Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997

Hungary was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 with the song "Miért kell, hogy elmenj?", composed by Viktor Rakonczai, with lyrics by Krisztina Bokor Fekete, and performed by the band V.I.P. The Hungarian participating broadcaster, Magyar Televízió, selected its entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision

Magyar Televízió held the national final on 28 February 1997 at its television studios in Budapest, hosted by István Vágó. 19 songs took part with the winner being chosen by voting from five regional juries, who each awarded 10-7-5-3-1 to their top five songs.

Draw	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Rockfort	"Jolly"	14	3
2	Marianna Rozsi	"Nem bújhatsz el"	0	14
3	Adrienne Almási	"Eltévedt üzenet"	0	14
4	Szerda Délután	"Valami eltűnt"	0	14
5	Melinda and Lui	"Talán"	0	14
6	Orsi	"Választok egy csillagot"	10	6
7	V.I.P.	"Miért kell, hogy elmenj?"	27	1
8	Orsolya Ferencz	"Ne bántsd a feketerigót"	0	14
9	CET	"Egy pillanat volt"	12	5
10	Péter Popper	"Szavak nélkül"	5	9
11	Veronika Nádasi	"Tavasz a télben"	21	2
12	Csilla Auth	"Nem lehet az utolsó az első szerelem"	3	11
13	Dina	"Ugye szólsz"	5	9
14	Cotton Club Singers	"Úgy szeress, mint én"	8	7
15	Gábor Majsai	"Mitől olvad a szíved fel?"	3	11
16	Harvest	"A hatordik sorban"	0	14
17	Yellow Rebel	"Csak te legyél"	1	13
18	Tamas Takáts	"Újra itt volnál"	8	7
19	Renáta Krassy	"Dal neked"	13	4

On the night of the final V.I.P. performed 19th in the running order, following and preceding. At the close of voting "Miért kell, hogy elmenj?" had picked up 39 points, placing Hungary joint 12th of the 25 entries. The Hungarian jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners the United Kingdom.