AWS lead singer Örs Siklósi has died

Members of the band released a statement on their social media pages, stating:

"To say the indescribable, to describe the indescribable. That is what we now have to do. In June, Örs was diagnosed with leukaemia. We now have to inform you with a broken heart that on 5 February our partner, friend and brother Örs Siklósi has passed away at the age of 29 after a long struggle."

AWS, short for Ants With Slippers, won the Hungarian national selection A Dal in 2018 with their song Viszlát nyár. With that, they won the right to represent their country at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon. At the Eurovision Song Contest, the band created a truly legendary performance which qualified them for the Grand Final.

Örs Siklósi was planning on opening up about his battle with cancer in January and was preparing to release his first solo record in the spring. His AWS bandmates added to their statement: "His creativity, the depth of his lyrics and his presence on stage will be greatly missed. Losing him is beyond our reach and he will leave a vast space not just in our lives but also in the music scene".

On behalf of the entire Eurovision community, we would like to express our deepest condolences to Örs' family, friends and the band members of AWS.