Ukulele on #bochkor

When I started the blog in 2010, my goal was to introduce the ukulele and ukulele playing to as many people as possible and through it show the joy that can be found in music and making music. I hope that over the years more and more Hungaria ukulele players have appeared who also see it as their mission to spread a love of music. Before the evening of 24 March, perhaps the greatest exposure the ukulele had received in Hungary was in 2019, when I was invited to Retro Rádió and introduced the instrument on a morning programme. Last week I received the honour of an invitation from András Sváby to join him in playing ukulele on the programme #bochkor, broadcast on the evening of 24 March 2024, to surprise Gábor Bochkor on his 60th birthday. I was delighted to accept: we were able to greet one of Hungary's most popular radio and television personalities at the end of the show, and I was also very happy that the ukulele appeared on television and—hopefully—its sound reached a great many people. How did all this happen? That is what this post is about, including a few behind-the-scenes details .

The story goes back to an earlier episode of #bochkor, when András revealed that learning to play the ukulele was on his bucket list. My parents saw / heard this and told me about it. Well, that was all the encouragement I needed... after a short exchange of messages András was already strumming with us at a ukulele course—last year at Course Iand this year at Course II. In the middle of last week András wrote to ask whether I would like to appear as a surprise guest, play chords with him and help congratulate Gábor at the end of the programme recording. Of course I very much wanted to . After a little organizing, on the afternoon of 21 March 2024 I was already at the ATV studio, where András and I went over the chords one more time.

Not long afterwards I was waiting in the studio to be fitted with a microphone, while also meeting some of the television colleagues responsible for making the recording run smoothly. It was fascinating to become part of the process: everything worked extremely smoothly and professionally. Every step had been planned, including how András's ukulele and mine would be brought to us unnoticed so that Gábor would not see them during the recording—the whole point was that it was a surprise. Hats off to the crew. I would also like to thank Sanyi and Robi, whose relaxed manner, helpfulness and all-round friendliness helped me feel comfortable—almost at home—in the studio.

They left a seat free for me in the audience so that when it was time to play together I could easily step over to András. Recording began, and I greatly enjoyed listening to the answers and jokes from András Sváby, Szandi, András Csonka and Évi Risztov in response to Gábor's questions. The last time I had been in such a serious television studio was Children's Day in 1987 at Hungarian Television , appearing alongside Péter Levente. Just as then, I was drawn in by the atmosphere and the special feeling of the place—although naturally I experienced it very differently from how I did as a child 37 years ago. It was incredible to be there in person for the recording of a programme like this, and very interesting to watch it on television on Sunday evening.

If you missed it, you can catch up on YouTube:

After the recording we had birthday cake, and I was able to exchange a few words with the guests, who were extremely friendly, kind and approachable. We took a group photo, and something happened that I had never even dreamed of: Szandi sang her own Hungarian version of “Stupid Cupid” while I accompanied her on ukulele.

This did not make it into the programme because it happened well after the recording, after I told Szandi that I had “come prepared” . It was incredibly kind of her to enthusiastically sing a verse , and I discovered that her voice is every bit as spectacular live as it sounds elsewhere. I was also able to chat briefly with the other guests. Naturally I congratulated Évi Risztov on her sporting achievements; I confessed to Gábor that eight years earlier I had once ridden in a lift with him (of course he did not remember ); and I told András Csonka that several decades ago I had seen him in a stage production of Grease, and asked him to pass on my greetings to a former colleague who lives in the same building as him . So I had something to talk about with everyone. Naturally the ukulele also came up: Gábor handled and strummed one, and colleagues working in the studio also took a close look at the little instruments .

Overall, last Thursday was an enormous experience for me. I was delighted to accept András Sváby's invitation, and besides the ukulele—or rather ukulele playing—being a birthday surprise, I hope the sound of the instrument reached a great many people.

UPDATE, 28 March 2024: I sent András the link to this blog post, and he forwarded it to the invited guests and to Gábor as well. This morning, on Retro Rádió's Bochkor programme, Gábor mentioned the ukulele birthday greeting with a few kind words and, to my great delight, also read out the website address. Many thanks to him! I have embedded the radio programme below; if you press play, it starts from the ukulele section at 22:20.