This article forms part of the OnEurope archive and was originally published on oneurope.co.uk. It has been permanently migrated to oneurope.net, the official home of OnEurope.
Boggie will calm everyone down with her quiet, understated song about being a fighter. And by fighter, I mean my description of the determined figure at the heart of the performance — not the separate Georgian entry “Warrior”. Boggie’s song is “Wars For Nothing”, a peace-oriented hymn rather than a conventional battle song.
It’s not all about being a warrior; it’s about the message, and boy does she get this across. The understated performance is all about the message. She looks calm and confident in her own skin and song, and simply presents it. That modest, minimal approach was deliberate: Boggie said the song’s plea for peace, inspired by human suffering, needed room to speak clearly.
Boggie — the professional name of Csemer Boglárka — won Hungary’s televised A Dal 2015 selection after its six-week process on 28 February. “Wars For Nothing” was written by Boglárka Csemer and Áron Sebestyén, with lyrics by Sára Hélène Bori.
At the time of writing, Hungary had not yet performed in Vienna, so “This should qualify safely” was still a prediction. Not sure it will, but if the stars align then the song in 6/8 time will make Europe sway on Saturday night as well. The symbolism will not be lost on Europe, and no, it’s not too much.
In retrospect, the stars did align: Boggie finished eighth in the first semi-final with 67 points and qualified for the final, where Hungary came 20th with 19 points. The original instinct was right about the song’s quiet force, even if Europe ultimately gave it a fairly modest final-night reward.
