Hungary sends metal with pop hook in their own language
Hungary is a steady force in the Eurovision Song Contest. The last time we did not see the country in the final was in 2010 when they did not participate all together. The year before they failed to qualify for the last time. Their best result in recent years is the 5th place in 2014. Last year they reached top 10 as well. This year they will send metal band AWS to the Eurovision stage with the song ‘Viszlát Nyár’.
Metal bands in Eurovision have received very mixed results in the past, but I wouldn’t be surprised if AWS will become one of the more successful ones. Not surprisingly, they are the only band with a song in this genre in this year’s contest which is always a good way to stand out. Having said that, their song has enough melody and catchiness going on to actually attract a broader audience. If you can get past the grunting vocal style, the hook in the chorus is actually pretty strong and in classic Eurovision tradition, there is even a proper key change before the big finale. For me personally, the vocals get a bit uncomfortable to listen to after a while, but that of course is a matter of taste.
The band already proved they know how to put on a show on stage. Visually it is quite the spectacle and the vocals sound just as raw and powerful as on record. It is hard to predict if juries are going to appreciate this, but I think Hungary should be able to make it into the top 10 of the weaker second semi final and reach at least a midtable position on Saturday night.
Review of Semi Final Performance:
Band AWS perform their track ‘Viszlát Nyár’ with a lot of passion and even more fireworks! Personally I am not a fan of the grunting vocal style (and that is an understatement), but I surprisingly find myself enjoying ‘Viszlát Nyár’. This song and performance might be too loud for a lot of people, but the hook in the chorus is actually impeccable. This might be the first song in this genre that I got stuck in my head and I don’t mind. Of course with this being the only track in this genre, it stood out from the rest and qualification for the final never seemed an issue. There is enough people who appreciate this style to give it at least a midtable result in the final on Saturday. (It turned out later the juries stopped them from reaching this mid table result. They almost stopped them from going to the final too. They were saved by the televoters, as juries voted them out with a 14th place.)
Review of Final Performance:
Hungary took the risk of taking metal to the Eurovision stage with band AWS. They gave another explosive performance of their track ‘Viszlát Nyár’, but the vocals in the verses seemed weaker this time around. The grunting in the chorus still is not my taste, but then again metal is not my favourite genre of music, to put it lightly. Not surprisingly, juries did not appreciate this as much with a 22nd spot. Their 15th place with televoters made them finish at 21 overall.
Read our other Eurovision 2018 reviews: ALBANIA – ARMENIA – AUSTRALIA –AUSTRIA – AZERBAIJAN – BELARUS –BELGIUM – BULGARIA – CROATIA – CYPRUS –CZECH REPUBLIC – DENMARK – ESTONIA – FINLAND – FRANCE – FYR MACEDONIA – GEORGIA – GERMANY – GREECE – ICELAND –IRELAND – ISRAEL –ITALY – LATVIA – LITHUANIA –MALTA – MOLDOVA – MONTENEGRO – THE NETHERLANDS – NORWAY – POLAND – PORTUGAL – ROMANIA – RUSSIA – SAN MARINO – SERBIA – SLOVENIA – SPAIN – SWEDEN – SWITZERLAND – UKRAINE – UNITED KINGDOM