Hungary's Roma Star

"Hagyd Meg Nekem a Dalt" or "Let Me Have the Song" is one of Laci Gáspár’s most successful songs, but it is also the story of his life and his yearning to do what he loves most -- making music. In the song, Gáspár asks for a chance he almost never got.

From the start, the odds were heavily stacked against Gáspár, who comes the small town of Balasigyármát, about 80km from Budapest.

His family were poor, and while other children played after school, Gáspár instead dug ditches and saved money for his passion -- singing.

"Our home town was very poor and there were no opportunities there to develop, to meet other musicians," Gáspár said.

Although Gáspár graduated as a plumber, he failed to find employment in this field and took a series of short-term jobs, including working in a mine. However, he never gave up on his dream.

Television launched his career

In 2004, when Gáspár was about to give up on a possible singing career, he was accepted for a tryout for the country’s biggest star-search TV program, Megasztár.

He made the cut out of 4,000 applicants who were eventually whittled down to 10. Each week, the contestants performed to the audience and then one of them was voted off the show by the millions of viewers. Gáspár made the final three and despite not winning, his subsequent music career easily eclipsed that of the winner’s.

"After I was eliminated, the phone rang day and night -- at my home and at the TV station, and producers asked me to perform at different locations. he said.

"The people wanted to see and hear me, and I started performing a lot. And when I performed it got better and better, and people got to know me more."

Hugely successful musician

Since then, Gáspár has recorded three albums. Two these went platinum and the third is well on its way. Last year he performed a special duet with Adrien Szekeres called "Kikötök" or "Ports of Call" which went on to become the year’s biggest hit in Hungary.

But Gáspár is still tormented by his deprived upbringing. He recounted the story of how he used to want a Matchbox car so much as a child, he used to dream he had been given one as a present, only to wake up disappointed in the morning.

"So when my career started taking off I started to feel the same thing," he explained. "I would go on shows, and sing, and was very successful, and saw how the people loved me, and I thought that this was like a dream, and if I wake up, what will happen? So I decided to really push myself musically."

In fact, Gáspár pushed himself too much. He was only sleeping two or three hours a night, and was singing every show live because he hated using playback. In January, he had to have surgery on his vocal chords after more than two years of non-stop performing.

Religion made facing discrimination easier

Gáspár decided early on in life to turn the other cheek if he felt discriminated against because of his gypsy background.

"When I was 13 and at middle school, I went to a store wanting to buy a brand name pair of running shoes which I had saved up for from my summer job earnings," he said. "One of the sales persons looked at my darker skin and told me not to touch anything because the products would get dirty."

The fans certainly don’t seem to care about Gáspár's ethnicity and for the past two years he has easily been the country’s most popular singer. However, Gáspár makes sure that he doesn’t let success get to his head.

"No matter how many awards and prizes I win, I always remember where I came from, remained the person I was and don’t forget to thank those around me," he said.

"I think that everyone should remember that, whether he or she has success or not."