Re: HUNGARY 2018
Considering the expectations I had created this first semi-final was rather disappointing. But more on the reasons for this below.
A word on the hosts first, as usual. Kriszti looked impressive in that lively blue dress. Her best outfit so far. Liked how Freddie matched with her, probably his best too as my sweetheart said. And also did not look oversized for a change
Concerning the jury can only really comment on Judit since the men keep to the same more or less. And Judit nailed it again last night. Wonderful light blue blouse, gave her a very fresh and youthful look. And she was on the best mood I've seen her so far yet. A word to Both as well. I started by disliking him but now I have to say I kind of like the guy. Seems to be the jury member with more to say although I'm told it doesn't necessairly mean he's saying deeper or more interesting things. He does get a bit carried away sometimes. It's important to know your timing when working on TV. This is something he could improve in my opinion.
First act, Ham ko ham kept to about the same on this first semi. There was a failure at the start, when the vocalist started singing he seemed distracted. A bit à la "Lost in Verona" but with the mic actually working. Nothing too important though, he fixed it rather quickly and my girlfriend didn't even notice it. The song was entertaining again, I was told that the lyrics are actually good and have some message. Something about embracing your roots and returning to them or so. I did wonder a bit whether their ethnicity could play in their favour. Song has merit but you wonder of every detail in deciding moments. Was not enough though. And although the song will remain as one of the entertaining acts of Dal 2018 I think it run it's course fairly. Considering the quality of the remaining acts there really was no place for them in the final.
Next up BIGA, last night's "lucky winner". The song is extremely catchy, easy to get stuck in your mind. That is this act's biggest assett. There wasn't much change in terms of performance (only one song really improved in this way in my eyes, two I like regressed unnecessairly and with risk added) apart from the stage being filled with way more balloons. It was a nice touch in terms of staging, colourful but rather simple. I got the impression his singing was not as powerful as during the previous performance. Then again I did experience weaker sound in overall so could be that. Did a tad better with juries and a tad worse with televote. Didn't expect this as one of the first 3 qualifiers, that's for sure, but more on Leander's big blunder ahead. Clearly benefited from this, otherwise it would've been him against Roland (unfortunately) up to final round of televoting. So as a consequence of this I do consider him a bit lucky. Though I did sort of expect his act as 4th song through. He has a bit of an "underdog" shine to him, in the sense that I think most people aren't really expecting this to represent Hungary this year. But step by step...could be possible. It has international appeal, hard to dislike or point flaws (well, perhaps a bit too acoustic-nice in the middle of other visually and instrumental powerful acts at ESC stage) and could get a decent result for the country if it made it. But I don't think so, neither do I want so. Because Hungary this year has again top 10 material and going with Good Vibez wouldn't be the smartest thing to do.
SativuS next and it was the same old story. I can understand that the song has funny lyrics and actually if I try hard enough I can see some remote entertaining value on it. But really shouldn't even have been there. I'd rather have seen the likes of Eszes Viki. Maya ‘n’ Peti. My girl said Andy Roll too. Why not.
Just felt to me like this song never stood a chance and that's fine, some have to be "fillers" . From the act itself the only difference I noticed from first performance was the backsinging vocalist girls. The best bit of their performance. Gave a little charm to a veeery busy stage (do they really need all those 6 people?). In case the girls had already been there for first performance, my bad. If so, just were much more noticeable last night. Maybe it was those dresses. I downplayed my ideas of a certain arrogance concerning the vocalist but if my Hungarian girlfriend tells me she felt it last night then I can only rest my case about this sort of judgement. If he is, in any case and should it matter, he downplayed it well last night. Not surprised at bottom place and consequent elimination. Sort of expected and came naturally. The 5 from televote had me amused. Was over for them soon as expected.
Next up Gabi. Gabi Gabi. Went a long way for me ever since that first performance 3 weeks ago. Wrote here I wasn't impressed by it back then but few days later found myself addicted to it. The song itself is just very cleverly composed. Staging is well accomplished too (well, first performance at least). The dreamy overall sound landscape during the chorus added to rather teasy lyrics and a Gabi that presented herself with a certain frailty on stage (a bit of the Blanche formula, using "weakness" or perceived weakness as a strenght) made up for an irresistable mix. Last night however. Was my first disappointment. Sometimes I just really dislike revamps. Or most of the times. Those dancers felt completely uneccessary on stage. They took away the sensuality from the act. The focus from Gabi. It was a poor choice. Having them following her around doing their thing might have made the stage look busier but sometimes things are best left as minimalistic as possible. Whoever thought this up had it wrong. Then the performance itself. It's charm for me started when Gabi first went to play that instrument on the side of the stage. Now I don't know if she ever really played it in fact or just acted but it gave a very visually appealing atmosphere to the act. This time she just played it at the end (with "stalking dancing swans" behind ruining focus) and it felt wrong from the first "Is this alright?" when the dreamy sounds started echoing and she just moved around the stage instead. Actually, a little note to the directing of the show on this. Whoever had the idea of giving a zoom in shot of the jury in the midst of the songs made a poor decision too. Although it looked kind of funny (and was used on recaps for that matter even, I guess) I prefered not to have seen a serious (or sarcastically) faced Misi nodding to her rhetorical lyric of "Is it alright?" during the chorus. The only time they made used of this that amused me through the night was when they cut from Roland to Both. His unimpressed face in an awkward directing transiction had me laughing and I just had to comment it with my girlfriend.
Digressed quite a bit. So last thing I did not like concerning Gabi's changes was her hair. Those braids were part of the package to me. Enhaced the rather frail look. The only positive from this bad revamp was really how she was dressed. That was quite nice, even my girl agreed, which doesn't come around usually
In the green room could see better what she was wearing, loved those boots. And talk-wise she seems to be a very sweet person, my girl said so even (or something to that effect).
I feared a bit for her during voting. But then I see that kilenc (9) by Judit and am left wondering. Televote was harsh though, although it was never really on her side since 3 weeks ago. So I guess I look back on that 9 by Judit as kindness or perhaps even "charity". Obviously she did not deserve to be bottom despite the bad revamp. But i feel she was a bit punished by televote for this revamp. I even said if that was the reason that it was deserved then. I could see some international appeal on this song and although I personally liked it I can accept she'd never have a chance at the final and probably would not fare well in actual ESC knowing the taste of others. But I'd have liked to have seen her at Dal's final at least, she will be missed there.
Maszkura és a tücsökraj came up next and to me this was the only act that really improved from first performance last night. Maszkura was much more confident while pacing through that stage. I liked the attitude, certainly he went over this with his team/Dal's team. Even the wardrobe was slightly enhaced as my girl said. Althought I am not a fan of that kind of red or maroon but blended well with the projections behind him. The choice of yellow for the first heat (although I like the color) wasn't the best. The song itself is good solid stuff, have said here last week that I love that bass line to bits (although last night overall sound was not as high and clear as I like it) and from listen to listen the song ends up being very catchy, specially that chorus. I even went through the lyrics (not very usual for me, bit "lusta"
) just to better understand what was being sung. Having all this said, I had little hopes beforehand for Maszkura. It was clearly never a televote favorite after all. That was the only difference actually. The one part they needed to improve upon dropped instead. This was the deciding moment for the act, after that he really did not stand many chances. As I said, thought last televote would be between Biga and Roland. But I was crossing fingers for a little surprise. And the two acts I'd have liked to have seen as surprises were precisely Maszkura and Gabi. In retrospect I'm satisfied with this act, went as far as it could. More was not possible and to be fair this would be a misundertood and underrated act if it ever went as far as ESC stages.
After came Süle Zsolt and last night performance seemed a perfect copy of Heat 1. Nothing much can be changed to the whole act and in my eyes it was just a repetition of what we had already seen. Still like the song, beautiful of course. Those simple guitar chords really get stuck on one's mind. Remember my girl even pointing out how much she liked it. The violin brings an extra dimension of wonder and in overall it's a pretty solid package that's on offer. Points-wise, it was brought to a whole new level of praise by the juries by only missing max. points by a single point. It's clearly jury's pet song as I commented with my sweetheart (although seems rather clear to me that Gergely's also is, they just downplayed it a bit on Heat 2).
Zöld a majús did drop a bit with televote though and that makes me wonder a bit. To which point is this song really appreciated by Hungarians. I think it's possible that it may have weared off a bit. It's a song that you find hard pointing any flaws whenever it comes on stage but I think it's not that sort of song you seek out to listen on the days after. If it's on your mind, all good but at least personally I find it ages a bit quickly. This one day I listened to it 3 times and by 3rd listen remember being quite distracted. I feel it might be a tad overrated by the juries. It is good but not THAT good. Clearly their voting is high because fear of televote being too low. And obviously they want this in final at least and it deserves so, I suppose. But this is not a candidate now. It'll never have televote on it's side. I can make a comparison with Gergely. Both sort of same type of songs (all obvious differences aside). Both loved by the jury. But Gergely has televote and this hasn't. So in a way it's a poor cousin to Azt mondtad. Also, this would not fare that well on ESC stage. It'd be a bit...Montengro's "Moj svet" but Hungarian style. Appreciated but not a serious contender to anything.
I'm glad it was the end of the road for Gulyás Roland. Fact is that the song was so bad that it even managed to become one of those annoying earworms you have a hard time getting rid of. But I'm happy that hegot him, hegot him he got himself disqualified
That stuttering really got on my nerves. I only realized ByeAlex wrote this after having posted here last week. Not that I praise ByeAlex to the skies, at all, but it was rather disappointing to learn this. I thought this sort of backing could help Roland and perhaps it even did but thankfully not as much as it could have. I also failed to mentioned the lyrics. Seriously, Kardashian references? The very worst from this year's Dal. I can even taken Király Viktor's "little Lopez from behind", whatver that means.
The performance itself was the same old. Just playing with black and white now, if not mistaken. Whole song seemed like a plea for us to accept Roland as the hottest and most talented artist ever. At least that's what his body language shined through.
Like I said before, the bad directing that had Both suddenly showing up midst performance looking unimpressed was my favorite part of this performance last night. Also the whole coming near the audience towards the end, looked so unnatural and cringy. For sure this is an odd, uncharismatic guy. Needs to learn how to be more natural, if ever possible for him. But I think it comes with personality. And that is hard to change. Some things you are just not born with. In this case, charisma is the word.
I was happy that alongside SativuS this was the song who fared worse with the juries. And again, a Roland-Both moment, my absolute favorite. Roland's face when Both said his 6. Priceless. Televote also dropped. I suppose neutral people realized how annoying this whole act actually was. He could have had chances though. Had Leander not butchered their song he'd be up against BIGA with the televote. And there I don't know if Biga would have been so lucky. I would have preferred it of course but I already had the disappointment of Eszes Viki last week. This spot on the semi should have been hers. I'm happy this very basic song died here on this semi. It could have achieved unfair proportions of hype at an event like a final and that's be only Hungary's loss if this ever got selected.
It is clear that the line-up then saved the best for the end. Quite obvious. Gergely's performance was as breathtaking as always. This song feels more and more as the right choice within every listen and I say this while still prefering other song over it. But it would be sort of a crime. This song has that something that can move people, almost at an "Amar pelos dois" level. Was not surprised when my sweetheart translated to me on the aftershow that they have been comparing him to Salvador and all. But clearly, very different. I only mean the ability to move just about anyone (people who dislike and skeptics aside) in a deep and effective way while being sung in a native European language other than English. As I told my girlfriend last night, this would get Hungary a top 5 at least. I can't see it going for much less than that. Top 10 minimum. Above top 5 only the heavenly feeling of victory.
Only two minor things I have to point about last night's performance. First, it did seem sung with less intensity to me. I commented this with my girlfriend. I think it's the same as it happened with Salvador's song. That first time you listen to a special song is very special. Cannot be repeated. Here Gergely did not have that anticipation of wondering how this will do with the audience. He already knew in his mind that this is a favorite, that this is a very appreciated song. And to me it seemed that this transpired through his body language a bit. I'm no expert, but the emotion didn't seem as pure as during the Heat's performance. He seemed much more conscious here while before he seemed much more focused on song and less on reactions from people. Might just be me, but that's what it looked like to me.
Then the getting emotional bit. It doesn't help knowing he is an actor or an acting student. I hope it was genuine and that he just fought it back. But when he did get teary, I couldn't help thinking if that was in the script. We all know that emotions shining through this sort of songs help a lot. We as audience can only speculate the veracity of such emotional moments but anyway, I was already moved by that point. So it's a minor detail on an uncanny performance of a very strong act.
Jury opened their game a bit more when it came to voting. Again, nearly perfect with just a point missing. Not really surprising. Televote being the same perhaps a bit. Could have rised but then again not very familiar with Dal history, not sure it could rise that much or how these 0 to 10's are really done.
Pretty much all has been said then. This act will be up there in the final fighting for the top. I told my girl last night that I have feeling it'll be a threeway between him, Király and Horváth.
Ah, almost forgot. He did get that "best new act" (or so) award just before final televote came in. Deserved, of course. Didn't know about the existance of this award. But considering it's a candidate to Lisbon even and he is a rather new act to Dal then I'm not really surprised the choice ended up being his song. Might be a consolation prize just in case he does not win. I'm taking it as that right now. But I really doubt he won't win.
At last, Leander. Leander has risen. Leander has killed. Last night, Leander butchered. Their own song. I was very disappointed with this unfortunate revamp. I can see why they did it. I can see they wanted to make it more appealing for non rock/metal fans. The song itself has a lot of life of it's own. Acoustic rendition was beautiful. This revamp is even acceptable...but the original is where it's at. It's why the song is so special. Changing the original nature of the song was high risk and they almost paid the price for not sticking to themselves. They were sure qualifiers after all. And ended up crossing fingers for televote. To me, this was sad. They might have said after Dal that they wanted this way, that they like this way, that is heartfelt and all. I believe all that is true. But I also know rock and metal acts, how they act when they are put on the spotlight before a commercial audience. I'm rather certain they were ill advised. Both by their own people and Dal production. I was just really disappointed. I was happy when I learned they were the last act performing on the night, finally their intense heavy number would wash away all that had seen before and end the night on a high note. Was still heavy of course, but unnecessairly adultered. Leander by the piano in the beginning, the violin, the guys worlds away from their original style that people liked so much on the first heat. It was disappointing. It felt a bit like a sellout band trying to cash in a little more. This tends to happen, wanting to cashing in a little while watering the songs down in syrup. I'm glad it wasn't for the whole song. The worst part was the violin, by far. Needs to go. Completely unnecessary, ruins the song. Takes focus away from the beauty that are those guitar and bass chords. Was even louder than those. Felt like they were just following the violin melody. Felt like I was listening to some whiny Apocalyptica song all of a sudden. I really hope they just revert to original for final now. They got lucky. I hope they learned their lesson. If not, they are doing this to themselves and shouldn't be surprised about the falling out in terms of popularity.
Even though I now see that the drop in points only occurred with members of the jury, i'm certain there are many audience members thinking like me now. And juries, bias and personal tastes aside are chosen to be there for a reason. They know music. They have the sensibility and knowledge to judge the songs in a professional way. That's why they are chosen. And I agree with the points drop. Some might have none been genuine on Heat 1 and now are giving them what they really think the song deserves. In a way, reverse thing I said for Gergely song. Others might have just been disappointed like me. Gladly televote did not drop, gladly they had loyal people by their side still voting for them. Like my girlfriend. And even though we disagreed on this, not even she or anyone can deny that this whole revamp idea is the main cause behind this whole "having to cross fingers for them" scenario.
I hope they just perform the original plain and simple in the final. If they still want to be a contender. Otherwise they can remain happy with their new artistic finding and miss out on a great opportunity to make Hungary proud with the return of a proper heavy rock number to Eurovision stages. I'll be sad it they skip this chance with this great song. They're still my favorites despite the disappointment displayed above.
Looking forward to next week then, should be another interesting night.
P.S. Again, loved your post [MENTION=4383]balizeg[/MENTION]. When you say live do you mean live from TV or are you attending the shows? Hope to read more intersting and entertaining stuff from you next week
Good luck for AWS. Horváth does not need it
and later was the only jury giving her 0 points 
and only AWS