MTVA, the Hungarian national broadcaster confirmed to esctoday.com Hungary’s participation at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest and has released the rules and regulations for their national selection.

MTVA, the Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund as the content provider of MTV Hungarian Television, and MTV, Hungarian Television will take part in the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. Both semi-finals and the grand final will be broadcast live from Copenhagen on channel M1.

MTVA will select Hungary’s representative at the 59^th Eurovision Song Contest in a public live show broadcast on channel M1, involving a professional jury and audience. The submissions have to be sent to MTVA until 1 December 2013.

Rules for application:

The contestants representing Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 represent MTVA and MTV. According to the rules of the EBU it is the participating broadcaster’s sole responsibility and competence to select its representing song and performer for the international competition. In order to determine the songs that will compete in the national semi-finals, a pre-jury will make a pre-selection of the songs sent in before the given deadline and which comply with all the rules and conditions set below. The national finalists will be determined by combined votes of the jury and audience televotes. The winner of the national final will represent Hungary at the ESC 2014 in Copenhagen.

The compositions (lyrics and music) must not have been commercially released and performed in public before 1 September 2013.

1. The maximum duration of each song is three minutes. Any song which is longer may be disqualified by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union).
2. Only such artists’ submissions are accepted who have previously released an album or had radio airplays, and who have a valid contract with a record company and/or have a management.
3. All artists competing in the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest must be aged at least 16 on the day of the Final in Copenhagen.
4. Each performance may consist of a maximum of six people on stage. No live animals shall be allowed on stage.
5. No artist may compete for more than one country in the ESC in the given year.
6. The applicants acknowledge and agree that the Hungarian National Final (A Dal) is a competition of the submitted songs and not of performers. Therefore MTVA has the right to decide upon the performer of a song, if necessary.
7. The participating broadcasters of the Eurovision Song Contest can decide themselves about the language of the performed song. The Hungarian National Final series “A DAL” aims to find Hungary’s best song and therefore the performance of the songs in Hungarian language is preferred. However, the contestants may enter their songs in English and/or in any language of officially recognised national and ethnic minorities living in Hungary as well. A Hungarian translation of the lyrics is necessary in any case. Upon the decision of the jury the songs may be performed in the televised shows in the above mentioned languages as well.
8. The songs must be performed on stage in half-playback which means that all vocals are sung live, accompanied by a recorded backing track. The use of instruments on stage is allowed but only as props and not played live.
9. Any changes in the lyrics, the artist or group (including its name), the title of the song and the language of the performance (i.e. all elements which appear in printed material such as brochures, CD covers and booklets) shall be allowed only until the 10^th of March, 2014.
10. The lyrics and performance of the songs shall not bring the Eurovision Song Contest into disrepute. No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be allowed during the ESC. No swearing or other unacceptable language shall be allowed. A breach of this rule may result in disqualification.
11. The performers and composers declare that no other contract or agreement prohibits them to cooperate and contract with MTVA and MTV.
12. The Hungarian ESC representative and their team undertake to dedicate exclusive attention to the participation in the contest in the time period between the national final and the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest and will do their best to cooperate with MTVA and MTV in order to reach the highest possible result, including the compliance with all the deadlines set by MTVA and the EBU and the compulsory participation in promotional events related to the Eurovision Song Contest. The artist(s) may not demand or accept a fee for promotional appearances organized by MTVA. The performer(s) undertake to stay in Copenhagen during the time period determined by MTVA in 2014.
13. A licence agreement has to be signed with the EBU related to the song representing MTVA at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.

 The submission must include:

– the audio material on CD in wav and mp3 file format;

– the title of the song, the name of the composer(s), writer(s) of the lyrics, full name of the artist(s) and their artistic name;

– high-resolution press photos of the artist(s)/composer(s) and their biography in Hungarian and English on CD;

– the lyrics of the song in the submitted language and its Hungarian translation, if applicable;

– the video clip of the song, if available, on CD;

– a written declaration that the applicant acknowledges and accepts the above rules for application and fully complies with them (especially with regard to the release date of the song, i.e. before 1 September 2013);

It is mandatory to fill in the submission form with all the necessary data and information. You can download the submission form here: http://www.adal2014.hu/

Submissions missing any of the required materials are void.

Please note that all materials shall be kept for one year after the pre-selection process and shall be returned to the applicant upon request.

The above listed materials should be sent by registered post in a sealed envelope to the following address:

EUROVÍZIÓS DALFESZTIVÁL

MTVA
1037 Budapest, Kunigunda útja 64.

Deadline: Sunday, 1 December 2013, Midnight 00:00.

Hungary debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994  and is yet to win the contest. The country’s best placing was a 4th place in 1994 when they debuted at the  Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin with Frederika Bayer’s‘s Kinek Mondjam Al Vetkeimet!

ByeAlex represented Hungary at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with her entry Kedvesem, achieving a 10th  placing in the final.

ByeAlex- Kedvesem

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for the latest information on Hungary and the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.