Hungary: Petruska disqualified from “A Dal 2019” final due to plagiarism
Hungarian broadcaster MTVA has revealed that finalist Petruska has been disqualified from the final of “A Dal 2019” due to plagiarism. As one of 4 acts, the singer and songwriter had qualified for the final at the first semi-final of the competition. He will be replaced by Gergő Oláh and his song “Hozzád bújnék”.
At the end of the second semi-final of “A Dal 2019”, the hosts Freddie and Bogi Dallos read out an official statement that Hungarian broadcaster MTVA was investigating plagiarism claims against one of the finalists, who was not named at first. Today the broadcaster has revealed that Petruska and his song “Help Me out Of Here” have been disqualified as an investigation exposed that Petruska’s song has plagiarised Vampire Weekend’s “White Sky”, which was released in August 2010. Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City with a row of hits and awards such as the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2014. Petruska has been replaced by Gergő Oláh and his song “Hozzád bújnék”.
Therefore the 8 finalists of “A Dal 2019” are:
- Acoustic Planet – “Nyári zápor”
- Vavra Bence – “Szótlanság”
- Bogi Nagy – “Holnap”
- Fatal Error – “Kulcs”
- Gergő Oláh – “Hozzád bújnék”
- Gergő Szekér – “Madár, repülj!”
- Joci Pápai – “Az én apám”
- The Middletonz – “Roses”
The final will take place on February 23rd and will be hosted by Freddie, who represented Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, and Bogi Dallos. Just as in the previous heats and semi-finals the jury panel will be made up of Miklós Both, Misi Mező, Lilla Vincze and Feró Nagy. The winner of “A Dal 2019” will represent Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv. Two further awards will be given to the song with the best lyrics and the best new discovery through “A Dal 2019”.
