Hungary was represented by Csézy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song „Candlelight“ . Eurovíziós Dalverseny 2008: Magyarországi döntő was the Hungarian national selection which selected the Hungarian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. The show took place on 8 February 2008 at Pólus Center’s Fortuna Stúdió in Budapest, hosted by Éva Novodomszky and Levente Harsányi and was broadcast on m1.
Format
The competition featured fifteen entries where the Hungarian entry for Belgrade was selected by a four-member judging panel and votes from the public. Each judge assigned scores to each entry ranging from 1 (lowest score) to 10 (highest score) immediately after the artist(s) conclude their performance and the sum of all the jury scores created an overall ranking from which points from 1 (lowest) to 15 (highest) were distributed. The public submitted their vote via telephone or an SMS and the overall ranking of the entries was also assigned points from 1 to 15. The summation of the judges scores and the public vote determined the winning entry.
The judging panel consisted of:
- Miklós Malek – Ferenc Erkel award-winning composer and conductor
- László Benko – rock musician and composer
- Eszter Horgas – flautist
- Balázs Lévai – MTV programme editor
Competing entries
Artists and composers were able to submit their applications and entries for the competition between 10 November 2007 and 12 December 2007. Competing artists were required to either hold Hungarian citizenship or be able to speak Hungarian fluently. In addition, only artists that had a valid contract with a record company/professional management and that had released an album were eligible to compete. Artists were also required to submit their songs in both English and Hungarian. After the submission deadline had passed, 30 entries were received by the broadcaster. A four-member preselection jury selected fifteen entries for the competition. The jury consisted of Miklós Malek, László Benko, Eszter Horgas and Balázs Lévai. The competing artists were announced on 14 January 2008.
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Gramm | „Még egy dal“ | László Müller, 21 Gramm |
| Adrien Szekeres | „Piszkos tánc“ | Adrien Szekeres, Gábor Kiss |
| Candies | „Van aki nyer“ | Szabó Zé, Ákos Várszegi |
| Csaba Gál (Boogie) | „Úgy figyeltelek“ | Csaba Walkó, Csaba Gál, István Balahoczky |
| Csézy | „Szívverés“ | Viktor Rakonczai, Jánosi |
| Dure | „Nem ismerlek már“ | Dure |
| Ez One | „Lesz, ki téged hazavár“ | Attila Fehér, Ákos Várszegi |
| Fiesta | „Gyűlölve szeretni“ | Tamás Knapik |
| Lola | „Legszebb nap“ | Eszter Major, Viktor Rakonczai |
| Monika Hoffman | „Légy te az első“ | Ágnes Szabó, Zoltán Dandó |
| Orsolya Pflum | „Távol“ | János Bende, Tamás Kelemen |
| Orsolya Szatmári | „Véletlen“ | László Sárkány, Richárd Révész |
| Zsuzsa Antal and Fishers Company | „Falak között“ | Charles Fisher, Zsuszsanna Antal |
| Zsuzsa Imre | „Érintés“ | Gábor Mészáros, Sándor K. Varga |
| Zsuzsi Vágó and Árpád Zsolt Mészáros | „Két szív“ | Tibor Kocsák, Szillárd Somogyi, Tibor Miklós |
Final
The final took place on 8 February 2008 where fifteen entries competed. „Szívverés“ performed by Csézy was selected as the winner via the combination of votes from a jury and a public vote submitted through telephone and SMS. Adrien Szekeres and Csézy were both tied with 29 points but since Csézy received the most votes from the public she was declared the winner. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, guest performers included 1994 Hungarian Eurovision entrant Friderika Bayer, 1997 Hungarian Eurovision entrants V.I.P., 2005 Hungarian Eurovision entrants Nox and 2007 Hungarian Eurovision entrant Magdi Rúzsa.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Jury | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
| Votes | Points | ||||||
| 1 | Candies | „Van aki nyer“ | 26 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 |
| 2 | Ez One | „Lesz, ki téged hazavár“ | 22 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 15 |
| 3 | Zsuzsi Vágó and Árpád Zsolt Mészáros | „Két szív“ | 34 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 3 |
| 4 | Monika Hoffman | „Légy te az első“ | 31 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| 5 | Zsuzsa Antal and Fishers Company | „Falak között“ | 36 | 13 | 7 | 20 | 5 |
| 6 | Fiesta | „Gyűlölve szeretni“ | 30 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 4 |
| 7 | Zsuzsa Imre | „Érintés“ | 27 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 10 |
| 8 | Csaba Gál (Boogie) | „Úgy figyeltelek“ | 33 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 7 |
| 9 | Lola | „Legszebb nap“ | 30 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 6 |
| 10 | Adrien Szekeres | „Piszkos tánc“ | 39 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 2 |
| 11 | Dure | „Nem ismerlek már“ | 26 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| 12 | Orsolya Pflum | „Távol“ | 34 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 8 |
| 13 | Csézy | „Szívverés“ | 38 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 1 |
| 14 | 21 GRAMM | „Még egy dal“ | 27 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 13 |
| 15 | Orsolya Szatmári | „Véletlen“ | 30 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 9 |
Preparation
Following Csézy’s win at the national selection, the English version of „Szívverés“, titled „Candlelight“, was released on 11 February 2008.
Csézy came 19th in the 2nd ESC Semi-Final. Amongst her backing singers were Gergõ Rácz & Viktor Rakonczai who both represented Hungary in ESC 1997 in the group V.I.P.