A Dal

Television broadcast
Original title	A Dal
Country of production	Hungary
original language	Hungarian
Year (s)	since 2012
Production company
length	80 to 150 minutes
Broadcasting cycle	2012–
genre	music
Moderation	various
First broadcast	2012 on Duna World (2012–), M1 (2012–2015), Duna (2016–)

A Dal ( Hungarian meaning: “the song” or “the song”) is a Hungarian music show hosted by Duna Média . Since 2012 it has served as the Hungarian preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest , before it became known at the end of October 2019 that the program would now be used for the Hungarian music scene and would no longer serve as a preliminary decision.

history

After Hungary returned to the Song Contest in 2011 after a one-year break, representatives and interpreters were selected internally. From 2012 a national preliminary decision should take place again, so that the program A Dal was developed accordingly for the competition. The show has served as a preliminary decision since 2012, and from 2020 it will be a music show in itself. Over the years, three different formats have emerged for the program.

format

The A Dal Studio (here 2018)

So far, A Dal has taken place in three different formats. A Dal always took place in a television studio, but since 2014 A Dal has been using the same studio and the same stage set-up every year.

2012

In 2012 the first edition of A Dal took place with only 20 participants. There were two semi-finals with ten participants each, five of which each qualified for the final. Four of them were determined by a four-person jury of experts, while the fifth qualifier was determined by televoting. In the final, ten performers competed against each other, with two voting rounds. In the first round, the televoting determined four participants for a superfinal . In the superfinal , the jury alone chose the winner.

2013 and 2014

The format was then expanded in 2013. So there were now 30 participants, ten of which were divided into three preliminary rounds ( heats ) with two voting rounds . There a four-person jury of experts awarded 0 to 10 points per appearance. The three participants with the highest jury scores qualified for the semi-finals. Three more semi-finalists were determined in a second voting round, where the remaining seven participants took part in the televoting. This then determines the three other semi-finalists. A total of 18 participants reached the semifinals, so that nine participants per semifinals appeared. There the same system took hold from the preliminary rounds. The two performers with the highest number of jury points qualified for the final, the remaining seven participants faced the televoting in a second voting round. The televoting then determined two further finalists. So then eight participants competed against each other in the final. In contrast to the previous year, the expert jury selected the four finalists for the superfinal in the first round . There the televoting from four interpreters decided the winner.

Since 2015

The system was then slightly modified in 2015. There are still three preliminary rounds, two semi-finals and a final. Ten entries will therefore continue to be presented in each preliminary round. From now on, a mix of jury and televoting will decide on four semi-finalists in a first voting round. The fifth semi-finalist will be determined in a second voting round from the remaining six participants exclusively by televoting. In the semi-finals, nine participants will again compete against each other. The new system also applies here. In a first round of voting, the jury and audience choose three finalists, the fourth finalist is determined by televoting in a second round. In the final, however, the system remained the same as in 2013 and 2014. So eight participants continue to compete against each other, with only the jury choosing four performers for the superfinal . In the superfinal , the televoting will then decide the winner.

Success at the Eurovision Song Contest

The broadcast as a preliminary decision was to be regarded as successful. With her, Hungary reached the final without interruption from 2012 to 2018 and was eliminated with her only once (2019). In addition, Hungary never finished last with A Dal . In addition, there are three placements among the top ten, with 5th place even being the second-best result in Hungary's ESC history in 2014.

jury

The A Dal jury 2019

A Dal has an expert jury every year . Except in 2013, when the jury consisted of five people, four jurors are always part of it. The following jurors sat on the jury over the years:

year	Jurors
2012	Philip Rákay	Jenő Csiszár	Viktor Rakonczai	Kati Wolf
2013				Magdi Ruzsa	Csaba Walkó
2014			Kati Kovács
2015			Pierrot
2016	Miklós Both	Károly Frenreisz		Zséda
2017			Caramel
2018			Judit Schell	Mihály Mező
2019		Feró Nagy	Lilla Vincze

Moderation

Bogi Dallos and Freddie, presenters of A Dal 2019

A total of nine different moderators have already moderated an A Dal program . In 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 a duo each led through the programs. In 2013 and 2017 a trio moderated each, while in 2014 there were four moderators.

year	Moderators
2012	Gabor Gundel Weaver	Zsóka Kapócs
2013		Martin Budapest	Éva Novodomszky
2014		Levente Harsanyi		Kristina Rátonyi
2015	Csilla tartare
2016
2017			Kristina Rátonyi
2018	Freddie	Kristina Rátonyi
2019		Bogi Dallos

See also

• Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eesti Laul
• Melodifestivalen
• O melody Pentru Europe
• Melodi Grand Prix
• Söngvakeppnín
• Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu

Web links

• A Dal website (Hungarian)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Samuel Deakin: Hungary: A Dal Dropped As Eurovision Selection Process, Withdrawal Possible? In: eurovoix.com. October 25, 2019, accessed October 26, 2019 .