Tomorrow Austria hosts the Eurovision final — and among the 25 finalists are several of Hungary’s neighbours: Austria, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and Croatia. But where is Hungary itself?
The country has not participated in the contest since 2020. That doesn’t mean Hungary has no Eurovision history — on the contrary, it’s quite an interesting one.
Debut and best result
Hungary first appeared on the Eurovision stage in 1994, and the debut was immediately the most successful in the country’s history. Bayer Friderika performed Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet? (“To whom shall I confess my sins?”) and finished in 4th place — a result Hungary has never managed to surpass.
Memorable performances
There were many memorable entries along the way: ByeAlex with Kedvesem, Kállay-Saunders András with Running, Rúzsa Magdi with Unsubstantial Blues, and Pápai Joci, who represented Hungary twice: with Origo and Az én apám. A special mention goes to rock band AWS with Viszlát nyár (“Goodbye, Summer”):
A Dal
A separate chapter in this story is A Dal (“The Song”) — once Hungary’s national selection for Eurovision, where the winner went on to represent the country internationally. The show still exists today and can be watched on the Duna channel or on the MédiaKlikk website — but its role changed after 2019. MTVA, Hungary’s state media organisation, announced that A Dal would now focus on supporting Hungarian artists domestically, rather than selecting a Eurovision entry.
The Hungarian trail in 2025
The Hungarian presence at Eurovision hasn’t disappeared entirely. In 2025, Carson Coma attempted to reach the contest via San Marino’s national selection, Una Voce per San Marino. And Germany was represented that year by Abor & Tynna — a brother-and-sister duo of Hungarian origin.
This year was no exception: Austria’s entry Cosmó was born in Budapest and has Hungarian roots on his mother’s side. The Hungarian press took notice. Here is an article from Index about it.
Vocabulary from the article
| Hungarian | English |
|---|---|
| Eurovíziós Dalfesztivál | Eurovision Song Contest |
| Bécs | Vienna |
| Ám | however, but |
| Büszkeség | pride |
| Örülni valaminek | to be happy about something |
| ám egy kis hazai büszkeségnek mégis örülhettünk | however, we still had a small reason for national pride |
| Rész | part |
| Részben | partly, in part |
| Képviselni valamit | to represent something |
| Részben Magyarországot is képviselték | they partly represented Hungary too |
| Rajongó | fan |
| Szorítani valakiért | to root for someone |
| Versenyez | to compete |
| Származik | to originate from |
| Magyar származású | of Hungarian origin |
| bár osztrák színekben versenyez, Budapesten született, és édesanyja révén félig magyar származású | although competing under Austrian colours, he was born in Budapest and is half Hungarian on his mother’s side |
| Döntő | final |
| Elődöntő | semi-final |
| Résztvevő | participant |
| Zászló | flag |
| Lobogtat | to wave / to flutter |
| Lélek | soul |
| Visszatér valahova | to return somewhere |
| Színpad | stage |
| bár az osztrák zászlót lobogtatták, egy kis magyar lélek is visszatért a dalfesztivál színpadára | although the Austrian flag was waving in the hall, a little piece of Hungarian soul returned to the stage of the song contest |
