Hungary: No intention to participate in Eurovision 2020

Based on what the Hungarian websites report, as well as the country’s public broadcaster (MTV) announcement for “A Dal”, which has been used as the national final for Eurovision since 2012, unfortunately we won’t see it competing in Rotterdam.

This is the fourth time Hungary has withdrawn from the Eurovision contest. The first time was in 1999, for six consecutive years. It returned in 2005, abstained in 2006 in Athens and returned the following year. It last absence was in 2010, when for financial reasons the country preferred to stay away.

As we have reported in our previous article, the A Dal regulations did not mention the Eurovision contest, and some of the regulations were in breach of the EBU regulations, which meant that the A Dal 2020 would have nothing to do with the competition.

This was made official shortly after MTVA made the following announcement, essentially announcing the country’s withdrawal from Eurovision 2020:

The show’s creators preferred instead to organize the national selection for Eurovision, to direct the talent of light Hungarian music to the values they created the festival for. The winner of A Dal will be promoted by MTVA, with many appearances but also participating in the most celebrated domestic festivals. In addition, Petofi Radio will promote the winner, but will also produce its own works.

In Tel Aviv, Hungary was represented for the second time by Joci Papai, but he failed to qualify for the final.