The national final season is in full swing. On 27th January, the second heat of A Dal is going to take place. We’ve taken a look at the entries and the procedure below, so here is the XTRA Preview & Review!
XTRA Preview: A Dal – Heat 2
Last week, we saw the first heat of A Dal. We already know four of the qualifiers for the semi-finals, so it’s time to head on to the second heat. Károly Freinreisz, Misi Mező, Judit Schell and Miklós Both will once again be our jury for Saturday’s show.
The jury will select the first five qualifiers for the semifinal, with the televoting picking a sixth one from the remaining acts. The app and website vote will be available internationally. So you can vote as well, if it doesn’t crash like it did last week. The show will start at 20:30 CET and we will be tweeting from @ESCXTRA. The broadcaster for the show is MTV Duna.
Ten acts will once again take part tomorrow. Looking at the favourites for tomorrow night, one would have to pick out yesyes, led by Ádám Szabó. It also seems Gergely Dánielfy, with his “Azt Mondtad”, might be able to get the jury on his side for tomorrow. On the other hand, no one saw last week’s winners, Zsolt Süle and Leander Kills, coming! You’ll be in for a treat!
XTRA Review: A Dal – Heat 2
AWS – “Viszlát Nyár”
Nick: That’s some proper rock from AWS. Never liked the growl much, but it fits with this song. Not a bad effort for A Dal, but not suited for Lisbon, I feel.
Score: 6.5/10
Miki: That’s one intense track. I think that this is something we rarely see in any national selection. I admire diversity and metal certainly deserves a spot in the line up. However, I just cannot see this winning A Dal or being a huge crowd pleaser at Eurovision.
Score: 6/10
Rodrigo: I suppose there’s some merit to shouting on key? Other than that, did it really only last for three minutes?
Score: 3/10
Tim: It goes straight in there when it starts, its like Never be the Same meets Alter Ego, I half like and half hate it, I just don’t see this at Eurovision at all.
Score: 6/10
SavituS – “Lusta Lány”
Nick: SativuS kick their entry off with rap, so I’m out. Sorry. Even the violin cannot save this.
Score: 1/10
Miki: Rap music and Eurovision generally don’t mix well together. But, how are we supposed to celebrate musical diversity if we don’t have this genre represented in the competition? I don’t mind this and I feel there is a place for it in the line-up.
Score: 6/10
Rodrigo: There is something rather intriguing about this one, although it gets somewhat monotonous going into the third minute.
Score: 5/10
Tim: I tried to give this a chance, why start with a rap? the song doesn’t set the mood for me unfortunately, I would not be surprised if it gets eliminated after the first round.
Score: 2/10
Peetproject – “Runaround”
Nick: The instruments Peet Project brings are always perfect. They make the song really lively. It keeps running around, so it’s a tad repetitive, but to fill an A Dal line up, sure!
Score: 7/10
Miki: I really do appreciate how they’ve managed to mix the 70’s vibe of the song with some glimpses of 80’s synthpop. It sounds fun, fresh and I do believe they’ll do an amazing job on stage.
Score: 8/10
Rodrigo: Hello vintage sounds! Hello superb instrumentalisation. Hello dance floor. Really like this, and I can easily see it appealing to a wider audience.
Score: 8.5/10
Tim: I’m going round and round thinking if I like this song and I very much like this song, and it keeps on going and going which I really like. I think it will do well.
Score: 7/10
Gergely Dánielfy – “Azt Mondtad”
Nick: The string instruments, the heartfelt message, the vulnerable voice, the stunning language. I don’t understand a word, yet believe everything he sings. Unbelievable.
Score: 9.5/10
Miki: This sounds beautiful and really works in Hungarian. I am truly looking forward to hearing this live and getting goosebumps during that amazing instrumental.
Score: 8.5/10
Rodrigo: When music transcends language and is capable of exciting the soul as this does, there is just one word that can describe it. Sublime. Three minutes of perfection.
Score: 10/10
Tim: It looks like we have a new Salvador on the rise, it sounds really great and he shows the emotion very well on this, I think this will go very far in the competition.
Score: 8/10
Gábor Heincz Biga – “Good Vibez”
Nick: I don’t believe him when he sings this. Nevertheless, this Ed Sheeran reject has a nice vibe musically. Easy to clap along. Lyrics are easy too (we are the fools that play by the rules…)
Score: 6.5/10
Miki: This feel very inauthentic. It’s a pleasant song, I could hear it on the radio but I’m not sure I would stay on the station for much longer than a minute.
Score: 3/10
Rodrigo: Definitely good vibes from this. Love the feel-good nature of the song. After the first listen it left me wanting more, wanting to hear it again. It’s memorable and even now I find myself humming to it.
Score: 8.5/10
Tim: Country with a Jason Mraz vibe/effect, it’s a nice song but this type of acoustic/country vibe doesn’t usually do well, I don’t see it going to Lisbon and maybe a minute of this is good enough.
Score: 4/10
Maya’n’Peti – “Nekem Te”
Nick: Looking at the picture, this looks like a sappy love duet. And it is! I mean, totally bland and inoffensive. These two could sing at the wedding. At 11pm. When you want to go home.
Score: 4/10
Miki: “Nekem Te” is a perfectly competent yet quietly confident little balad. I like the instrumental, I like their voices and the whole indie vibe, but I’m not sure that’s enough to leave an impression. I’m gonna remain hopeful and give it a 6.5.
Score: 6.5/10
Rodrigo: No ground is broken and it’s perhaps too formulaic, yet for me it kind of works. There is a very good complementary feature to their voices that gives the whole package a magic vibe.
Score: 7/10
Tim: A love duet, which is perfect for when people would want to go to sleep near midnight, basically for easy listening.
Score: 5/10
Nene Zenekar – “Mese A Királyról”
Nick: It’s quite cute, but after three minutes, I can’t remember what this one is about. Sweet, but bland…
Score: 4.5/10
Miki: This is just a pleasant slow Sunday morning type of a tune. I’m not sure how it will come across on stage. Would I switch the station if this came on the radio? I would NOT, but I would certainly not be listening to it on loop.
Score: 5/10
Rodrgio: Pleasant. Very forgettable. The sort of song you wouldn’t be bothered to have on the background but it’s hard to keep the attention after a minute or so.
Score: 4/10
Tim: It’s quite nice, but the song is not doing anything for me at all, it sounds angelic and heaven but that is about it.
Score: 4/10
Odett – “Aranyhal”
Nick: She’s not going to win A Dal. Sadly for Odett, because this song is well-constructed and well sung.
Score: 7/10
Miki: I love her voice, I think she does give this song a certain mainstream appeal, but the song itself I find kinda flat and repetitive.
Score: 6/10
Rodrigo: Like Sam Ross from escinsider once memorably said, this leaves me with blue balls. Like, I keep expecting for it to climax yet somehow the song comes and goes and it doesn’t reach a distinctive peak. Which can be a good thing with a different kind of song, but I was sort of expecting something else to happen which never came.
Score: 5/10
Tim: It is well written and great and it sounds very cohesive, but I don’t think it would go to Lisbon as this might not appeal to them. I hope it’s not the case.
Score: 7/10
Viki Singh – “Butterfly House”
Nick: Just imagine: MTVA had not selected this at first. It took a withdrawal to let this in. This banger of a song. I hope this does well, as it’s perhaps their easiest chance of making the left side of the scoreboard. I don’t think the jury will be on Viki’s side, though.
Score: 9.5/10
Miki: I really don’t like this. Both lyrically and musically this is just a bag of cliches I wouldn’t open.
Score: 2/10
Rodrigo: Party banger and has all the potential to be a Euroclub favourite. Nothing new here, but it works and it should lift up its heat.
Score: 7.5/10
Tim: What were Hungary thinking not selecting this initially. To the act that got disqualified: Thanks for this awesome song. It is very cohesive, I hope she puts on a great performance with killer vocals.
Score: 9/10
yesyes – “I Let You Run Away”
Nick: A favourite to win A Dal. It’s very current, it’s very ‘now’. It’s maybe a bit too ‘out there’ for me, as it goes everywhere at some points. A minus point for the rap.
Score: 7/10
Miki: This is a good effort. Songs like these really do give plenty of staging opportunities. It does feel like it drags after a while but It’s still a very competent entry. P.S I do appreciate the rap break on this one.
Score: 6/10
Rodrigo: This has a Freddie meets Nano kind of vibe for me. A solid effort, thoroughly enjoyable and powerful enough to make it a strong candidate.
Score: 9/10
Tim: This is very current, if they rehearse this very well and put on a great performance, I think these guys can pull it off. The song might have a rap but it doesn’t matter, most songs these days have rap collaboration so I think it will fit in very well.
Score: 8/10
Who do we want?
The XTRA Jury, this time consisting of Nick, Miki, Rodrigo and Tim has spoken. Below you can see the average each song achieved. Their favourite for tomorrow’s A Dal show is Gergely Dánielfy’s “Azt Mondtad”!
- Gergely Dánielfy – Azt Mondtad: 9.0
- Peet Project – Runaround: 7.6
- yesyes – I Let You Run Away: 7.5
- Viki Singh – Butterfly House: 7.0
- Odett – Aranyhal: 6.3
- Maya’n’Peti – Nekem Te: 5.6
- Gábor Heincz Biga – Good Vibez: 5.5
- AWS – Viszlát Nyár: 5.4
- Nene Zenekar – Mese A Királyról: 4.4
- SativuS – Lusta Lány: 3.5
Below, we’ve included a playlist for you. Which of these ten A Dal acts do you like best? Make sure to let us know who you like by commenting!
[ypt playlist_id=PLis9KWl8IXHYLioyqrejMUXkCLs6DioGB]
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