MTVA has revealed the dates for the live shows of the Hungarian national selection. ‘A Dal 2018’ will kick off on January 20 and it will be made up of six shows, the final will take place on February 24.
This will be the seventh edition of the popular television format that has selected every Hungarian Eurovision representative since 2012. It’s interesting to remember that Hungary hasn’t missed any Eurovision Grand Final since the introduction of ‘A Dal’ as the national selection show.
A Dal 2018 schedule:
- Heat 1 – January 20
- Heat 2 – January 27
- Heat 3 – February 3
- Semi-Final 1 – February 10
- Semi-Final 2 – February 17
- Grand Final – February 24
As in previous editions, the first three shows will feature 10 songs, and six entries will advance to the semi-final from each one. Nine songs will compete in each semi-final, but only four of them will go through to the Grand Final, which will feature eight acts. In the Grand Final, a professional jury panel will select the top four entries that will face a superfinal, where the winner will be selected by a mix of televote and App Voting.
This year, MTVA will also give two special prizes that will be awarded by the jury panel to the “Best Lyrics of A DAL 2018” and “New Talent of A DAL 2018”. The first mentioned award will be given to the best lyrics of the competition, while the second one will be awarded to a competitor of the 2018 selection that will make their debut at ‘A Dal’ or will perform for the first time in front of a large audience. Moreover, an Acoustic Song Contest will take place involving the applicants who qualify to the live shows.
Submissions open:
All interested singers and composers can send their applications until the 15th of November 2017 by filling the form available on the official website of the broadcaster. When the submission period is closed, a professional jury panel will shortlist 30 entries that will compete at the live shows of ‘A Dal 2018’. You can find the full set of rules here.
Joci Pápai represented Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song ‘Origo’. The song, which was fully in Hungarian, reached the 8th place in the Grand Final.