30 songs were selected to compete in A Dal 2017 (The Song) – the official Hungarian national selection show for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The songs, their performers and the jury members were introduced at a press conference on 8^th December in a club in downtown Budapest.

A Dal, hosted by Hungarian Public Broadcaster Duna TV, is not just an extraordinarily successful show, but also the most relevant platform to introduce new and original Hungarian songs of high quality. The first heat of A Dal 2017 will be broadcast on 14 January 2017, the audience and the jury will select Hungary’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest together.

The contestants will have the opportunity to take away various rewards at the end of A Dal 2017: special awards for Best Lyrics and Best Newcomer will be handed out in next year’s competition. All the performers will introduce the unplugged version of their song in the so-called ‘Acoustic Contest’ the winner of which will perform at the Petőfi Music Awards at VOLT Festival 2017. The winner of the show will have the honour to represent Hungary at the 62^nd Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine.

A Dal 2017 will kick off on 14 January 2017. After three selection rounds come two semi-finals and in the final on 18 February we will find the song of Hungary – a song that Hungarians will be humming throughout the year 2017.

Ferenc Molnár Caramel was revealed as a new member of the jury for A Dal 2017. When asked about the differences in judging the performances of A Dal 2017 to other competitions, he said:‘The biggest difference is the fact that in A Dal we aren’t expressing an opinion about the performer but rather about the song itself. The voice of the artist is important – but the melody and the creativity play a much more important role here. If you ask me, I’d like to find today’s hit song. I had been a jury member in various talent shows and I can’t wait for A Dal to begin. It’s an electrifying task as you have to listen to the songs in a slightly different way. The voice is significant of course, but at the end of the day it’s just another instrument of delivering the message. And it is the message that I go for. That being said, an outstanding voice is a treasure indeed – so we will keep our ears open. At this point I am quite sure that the next edition of A Dal will be amazing. The competitors will blow your mind; the songs are simply top notch. I’m sure that the show will be very exciting. And in the finale we will find the song that will be a worthy representative of Hungary on international level – a song that will be engraved in all our hearts. ‘

Members of the jury are:

Adrienn Zsédenyi Zséda, award-winning singer (Fonogram and EMeRTon Awards)

Miklós Both, award-winning composer/guitarist/singer (Fonogram and Budai Award, known from his band Napra)

Károly Frenreisz, founder of the bands LGT and Skorpió, a legend of Hungarian rock music

Ferenc Molnár Caramel, award-winning singer (Fonogram Award)

Entries of #ADAL2017 are:

Benji: Karcok (music: Zsolt Szepesi, Huy Le Quang, Gyárfás Máté; lyrics: Gábor Budai, Gyárfás Máté)

Olivér Berkes: Háttérzaj (music: Marcell Závodi lyrics: Marcell Závodi, Gábor Závodi)

Calidora: Glory (music: Dóra Oberritter, Zsolt Szepesi, lyrics: Dóra Oberritter, Attila Baross)

Kata Csondor: Create (music: Kata Csondor, Roland Balogh, lyrics: Péter Mihola)

The Couple: Vége van (music and lyrics: Gábor Berkó)

Kyra Fedor: Got to be a day (music: Kyra Fedor, Csaba Nemes, lyrics: Balázs Janky)

David Henderson: White Shadows (music: David Henderson, Dávid Tóth, Péter Ferencz Peet, lyrics: David Henderson)

Jetlag: Keresem a bajt (music and lyrics: Tamás Molnár)

Peter Kovary & The Royal Rebels: It’s a riot (music and lyrics: Péter Zsolt Kőváry)

Kállay Saunders Band: 17 (music: András Kállay, Zsolt Szepesi, Ádám Tóth, lyrics: András Kállay)

Gina Kanizsa: Fall like rain (music: Petra Várallyay lyrics: Petra Várallyay, Katus Várallyay)

AnnaElsa feat Juli Kása: Jártam (music and lyrics: Anna Elza Garay)

Leander Kills: Élet (music and lyrics: Leander Köteles)

Mrs. Columbo: Frozen King (music: Dorina Galambos, Dániel Somogyvári, Katalin Héjja, lyrics: Dorina Galambos)

Zoltán Mujahid: On my own (music: Zoltán Mujahid, lyrics: Johnny K. Palmer)

Enikő Muri: Jericho (music: Sebastian Arman, Joachim Persson)

Benjámin Pál: Father’s eyes (music: Zoltán Tóth G., lyircs: Péter Halász)

Joci Pápai: Origo (music: József Pápai, lyircs: József Pápai)

Peet Project: Kill your monster (music: Péter Ferencz, Olivér Magán, lyrics: Dávid Henderson)

Gigi Radics: See It Through (music: Georgina Radics, Tamás Radics, lyrics: Zoltán Riba, Johnny K. Palmer)

Roma Soul: Nyitva a ház (music: István Farkas, lyrics: Tamás Pajor)

Orsolya Sapszon: Hunyd le szemed (music: Bálint Sapszon, lyrics: Dóra Csenki, Orsi Sapszon)

Viki Singh: Rain (music: Szabolcs Harmath, lyrics: Angelika Iványi)

Soulwave: Kalandor (music: Máté Fodor, Ádám Huszár, Gábor Góczán, Ferenc Szabó, lyircs: Máté Fodor)

Spoon21: Deák (music and lyrics: Péter Földesi, Márton Grósz, Miklós Adrián Nagy, Kristóf Teremy)

Ádám Szabó: Together (music: Dániel Somogyvári, Ádám Szabó, lyrics: Kata Kozma)

Szabyest: Szerelem kell (music and lyrics: Szabolcs Achilles Szabó)

The Wings: Mint a hurrikán (music and lyrics: Balázs Szobolits)

Andi Tóth: I’ve got a Fire (music: Johnny K. Palmer, Dániel Somogyvári, lyrics: Johnny K. Palmer)

TOTOVA: Hosszú idők (music: Gabriella Tóth TOTOVA, Tibor Molnár, Begi Lotfi, Dávid Nagy, lyrics: Tibor Molnár)

As in previous years the viewers will take on the responsibility of the fifth jury member: A Dal 2017 app will be available through the MédiaKlikk Plusz app.

For further information check out the official homepage of A Dal 2017: www.mediaklikk.hu/adal