András Kállay-Saunders

Kállay-Saunders

András Kállay-Saunders (2014)
Background information
Birth name Andras Kallay-Saunders
Also known as Kállay Saunders
Born (1985-01-28) 28 January 1985
New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres R&B, pop, soul
Occupation(s) Singer, record producer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2010–present
Labels Today Is Vintage

András Kállay-Saunders (born 28 January 1985), also known as Kállay Saunders, is a Hungarian American recording artist, songwriter and record producer. He represented Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark with the song "Running".

Early life

András Kállay-Saunders was born in New York City, United States to Hungarian model Katalin Kállay and American soul-singer and producer Fernando Saunders. He is a descendant of the noble Kállay family from maternal side.[1]

Throughout most of his childhood years Kállay’s father was touring the world and playing his music among legends such Luciano Pavarotti, Jeff Beck, Lou Reed and many more but every now and then Fernando would bring along his son to observe.[2] His father would take him to Detroit and show him how it all started; the corners he sang on, places he played. By doing so, Fernando planted the Motown roots deep within Kallay’s soul.[3]

In 2010 Kállay decided to visit Hungary to spend time with his grandmother who was ill at the time. During his visit in Hungary he noticed a TV commercial urging talented singers to audition for the nations talent competition Megasztár.[4]

Career

Kállay ended up finishing fourth in the contest and shortly after signed to Universal and permanently moved to Hungary. Kállay released two singles under Universal, "Csak Veled" "I Love You" both of which became smash hits in Hungary, peaking respectively #7 and #2 on the Top 40 Hungarian Billboards.[5]

In August 2012 Kállay collaborated with Swedish rapper Rebstar and American producer DJ Pain 1 on Kállays single "Tonight". "Tonight" peaked #4 on the Top 40 Hungarian Billboards, making it Kállay's third hit single to reach the top 10 charts.[6][7]

In November 2012 Kállay announced his departure from Universal and signed a worldwide record deal with Swedish record label Today Is Vintage.[8]

Kállay performing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

On 20 December 2012 Kállay released his single "My Baby" which also serves as his contribution in the Hungarian "A Dal" Eurovision Song Contest. On 9 February Kállay performed the song in the contest to critical acclaim, garnering 48 out of a maximum of 50 points voted by the jury.[9] Following the performance, My Baby catapulted to #1 on iTunes (Hungary).[10] The music video for My Baby was released on 8 February 2013 and is directed by Los Tiki Pictures.[11] My Baby peaked #1 on the Hungarian iTunes store on 3 March 2013, and charted #1 on the Hungarian Top 40 Radio Charts on 11 April 2013.

Kállay is currently working on his debut album which was slated for a 2013 release through Today Is Vintage, titled Delivery Boy. It was subsequently released in 2015 on iTunes.[12]

Kállay represented Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He came 5th place with his song Running.

Since the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, András has since went on to found his own band, Kállay-Saunders Band. He has since then released multiple singles with the band, and collaborated with A Dal 2015 participants, creating acoustic versions of their songs and performing as an interval act in the show. His last album Delivery Boy was one of the 19 records nominated for the IMPALA Album of the Year Award.[13]

He, again, has returned to the 2016 edition of A Dal, this time with his band and vocalist Antonia Vai, performing Who We Are. They made it to the last four finalists, but didn't win.

Discography

Singles

Single Year Peak chart positions Album
HUN DEN
[14]		 GER
[15]		 IRE
[16]		 UK
[17]
"Csak Veled" (Only with You) 2011 — — — — — Non-album singles
"I Love You" 2012 — — — — —
"Tonight"
(feat. Rebstar)		 — — — — —
"My Baby" 2013 1 — — — —
"Play My Song"
(feat. Rebstar)		 — — — — —
"Running" 2014 1 40 93 92 116 Delivery Boy (with Kállay-Saunders band)
"Juliet" — — — — —
"Victory" 2015 — — — — —
"Faded" — — — — —
"Young" — — — — —
"Who We Are" 2016 — — — — — TBA
"#Grind" — — — — —
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released.

See also

References

Sources

  1. ↑ "Előkelő család sarja Kállay-Saunders". Blikk.hu. 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  2. ↑ "Hungary: András Kállay-Saunders [Interview] | escXtra". Escxtra.com. 2012-01-28. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  3. ↑ "AKTÍV / Külföldi fellépésekre számít Kállay-Saunders András / tv2.hu / TV2". Tv2.hu. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  4. ↑ "AKTÍV / Kállay-Saunders új videoklipjének forgatásán fehár lovon vágtázott / tv2.hu / TV2". Tv2.hu. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  5. ↑ "Archívum - Slágerlisták - MAHASZ - Magyar Hangfelvétel-kiadók Szövetsége". Mahasz.hu. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  6. ↑ "Archívum - Slágerlisták - MAHASZ - Magyar Hangfelvétel-kiadók Szövetsége". Mahasz.hu. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  7. ↑ "Kereső - előadó/cím szerint - Archívum - MAHASZ - Magyar Hangfelvétel-kiadók Szövetsége". Zene.slagerlistak.hu. Archived from the original on 2012-12-27. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  8. ↑ "Today Is Vintage signs worldwide deal with Kállay Saunders". Todayisvintage.se. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  9. ↑ http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=hungary_second_set_of_semi-finalists_chosen
  10. ↑ http://www.todayisvintage.se/post/42916705522/numero-uno[]
  11. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gDPSSOfvUs
  12. ↑ "Kallay Saunders - från soffa till skivkontrakt - Din Gata 100,6". Sverigesradio.se. 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2013-01-06.
  13. ↑ "Young labels featured in shortlist for IMPALA Album of the Year Award". sur impalamusic.org.
  14. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discography András Kállay-Saunders". Danish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  15. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discographie András Kállay-Saunders". German Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  16. ↑ Peak positions in Ireland:
  17. ↑ Peak positions in the United Kingdom:

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