Hungary has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since making its debut in 1994.
Hungary’s first contest in 1994 remains its most successful, with Friderika Bayer finishing in fourth place. The country’s only other top five result is András Kállay-Saunders’ fifth-place in 2014. Their other top ten results are Magdi Rúzsa finishing ninth in 2007, ByeAlex tenth in 2013, and Joci Pápai eighth in 2017, giving Hungary a total of five top ten placements.
Hungary did not appear on the final list of participants for the later-cancelled 2020 contest; they have been absent from the contest since.
MTVA stated that they would “support the valuable productions created by the talents of Hungarian pop music directly” instead of participating in the contest.
The withdrawal came during a rise of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment among the leadership of Hungary and MTVA; while no official reason for the withdrawal was given by the broadcaster, an inside source speaking with the website Index.hu speculated that the contest was considered “too gay” for MTVA to participate.
