Tuesday 12 May 2009

Zoli met Anastasia!

Anastasia Prikhodko, who will represent Russia, wanted to meet Zoli Ádok. Due to the rainy day they had a date in a Russian restaurant near the Olimpisky Arena. Anastasia and Zoli were talking about the upcoming Song Contest and some private details of their life.



Monday 11 May 2009

Graffiti Party

Sunday afternoon Zoli and his team painted graffiti. Channel One Russia organized an event where ten countries could paint in a huge Eurovision wall. Hungarian performers created a red-white-green heart with the "Hungary" tag.






Press conference with Putin

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin surprised us during our second press conference. Putin made a short visit to the Arena, and he entered the room when the Hungarian delegation started the press conference. It was great :)

Wednesday 6 May 2009

Backstage photos






Privet Moscow!

Photos about our first day in Moscow

Travelling


On the plane













At the airport


Thursday 30 April 2009

You Will Survive


The first ESC aspirant of Hungary was Andrea Szulák with Árva Reggel (Lonely morning) in 1993. Now she is a host at Hungarian Television and a successful singer. This year Andrea was member of the internal jury of MTV. At the party Andrea addressed a song to her little bit anxious successor. Andrea and Zoli’s vocalists, Kasai and Gábor Heincz performed I Will Survive in an unplugged version.

Kasai is a Caribbean-American pianist, who has been living in Hungary for a long time, he is the lyricist of Dance With Me as well. Gábor Heincz “Biga” is also a musician, he plays guitar. Both of them could prove to have amazing voices during the farewell party when they sang Dance With Me - in jazz style.

Fortune Pigs


You need three important things as provisions – said Mr Attila Várkonyi Editor in Chief of MTV’s Entertainment Programmes. A lot of energy, so we give you Russian chocolate to have energy for the strict rehearsals. A lot of luck, so we give you Hungarian hand-made Marzipan Fortune Pigs. And last but not least, a lot of optimism, although you did your best to achieve a good result. So you get a bottle of Russian Champagne to clink with it whatever to be in Moscow.

Russian Good Luck


“Ни пуха, ни пера!”– Mr Valery Platonov Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of Russian Federation in Budapest felicitated the Hungarian performers on the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest with this old Russian phrase. He said Russian people are very proud of organizing this huge event in Moscow. Mr Platonov added: they will invite Zoli Ádok and his team again with pleasure if Hungarians win the contest.

Hungary said goodbye to Zoli Ádok















Hungarian performers are ready for the 54th Eurovision Song Contest. The skilled dancer and singer Zoli, his dancers and vocalists have been rehearsing for two months in strictest confidence and they still regard their final choreography and dresses as a secret.

MTV Hungarian Television organized a Good Bye Party in honour of Zoli Ádok and his great team in the Russian Culture Centre of Budapest on 29th April when the friends, fans and journalists could wish them good luck.

Thursday 16 April 2009

Naray's Russian Collection: Winter Palace

Luxurious richness and closed form design of the pravo-slavic tsars’ culture is blossomed out in a modern interpretation: empire waistline, fine materials and ornaments like a jewel – with these words Naray described his Russian collection called “Winter Palace” which was presented in his last fashion show. The world tour collection itself has been inspired by a travelling, and the most successful tour was the Russian one.

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Tamas Naray and his Eurovision Song Contest

Tamas Naray is a maximalist and uncompromising man. That is why the well-known designer also pays huge attention to the Hungarian Eurovision dresses. Besides of creating glamorous costumes we also have to focus on the feeling of this up-tempo song – says Naray. Our performers should manage to show the best in these costumes – he adds. As costume designer of the European champion figure skater Julia Sebestyen, he exactly knows what kind of dresses meet all of these extreme requirements.

Although Naray is a well-recognized designer in the European fashion world he regards this task as a great challenge. We have only three minutes to catch 200 million viewers’ attention. Costumes also can play an important role in it – he claims.

FASHION! FASHION!

Hot Dress for Hungary


One of the most recognized Hungarian designers creates the Hungarian dresses for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Tamas Naray who is also famous for his magnificent and impressive wears, dreams fever costumes for Zoli Adok and his sexy dancer girls.

Zoli is very proud of working with Mr Naray. Tamas is a celebrated designer and wearing his costumes is a huge honour for me, he says. I am really happy that such an excellent team works on our performance.

Thursday 2 April 2009

Spectacular, spectacular!

We bring the most spectacular show Hungary has ever performed in the history of the contest - promise Zoli Ádok and his dancers. “We will upgrade our performance with extravagant acrobatic elements. Luckily, both Zoli and the dancers get along easily with even the most difficult movements”, choreographer Timi Papp said at a public dance rehearsal in Budapest on 1 April.
Titanilla, Zoli, Zita, Timi

It was also revealed who will support Zoli on stage as dancers: Hungary’s well-known choreographer Timi Papp, Titanilla Béli, starring in the “Dance with me” videoclip and a celebrated Hungarian talent, Zita Karsai. (scroll down or click)

Amazing dancers

The three beautiful dancers are also among the best Hungarian artists.


Titanilla Béli starring in the “Dance with me” videoclip studied dance in Brighton, UK and now works as a dancer and actress. Since 1998 Zoli and Tita have always been working together. They are dance partners and best friends as you can see on this photo taken in 2000:




Zita Karsai first appeared in Hungary in a televised dancing talent show. Just like Zoli Ádok and Timi Papp, she also began her studies at the Artistic College in Pécs. Besides her dancing engagements in Hungary she also used to work a lot abroad, so as in London, Mallorca, Ibiza.





Timi Papp, choreographer of the ESC performance, has been dancing since the very age of three. By the age of 10 she already breakdanced on the streets. She studied at the Rotterdam Dansakademie specializing on modern- and jazz dance. Back in Hungary she has worked as choreographer.






The hills are alive with the sound of music


I started to train for the contest because I have to dance besides of singing – said Zoli Ádok, the only singer at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest who has a dancer carrier as well. While I am running outdoors I also sing my song in order to increase my lung capacity. Controlling my breath is essential for me as a singer and dancer. Therefore I do a lot of exercise although I feel quite well-trained due to my musical acting engagements.

Monday 30 March 2009

Singing while dancing. Mission: Impossible?

Every proficient performer knows exactly that it is one of the most difficult challenges to sing and to dance simultaneously.

If you want to sing and to dance on stage at the same time, your mind has to switch off one of them – says Zoli Ádok, the only performer at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest who is a well-skilled singer and dancer as well.

As a graduate in psychology Zoli claims: people can concentrate on only one thing at one time. So he has to focus his attention on singing because dancing comes automatically for a former dancer and figure-skating champion.

Yes, Zoli was a junior champion in figure-skating as well and due to his previous gymnast practice he is able to do the most acrobatic feats during his stage performances.

Fan of ESC


No matter where I travelled, I watched the ESC every year, Zoli tells. “I have a lot of foreign friends. We organized a huge party in honour of the ESC and everyone brought some typical alcoholic beverages of their homeland. During each song everyone had to drink some of the matching drink. By the end of the programme we were in quite a good mood.”

What a surprise!


The Hungarian performer will not tell any details of the conception of his performance before the first open rehearsal. “I think it should be seen in Moscow for the first time ever. Let us explode like a bomb!” – Zoli said. One thing seems to be sure: he will work with most respectable experts so the audience of the Eurovision Song Contest can be prepared for an amazing and spectacular show.

Did you know?

Zoli will graduate in psychology in June. He is writing his thesis on "Mental states on stage" so as the strange situation when a performer on stage does not feel any pain or fear.

Sunday 22 March 2009

DANCE WITH ME - in Moscow

Zoli Ádok to sing for Hungary

MTV Hungarian Television announced at a press conference on 23 February that this year's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest will be the song "Dance with me" performed by Zoli Ádok.

"Dance With Me is a joyful, dynamic song and we hope that it will rock the Olympic Stadium in Moscow as well as the millions of viewers at home." Jury member and creative director Zsolt Lengyel will work out the on-stage performance of the song together with Zoli Ádok during the next weeks. "It is very extraordinary that a good singer is also a skilled dancer at the same time. Professional motion and a confident stage presence are necessary requirements in order to give a spectacular show." - explained Zsolt Lengyel the decision of the jury. Jury member Gábor Gundel Takács who will be Hungary's commentator this year again, added: "The Eurovision Song Contest started as a competition of songs 54 years ago but became Europe's favourite tv-show with a three-part series of gigantic live events by now."

Zoli Ádok graduated in Pécs as a ballet dancer and then travelled around theDőlt world as a professional dance artist and musical actor. As a result, he speaks fluently English and German, moreover he has no difficulties with Spanish either. He performed in Switzerland in the musical Fame and he starred in the musical Cats in Berlin. With the latter he stood 500 times on stage! At home in Hungary he is a regular artist of the Operetta Theatre and the Madách Theatre. Zoli will perform the English version of his single "Tánclépés" which is also the title of his first album released in November 2008.