NB. This version was published in November 2015 and has been replaced by an updated Top 5 songs from Hungary.

Well as promised, I’m beginning the first of this series with the homeland of my lovely friend Zoltan. If you remember all the video clips I posted from Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam earlier this year – Zoltan was the provider! He was there and sent me video directly to post up on the blog. Well, Zoltan is from Hungary so where better to start in my top 5 favourite entries from each country. These are very much my personal top 5s, so please do comment and discuss, whether you agree or not, or if I’ve uncovered any forgotten gems for you! 

I may disappoint Zoltan a little with my choices, as a certain solo female artist HASN’T made the top 5, but two other solo women have though, and three solo men. One song all in Hungarian, three all in English and one a mix of Hungarian and English. So, here we go!

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5. Magdi Rúzsa “Unsubstantial Blues” (1997, 9th place, 127 points)

A surprising start? I was torn between this and the more recent Compact Disco who miss out on the top 5 in place of this highly classy song. Very different from a lot of Eurovision entries, and was Hungary’s first song all in English. Beautifully sung, it deserved even higher than 9th – was also one of Terry Wogan’s favourites that year…

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4. ByeAlex “Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)” (2013, 10th place, 84 points)

This is such a gentle, relaxing song – the first song since 2005 to be sung completely in Hungarian. It did surprisingly well, earning Hungary its first top 10 place since Magdi in 1997.

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3. Freddie “Pioneer” (2016, 19th place, 108 points)

Oh my, Freddie always gives me a bit of a hot flush. A strapping young man with a song clearly tailor-made for Eurovision – maybe too obviously tailor-made as it finished lower than perhaps I expected. Definitely one of my favourites from last year, and probably my biggest crush of Eurovision 2016!

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2. Kati Wolf “What About My Dreams” (2011, 22nd place, 53 points)

Controversial? Kati only getting second place? Well, much as I love this song, I think there is one better Hungarian entry – and her live performance wasn’t perhaps quite as top notch as we might have hoped for. Still, it’s a cracking floorfiller at any Eurovision night 🙂

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1. András Kállay-Saunders “Running” (2014, 5th, 143 points)

A stand out effort from Hungary in 2014 – high quality song, high production values, great performance, worthy (and unusual subject) and even bringing some drum and bass to Eurovision. It gave Hungary its best result since their very first entry in 1994 and their highest ever points total. And it does no harm that András is very easy on the eye…

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So what did you make of that? Any surprises? What would your top 5 have been? Comment and discuss below!