at home.
Her song “What About My Dreams” became a huge fan favorite in Düsseldorf, and it gave her huge recognition not just in Hungary but abroad as well. She also stated that music should be created and showed to the world, and it shouldn’t matter if these would become massive hits or not. Kati added that her brand new song has a very Eurovision-vibe, and that she wanted to compete in A Dal again, to gain the right to represent Hungary for the second time in Eurovision. Even though this show will not be used for this purpose any longer, she still entered her song to the competition.
Örs Siklósi, the lead singer of AWS also commented on MTVA’s decision and their performance in Lisbon:
Every country tries to send an artist who is a little bit different and stands out, either with their music, their show and acting, or their style. This was what differentiated us from the others as well, and it was so amazing to see Eurovision fans who are normally not familiar with metal music jump together with us and grow to love our music. And I think we gained so much by being in Eurovision. I am very sad that Hungary won’t compete next year. Honestly, I wasn’t following the Contest before we actually took part, but this year I was following everything again, and I was rooting for Joci.
Hungary is going to miss the Contest for the first time since 2010. Since their comeback in 2011, Hungary reached the final every time except in 2019, and scored three top 10 results and one top 5 result – 10th place in 2013 with ByeAlex and his song “Kedvesem”, 8th place in 2017 with Joci Pápai and his “Origo”, and 5th place in 2014 with András Kállay-Saunders and “Running”.
