| Year: | 1997 |
| Country: | Hungary |
| Preselection: | National final |
| Preselection Date: | 28 February 1997 |
| Entrant: | V.I.P. |
| Song: | Miért kell, hogy elmenj? |
| Final Result: | 12th, 39 points |
Hungary was represented by boyband V.I.P., with the song "Miért kell, hogy elmenj?", at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, which took place on 3 May in Dublin. "Miért kell, hogy elmenj?" was chosen as the Hungarian entry at the national final on 28 February.
The national final was organised by broadcaster Magyar Televízió (MTV) and was held at their 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.[1]
| 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 |
| Detailed Regional Jury Votes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Debrecen | Szeged | Pécs | Szombathely | Budapest | Total | |
| 1 | "Jolly" | 10 | 1 | 3 | 14 | |||
| 2 | "Nem bújhatsz el" | 0 | ||||||
| 3 | "Eltévedt üzenet" | 0 | ||||||
| 4 | "Valami eltűnt" | 0 | ||||||
| 5 | "Talán" | 0 | ||||||
| 6 | "Választok egy csillagot" | 10 | 10 | |||||
| 7 | "Miért kell, hogy elmenj?" | 3 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 27 | ||
| 8 | "Ne bántsd a feketerigót" | 0 | ||||||
| 9 | "Egy pillanat volt" | 7 | 5 | 12 | ||||
| 10 | "Szavak nélkül" | 5 | 5 | |||||
| 11 | "Tavasz a télben" | 1 | 10 | 10 | 21 | |||
| 12 | "Nem lehet az utolsó az első szerelem" | 3 | 3 | |||||
| 13 | "Ugye szólsz" | 5 | 5 | |||||
| 14 | "Úgy szeress, mint én" | 5 | 3 | 8 | ||||
| 15 | "Mitől olvad a szíved fel?" | 3 | 3 | |||||
| 16 | "A hatordik sorban" | 0 | ||||||
| 17 | "Csak te legyél" | 1 | 1 | |||||
| 18 | "Újra itt volnál" | 1 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| 19 | "Dal neked" | 7 | 5 | 1 | 13 | |||
Heading into the final of the contest, RTÉ reported that bookmakers ranked the entry 8th out of the 25 entries.[2] On the night of the final V.I.P. performed 19th in the running order, following Malta and preceding Russia. At the close of voting "Miért kell, hogy elmenj?" had picked up 39 points, placing Hungary joint 12th (with Greece) of the 25 entries.[3] The Hungarian jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners the United Kingdom.[4]