Hungary: Wiwi Jury reviews Viktor Király and Zsolt Süle

The Wiwi Jury — our in-house panel of music unprofessionals — continues to review the 18 songs competing in Hungary’s national final A Dal 2018. Next we listen to Viktor Király with “Budapest Girl” and Zsolt Süle with “Zöld a május”.  Were we in love with these Budapest boys? Read on to find out!

Viktor Király – “Budapest Girl”

“Budapest Girl” reviews

Antranig: The song title had me expecting something slightly creepy and extremely mediocre and Viktor did not disappoint. This is really cheap with some very cringeworthy lyrics and a borderline annoying hook. Viktor is a talented singer with plenty of charisma and stage presence but there’s only so much a great singer can do with a bad song. He should come back next year with a better song.

Score: 4/10

Barnabas: Linking girls to places is becoming cool since Ed Sheeran’s “Galway Girl”, now we’ve got “Budapest Girl”. With an arrangement similar to what hear in Ed’s music, will be for sure a radio hit, and with Viktor’s personal charm it works well on stage. However, I still doubt that it’d be memorable at Eurovision. I’ve heard songs like this before.

Score: 6/10

Jovana: Viktor Király has an amazing voice for blue-eyed soul and he deserved a better song than “Budapest Girl”. It is a sweet, radio-friendly pop tune with elements of soul, but not the one to go crazy for. There is no much originality to it and it doesn’t give its singer a chance to show his vocal abilities or his personality through it.

Score: 6/10

Luis: Why should Hungary send a big name to Eurovision with a mediocre song? This isn’t a bad song by any means, but it’s clearly Viktor’s weakest entry at A Dal. The Demy and Claudia Faniello experiences of 2017 should prevent any country from sending a singer just based on popularity/sympathy. “Budapest Girl” feels undercooked, and the lyrics are lazy and circle the creepiness. This should be a filler on his next album, not the song he sings at Eurovision.

Score: 6/10

Robyn: There’s a chance that Viktor could do a Freddie and win A Dal based on his popularity, which would be a shame. He’s a great singer and performer, but “Budapest Girl” isn’t a great song. There’s some cuteness in it, but musically it feels too light, and the line “I think about her body all the time” comes across as creepy. Viktor should write better songs for himself.

Score: 6.5/10

Sebastian: Victor oozes charisma and is a charmer – which almost makes up for the appallingly cheesy opening lines. Proceeding rhyming couplets fail to improve, with pop-cultural references to Jolie and Rih-Rih, of which I disapprove. Ultimately, these leaves the song sounding generic and surprisingly uncultured – and it is here, primarily, where the song has faltered.

Score: 4/10

In the A Dal Wiwi Jury, we have 10 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 3 and a high of 7.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 5.50/10

Zsolt Süle – “Zöld a május”

“Zöld a május” reviews

Antranig: I don’t know why I like this song but I do. I feel like there’s too much happening on stage in the A Dal performance but this wouldn’t be a problem at Eurovision when you can have the interpretive dance happening on one side and have everyone spread out. The Hungarian authenticity shines through and this will get your toes tapping or your head bobbing along. Bold effort, Zsolt!

Score: 6.5/10

Barnabas: That’s what I call diversity, folks! Just relax in the hot bathtub, think about the memories left behind, while the violin keeps spreading emotions throughout the whole song. The lyrics are poetry (for those who know the language) and the whole package together with the very simple staging, reminds me a bit of… Salvador! Coincidence? We’ll see, but even though it’s not a typical Eurovision-like song, it is a quality one.

Score: 8/10

Jovana: I would have liked this song much more if there hadn’t been for Joci Pápai. This way “Zöld a május” sounds like a more downbeat sequel to “Origo”. I am aware that that style of music, csárdás, is very typical of Hungary, but this year I want to hear something different.

Score: 6/10

Luis: There are so many things to like here. “Zöld a május” is a delightful tune with a cinematic or theatrical feel to it that makes it very likeable. It paints a walk through the streets of Budapest under light rain in your mind and it feels amazing. Zsolt’s voice sways you through a beautiful three minutes journey and the violin works particularly well. This is fabulous.

Score: 7.5/10

Robyn: This isn’t a typical A Dal entry and until last year, it wasn’t a typical Eurovision entry. It’s walking through the door that “Amar pelos dois” opened. “Zöld a május” has a lovely feeling, the perfect soundtrack to a spring picnic. It’s hard to say how it would do if it made it to Lisbon, but it will be interesting to see how it fares in A Dal 2018.

Score: 8/10

Sebastian: Zsolt Süle has managed to make what would otherwise be an average song into something quite intriguing. He very cleverly detracts attention from himself by melding his laid back track with captivating staging; it’s never about him – but rather about the vibe he creates. “Zöld a május” shoves a lángos in the listener’s hands, and transports them to the romantic streets of Budapest. And for that, this song deserves praise.

Score: 7/10

In the A Dal Wiwi Jury, we have 10 jurors but only room for 6 reviews. The rest of our scores can be found below:

Before calculating the average score, the highest and lowest scores are dropped. This is to remove outliers and reduce potential bias. We have removed a low of 2 and a high of 8.

WIWI JURY VERDICT: 6.81/10

SEE OUR LIST OF A DAL 2018 RANKINGS

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