They have just become the most popular people in Hungary – not to mention Britain.But yesterday Britain’s Got Talent winners Attraction revealed that they had been shunned by their home country for years as they struggled for success.
Despite nearly a decade of performing, hardly any of their fellow Hungarians knew their names until they won the ITV competition.Yesterday, as they took a ride on the London Eye, their leader Zoltan Szucs said that despite their success in Britain he and the troupe would always live in Hungary – and now hoped for more opportunities to dance there.He revealed that when they competed on a similar talent show in Hungary, the dance troupe made it only as far as the second round.
Unable to get bookings in any of their country’s premier venues, they were forced to open a dance school to survive and fund their performances.But in contrast to their lack of success at home, they managed to do well in a German talent show and to perform in China as well, before winning over Britain on Saturday night.Attraction’s eight dancers were crowned the Britain’s Got Talent winners with a moving performance that took in tributes to the Queen, Winston Churchill and the London Olympics, ending with an impressive lion finale.Mr Szucs said: ‘I think it was a good final performance. It was dedicated to the British public.’
Asked why the British had taken the dance troupe to their hearts, he said: ‘I think the British public is a very emotional nation.’The £250,000 prize money will now be ploughed back into the dance group to allow them to improve and possibly expand.Despite the troupe’s success on the ITV show, all they ever wanted was to be popular in their own country.In 2006, the group participated in the popular show Csillag szuletik, a Hungarian X Factor-style show which translates as A Star is Born.Their efforts only secured them an invitation to perform in Turkey and then Dubai instead of the popularity they were hoping for at home.
They first represented Hungary abroad in 2010 at the Shanghai World Fair, but the event went almost unnoticed in their home country in a handful of reviews.Their biggest ever gig in Hungary was the opening performance at the Olympic Oath Ceremony for London 2012 in Budapest’s Palace of the Arts, but they were barely mentioned in the local press.They performed the same act at the German Das Supertalent competitions and managed to get into the finals with it.Leader of the group Zoltan Szucs said: ‘We have got into a few talent search productions in the past, but the success we have had with Britain’s Got Talent is nowhere near where we’ve been in the past.
‘In Hungary at a similar talent search show we only made it to the second round of the preliminaries. In Germany we have tried our best too, but we only made it to the 24 best.‘Our name was not a household name until now in Hungary.’He described England as the ‘land of hope’ and said he was pleased that his group had won the competition.Szucs said that the lack of support in Hungary had changed since he appeared on Britain’s Got Talent and their popularity had increased.Last week he said: ‘I mean even the cook of our hotel came out of his kitchen to tell us, he is happy to know we are in his particular hotel.
‘He congratulated all of us, and before we knew it, the hotel’s management gave us nicer rooms to stay in. That felt fantastic.‘What I never even dreamed of with my band, slowly became a reality just now’.Szucs insists that he and the rest of the troupe would always live in Hungary.He said: ‘Dancing across the globe would be nice, but to move away for good would be just too much, I think.‘Therefore I hope, that after winning the British talent show we could perhaps get more opportunities to dance in Hungary too.’ – DailyMail
