Hungary: Say Hello to “ByeAlex”!
It was a dramatic finish to Hungary’s “A Dal” process, as the juries winnowed the eight finalists down to four and the public televote taking the lead to pick the eventual winner. In a bit of a surprising announcement, the ticket went to singer-songwriter ByeAlex (real name: Alex Márta) and his quiet, subtle entry “Kedvesem (My Darling)”, which came in a distant 4th place by the jury’s estimation.
The version seen on the official video (here) tends towards the simple, but Alex’s “A Dal” performance uses the slightly pumped-up arrangement heard on the Zoohacker Remix:
After the disco-bombast of “What About My Dreams?” and the electro-rock of “Sound of Our Hearts“, “Kedvesem” is a very hard shift towards the understated, even when you factor in the remix. This sort of quiet alternative performance is pretty rare in Eurovision circles, but often quietly appreciated at the National Final level (my thoughts went to 2011 Eesti Laul runner-up “I Wanna Meet Bob Dylan” or 2012 UMK participant Stig with “Laululeija“). Will this mark the start of a new trend at Eurovision, or will it simply fall by the wayside?
Posted on March 3, '13, in 2013, Hungary and tagged ByeAlex, eurovision, Hungary, Kedvesem. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
The ESC Insider 
It sounds to me like the Finnish band Elokuu, but a touch more experimental. Maybe even a cross between Elokuu and Husky Rescue.
Hard to say how it will fare in Malmö, though. If I can name Finnish bands to describe how it sounds, Finland might support Hungary like it did in Düsseldorf (where we gave 12.).
Not one of my favourites, but it’s alright I guess. Similar to Malta? I reckon it’s gonna qualify at least, as it’s in the later half of the draw, but I doubt it will do much in the final