Hungary

=__Hungary's 2009 Eurovision Profile__ =

//** __Artist Biography:__ ** //  [|Zoli Adok], born in March 22nd, 1976 in one of the largest cities in Hungary, is in one word: an entertainer. At only 33 years old, he has already mastered many skills including dancing, singing, and acting. Generally, Zoli Adok tends to lean towards a more pop style of music throughout his career. He studied dance in [|Pécs], a city chosen to be the European Capital of Culture in 2010, and began a career with Le Dance Contemporary Dance Music Company in the year 2000. Afterward, he went on to dance and become a musical actor, taking part in many famous musicals such as  // Fame //, // Cats // , and // Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat //. He also has a huge assortment of other musicals under his belt, including // Mamma Mia //, // Chicago // , and // Cabaret //. Overall, he has participated in "500 performances from 2004 to 2007 [and] currently stars at Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s (who's also the author of the UK song this year!) // Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat // as Levi, at the Madách Theatre" (  [|Hungary 2009]   ). His first and only album "Tánclépés" (Dance With Me) was released in November of 2008. In June 2009, he will take on the lead role in Susan Stroman's musical "Contact" which will aso be performed at the Madách Theatre. Before that, he acted in his first movie, "Dream.net," and this "will be shown at Hungarian cinemas this spring and will also feature two of his songs on the soundtrack album" ( [|Hungary 2009]  ). His selection as representative of hungary will definitely further Zoli's career as well as spread the broadcasting of his song, //Dance with Me//.

//__Song Information:__//
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The song chosen to represent Hungary in the 2009 Eurovision contest is //Dance With Me// by Zoli Ádok. It is an upbeat "dance hit" that is very poppy and could easily be found playing in clubs across Europe. The aim is to win over Eurovision audiences with its fast beat and party-like atmosphere. According to the [|Euorvision] website the song was produced by the famous Swede Thomas Törnholm. It will be performed in its English version with the [|lyrics] written by the "famed" Kasai. The song encourages listeners to "Don't be shy tonight" and "Let the rhythm show you". It is about a [|suave man] trying to convince an attractive female to "Dance with me" as he has all the moves to make her feel just right in a [|"Disco Fantasy"]. The lyrics were written more to showcase Zoli's singing ability and encourage audience participation then provide a story, meaning or depth. Dance is a big element of the song and performance, as illustrated in the [|challenging choreography] both in the music video and the planned performance. Like most dance pop hits, the song starts out with synths sounds slowly building in both intensity and pitch. There are low synth tones accompanied by occasional melodic higher tones. The drums and bass then kick in providing a beat that can only make ones heart beat accelerate enough to encourage them to get up and dance. The bass is very funky and sounds like it is being played in a "slap" technique while the drums sound produced from a drum machine with a steady snare and bass drum. Zoli's singing is featured and continues throughout the song, spare a few strategically timed dance breaks to showcase his moves. It contains male backup singers singing in falsetto "ooo's ". It has a very poppy sound that listeners would attribute to "Europop" or American dance music from the late 80's to early 90's. The listener could very well imagine an Artist like Maddona performing //Dance With Me// to a [|head bopping Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan] at the "Roxbury". Zoli Ádok's styled hair, tank-top ready physique, smooth voice, and dancing skills will surely win over European audiences and make women swoon during his performance of //Dance With Me// as he represents Hungary.

//__** Narrative of Entry: **__// The 2009 Eurovison contest will be the seventh time in which Hungary has competed. Hungary's debut in Eurovision was more than respectable and looked very promising. Since then, however, Hungary has struggled to re-gain a credible rank in Eurovision. In 1995, Hungary barely beat the last place country Germany, and they have not done much better since. Hungary hopes that the 2009 contest will be much different then the previous years, despite a rocky start. On February 3rd 2009, Hungary chose a song by Mark Zentai, entitled “If You Wanna Party”, to represent them. Shortly after, however, it was revealed that the song was actually released a few years earlier under a different title and is now the theme song to a Swedish television show. When this information was brought to light, Zentai withdrew his song from the competition. The next day, Katya Tompos's song "Maganyos Csonak" was chosen to replace Zentai's song. The Alliance of Hungarian Popular Music Composers and Songwriters, however, did not think that the jury had enough time to accurately pick the best song to represent Hungary and there were debates and protests about the original nationality of the artist. Following these protests, Tompos quit the competition claiming that she needed to focus on her acting career and her upcoming play, and that this would not allow enough time to proficiently prepare for Eurovision. After a few more days of deliberation the third and final song was picked to represent Hungary; Zoli Adok’s song “Dance With Me." This upbeat, dance song seems to accurately represent the club and party scene throughout Europe. It is fun and cheerful so it seems like it could be a solid contender in the competition. Since Hungary is not the host, or one of the main four countries in Eurovision, it has to go through all of the qualifying rounds to make it to the final round. Unfortunately Hungary placed 11th in the second qualifying round, which failed to qualify them for the final.

//__** Hungary's EUROVISION history: **__// Hungary's first appearance in the Eurovision contest happened in 1994. [|Friderika Bayer] placed fourth overall with her song "[|Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?]" ("To whom can I tell my sins?"). Hungary had only recently regained its independence as a sovereign nation from the Soviet Union, and was therefore subjected to a pre-qualification round imposed on all former members of the Eastern block. They failed to qualify in 1993. In 1995 Hungary finished second to last in front of Germany with a poorly performed song by [|Csaba Szigeti]; only 3 points were awarded to "[|Új név a régi ház falán]". In 1996 they were once again eliminated at the pre-qualification level. The 1997 performance by the band V.I.P placed 12th overall. After 1998 when the singer Charlie placed 23th with his song "A holnap mar nem lesz szomoru", hungary decided not to partake in the event untill 2005. That year they came in 12th place again with [|NOX]. Hungary's next best ranking after that of 1994 happened in 2007 when the artist Magdi Ruzsa, winner of a Hungarian talent show, came in 9th place with her song "[|Unsubstantial Blues]". This was the first time Hungary submited a song not sung in hungarian. It is interesting to note that since Hungary only began partaking in the event in the 90's, it was never subjected to the language restrictions implemented untill 1973. Hungarian was therefore the language of prediliction, and in that way, the competetion served as a way to assert hungarian sovereignty. As a former Democratic Republic, asserting the independence, originality, and spirit of the newly-found nation was obviously important. As time went by, the importance of national affirmation gave way to the need to have an impact on the international level. Hungary has submitted songs in english for the last three years. These followed a classic 'pop pattern', and in that way, transcended any national or cultural boundaries, blending in with what one might consider 'world pop'. One might lament the lose of Hungary's originality, but the standarization of music seem to be the general trend of the Eurovison.