Hungary & Diversity in 2017

In 2017, Hungary was represented by Joci Pápai’s “Origo,” a song he wrote and produced himself about his experience of growing up as a Roma person in Hungary. The theme of the year was “Celebrating Diversity,” making “Origo” a fitting entry. For a nation where over 85% of the population is ethnically Hungarian, sending a performer of an oppressed ethnic minority was a fitting submission. The theme of “Celebrating Diversity” may have influenced the selection of this particular song. Hungary rarely features Romani culture or identity in their Eurovision entries, and it clashes with what many consider to be their National Identity. As previously discussed on this blog, the Hungarian national identity is rather homogenous. The majority of the population are ethnically Hungarian, and are Hungarian speakers. National policy enforced by the government has been historically xenophobic and exclusive. “Origo,” a song about the experience of an ethnic minority, is antithetical to this identity. Hungary has a history of using the Romani people as an “other” in order to strengthen this idea that the national identity is an ethnically Hungarian one. Thus, Joci Pápai’s participation as the Hungarian entry into the Eurovision Song Contest could be seen as departure from the national identity of his home country. His intention for the song was both to bring his own truth to the Eurovision stage, as well as send a message of hope to his audience, specifically the Roma population living in Hungary. (Hungary's Joci: "Hopefully my prayer will be answered" 2017)

The lyrics, all of which are in Hungarian, tell a heartfelt story about feeling forgotten, ignored, and then finally finding hope for eventual recognition. The two verses largely speak to the struggles that Pápai has experienced while living as an ethnic minority in Hungary. He asks the subject, a “you” who may either be God or the audience to “see [him] clear, without disguise.” He later states that he “was meant to be a John Doe.” Both of these lines illustrate how Pápai feels that his personal identity has been hidden or erased due to racial discrimination in his country. He ends the verse stating that, “the Lord is mindful of His own.” Pápai is Catholic, and this first verse is phrased almost like a prayer. Roman Catholicism is the most popular religion in Hungary, with 37.2% of the population practicing or identifying with it (Hungary - The World Factbook, 2021). Thus, this first verse speaks to Pápai’s personal experience and is related to the general experience of being an ethnic minority in the country, using religion as a vehicle for relatability, sympathy, and storytelling.

The second verse speaks more directly to the impact of racial discrimination against the Romani people. The line, “My skin’s color will stop the show,” directly references his position as an ethnic minority representing his country at Eurovision. He acknowledges that his Romani background will draw a lot of attention in this particular setting, as it contrasts with the largely homogenous Hungarian population.

As far as I can tell, the chorus translates to a repetition of, “it’s a dream, it’s a dream, it’s a nightmare.” This isn’t entirely clear, as an official translation of the chorus is not provided by the ESC website, but this is the best I can piece together between google translate and a Hungarian online dictionary. By describing his experiences as both a dream and a nightmare, Pápai illustrates how his success in the music industry feels bitter in the face of racial discrimination and injustice for his people. It could also refer to the general experience of living life as an oppressed ethnic minority.

The song includes two sung verses, two long instrumental breaks, and a rapped verse. While the two verses spoke to Pápai’s feelings and experiences, the rap verse is where he introduces a message of hope. He refers to God, saying that He is a friend to be trusted, and that God has armed him with a “weapon” to set him free. One can infer that the weapon is music, and an international platform on which to bring awareness to his situation. “The tears of thousands streaming down my guitar,” shows how this is a song dedicated to all the Romani people who have suffered displacement, oppression, and genocide. The lyrics of the sung verses speak to a personal suffering, while the rap leans more into a hope for Joci’s people.

The use of a Romani dancer on stage and the blending of musical styles can be read as using orientalism to Hungary’s advantage in the contest. Since the majority of the Eurovision audience does not speak Hungarian, the detail and nuance of the lyrics is lost. A non-Hungarian-speaking audience thus is left with a somewhat plain presentation that uses Eastern sounding music and Roma bodies as its focal point. While Joci’s intentions for the song are to spread hope and bring awareness to his experience and the experience of the Roma people, the song might not have that level of impact for the majority of his audience, since the nature of an international stage and live performance robs the song of its context.

This is not as bad as, say, Italy’s “Occidentali’s Karma” (Francesco Gabbani, 2017) from the same year. While Italy’s performance showed cherry-picked, cheapened Eastern imagery and relied on the Italian lyrics to convey a sense of irony, it seems that every element of “Origo” is sincere. From the heartfelt performance by the Joci Pápai, and the dancer, Alexandra Virág, that accompanies him on the main stage, to the music that pays obvious homage to both the Romani musical culture Pápai was raised with and the Hip-Hop scene that allowed him to blossom, “Origo” presents a unified message of struggle and hope.

The root of the struggle in question comes from the tension between the Hungarian government, the nation’s assumed identity, and the way both exclude the notable Romani population. The current government has proven to be extremely xenophobic, and has thus fostered a culture that celebrates a homogenous population and narrow definition of what is and isn’t “Hungarian.” (Goździak E.M., 2019) Some of this tension may be represented in the staging of the performance. On the main stage, Joci Pápai and Alexandra Virág, both performers of Romani descent, are framed as focal points. The choreography keeps them relatively centered and close together, and for the first minute of the performance, they are the only two visible. During the chorus of the song, a spotlight comes up on the satellite stage, revealing a violinist. The musician on this second stage, Emese Kapcsos, is a former violin instructor at The British International School in Budapest. (Eurovision Song Contest, 2017) She appears to be a white woman and she has a Hungarian name, but with no social media, biography, or background to be found online, I cannot say what exactly her ethnicity is. However, if she were ethnically Hungarian, it would add an extra layer to the performance. Kapcsos gives a very different performance than her countrymen on the main stage. Her wide smiles and upbeat sway are in heavy contrast to the pleading and desperate expressions of the other two. It is also interesting to note that she performs the entire song with the main stage to her back. This could be read as a visually staged metaphor for the way the Hungarian government has turned a blind eye to it’s Romani population.

“Origo” tells the story of Joci Pápai’s experience of growing up in Hungary as an ethnic minority. The narrative of the song is somewhat contradictory to the National Identity of Hungary, a nation whose population is 85.6% ethnically Hungarian. (Hungary - The World Factbook, 2021) But the song is about the experience of a group of people that the country has specifically identified as an “other” which still offers insight into how the Hungarian identity has been constructed.

The performance isn’t a total contradiction, though. The lyrics are entirely in Hungarian, the only official language of the country, which is spoken by the majority of the population. (Hungary - The World Factbook, 2021) The use of the language paired with the culturally distinct musical style and visuals left a clear impression on Eurovision audiences, letting the song stand out amongst its competitors, and contributing to its rank in 8th place overall.

Word Count: 1389

References Anna Triandafyllidou. (1998). National identity and the 'other'. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21, 543-612. 

Eurovision Song Contest. (2017). nordangliaeducation.com. https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/our-schools/budapest/article/2017/5/18/eurovision-song-contest 

GHEORGHE, N. (1991). Roma-Gypsy Ethnicity in Eastern Europe. Social Research, 58(4), 829-844. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40970676 

Goździak, E. M. (2019). Using Fear of the “Other,” Orbán Reshapes Migration Policy in a Hungary Built on Cultural Diversity. migrationpolicy.org. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/orb%C3%A1n-reshapes-migration-policy-hungary Hungary - 

The World Factbook. (2021). www.cia.gov. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/hungary/ 

Hungary's Joci: "Hopefully my prayer will be answered". (2017). Eurovision.tv. https://eurovision.tv/story/hungary-2017-joci-papai-first-rehearsal 

Joci Pápai. (2020). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joci_P%C3%A1pai&oldid=996338178 

Joci Pápai - Hungary - Kyiv 2017. Eurovision.tv. https://eurovision.tv/participant/joci-papai 

Joci Pápai "Origo" (2017).https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5m6in1 

Origo. sixonstage.com. https://sixonstage.com/song/2017/hungary wiwibloggs. (2017, -05-02). 

Hungary Press Conference — Joci Pápai "Origo" Eurovision 2017 | wiwibloggs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVMr6w4zrS4&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=wiwibloggs