After a long national final, Freddie triumphed as the winner with his song Pioneer. The anthemic song seems to have won many of the fans over, and offers a completely diverse sound in comparison to the Hungarian entry in 2015. The song has rock elements, mostly through Freddie’s voice, but is pop at its core, which always sits well with the voters.
First and foremost I think I need to address Freddie’s voice. His tone of voice is so unlike any others this year, and has a raspy quality which sets this song as a stand out. There is something about Freddie as a performer which is really relatable to, and even from his performance, you can tell he is such a genuine person. He his performance translates to our screens as really natural, and as strange as this sounds, he really connects to the audience and camera with his eye contact – you can see the emotion as well as hear it in his voice.
The music is actually really simple, but allows Freddie’s unique voice to shine. The song brings its power in the choruses, which are easy to follow melodically. This is always a good thing for audiences to help remember the song by the end of the night. The backing singers really complemented Freddie during A Dal, and I appreciate that they aren’t hidden behind the stage, which is a tactic often used by Eurovision acts.
The stage performance used for A Dal aesthetically works, and with Freddie maintaining eye contact with the camera I think many viewers will give in to the charm of him and his song. The song is simplistic enough to follow on, but offers the intensity to push the song up above others, and I really think this could be a dark horse. I think in any other year, potentially, a weaker year, this song would have had what it takes to win, but I’m not sure this will get there. I do think it deserves a high placing in the final, and I’m fairly certain that this will qualify – if Wars for Nothing could qualify, surely this can as well.
I can already predict that this song will be a hit in the arena, however it’s a shame this song wasn’t towards the end of the running order. I also think that this song may be more of a hit with televoters rather than the jury, but I’m willing to be proven wrong!
With all that said, I’m going to give this an 8/10.
Guest Reviewer: Zoë
I think we all agree that 2015 was not Hungary’s finest hour, sending Boggie to Eurovision. The song ‘Wars For Nothing’ didn’t fare to well in the finals, and many argue it didn’t deserve to be in the finals. However, 2016 isn’t going to be like this. There is no arguing against Freddie making the finals, he deserves it. The song Pioneer was selected by the Hungarian audience, and they did choose the right song.
The infectious hook catches your attention immediately, as well as his striking voice. The drum beat makes you want to clap along and it gets you so into the song. You can’t really fault the song to be honest, however there are a lot of other songs that you can’t fault. The downfall will be his starting number. Number 4 in the first semi final. Will this be too early for the European audience to remember?
I think that Hungary will still make it despite starting early, however at first, to me, the song didn’t strike me at all. I didn’t really like it in all fairness, however it’s a massive grower, so hopefully the European audience appreciate it.
Good luck Hungary, once again sending an amazing song, I think it’ll do very, very well. Maybe a top 5 if you are lucky, if not then top 10 is very likely.
Rating: 8.5/10
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wow nice performance thank you