Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Poland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Fire of Love (Pali się)" performed by Tulia.

Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Country Poland
National selection
Selection processInternal Selection
Selection date(s)15 February 2019
Selected entrantTulia
Selected song"Fire of Love (Pali się)"
Selected songwriter(s)Nadia Dalin
Sonia Krasny
Allan Rich
Jud Friedmann
Finals performance
Semi-final resultFailed to qualify (11th, 120 points)
Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2018 • 2019 • 2020►

Background
Main article: Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2019 Contest, Poland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-one times since its first entry in 1994.[1] Poland's highest placement in the contest, to this point, has been second place, which the nation achieved with its debut entry in 1994 with the song "To nie ja!" performed by Edyta Górniak. Poland has only, thus far, reached the top ten on two other occasions, when Ich Troje performing the song "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" finished seventh in 2003 and when Michał Szpak performing the song "Color of Your Life" finished eighth in 2016. Between 2005 and 2011, Poland failed to qualify from the semi-final round six out of seven years with only their 2008 entry, "For Life" performed by Isis Gee, managing to take the nation to the final during that period. After once again failing to qualify to the final in 2011, the country withdrew from the contest during 2012 and 2013. Since returning to the contest in 2014, Poland managed to qualify to the final with both their 2014 entry, "My Słowianie - We Are Slavic" performed by Donatan and Cleo, their 2015 entry "In the Name of Love" performed by Monika Kuszyńska, their 2016 entry "Color of Your Life" performed by Michał Szpak and their 2017 entry "Flashlight" performed by Kasia Moś. In 2018, Poland was represented by Gromee feat. Lukas Meijer with the song "Light Me Up", which placed fourteenth in the semi-final with 81 points, marking the first time Poland failed to qualify to the final since their return in 2014.

The Polish national broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), broadcasts the event within Poland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Between 2006 and 2011, TVP organised televised national finals that featured a competition among several artists and songs in order to select the Polish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. After returning to the contest in 2014 following their two-year absence, the broadcaster opted to internally select both the 2014, 2015 entries. Instead of having the entry being selected through a national final like in 2016, 2017 and 2018. TVP opted for an internal selection this year.

Before Eurovision

Internal Selection

TVP opened a submission period for interested artists and songwriters to submit their entries from 23 January until 5 February 2019. An expert panel reviewed all the submissions, and the selected entry was announced on 15 February 2019.[2]

Music video controversy

The original music video for the song featured a wayside cross, although this cross was later removed in the music video for the song's Eurovision version. Following the realisation that the cross had been removed, allegations of censorship and discrimination against Christians arose.[3] General director of Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) Jacek Kurski called for the record company Universal Music Polska to restore the original version of the music video.[4] The two videos are nearly identical, apart from the erasure of the cross in the Eurovision version.[5][6][7]

Tulia's management stated in an interview that the cross was removed due to European Broadcasting Union (EBU) restrictions on the promotion of political institutions; they also added that they themselves were not responsible for the editing of the video. However, a figure of John of Nepomuk is still visible in the background of the Eurovision version music video.[8]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Poland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show.[9]

Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Poland was set to perform in position 4, following the entry from Finland and preceding the entry from Slovenia.[10]

Semi-final

Poland performed fourth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Finland and preceding the entry from Slovenia. At the end of the show, Poland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the second semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that country placed eleventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 120 points: 60 points from the televoting and 60 points from the juries, but missed qualifying for the final by a mere 2 points difference. With the old voting system, Poland would have ranked 9th with 67 points and would have been qualified instead of Belarus.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results will be released shortly after the grand final.[11]

Points awarded to Poland
Points awarded to Poland (Semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Poland

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Polish jury:[11]

Split voting results from Poland (Semi-final 1)
Draw Country Jury Televote
A. Wyszkoni M. Durczak D. Gawęda P. Rurak-Sokal R. Brzozowski Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Cyprus12146597414
02 Montenegro131512781116
03 Finland9111114610115
04 Poland
05 Slovenia232333838
06 Czech Republic553274765
07 Hungary664645683
08 Belarus1513141151392
09 Serbia4411221074
10 Belgium88791383101
11 Georgia14121310141413
12 Australia11541112210
13 Iceland329151065112
14 Estonia119812121247
15 Portugal77108169211
16 Greece16101513151612
17 San Marino10161616111556
Split voting results from Poland (final)
Draw Country Jury Televote
A. Wyszkoni M. Durczak D. Gawęda P. Rurak-Sokal R. Brzozowski Average Rank Points Rank Points
01 Malta122144207422
02 Albania15141816182023
03 Czech Republic1115691011101
04 Germany21201925162124
05 Russia8132624111683
06 Denmark1777756516
07 San Marino25242226172619
08 North Macedonia991233815
09 Sweden14101311151512
10 Slovenia3321621074
11 Cyprus20171214251920
12 Netherlands10121413714210
13 Greece23192517262425
14 Israel16262418212321
15 Norway751523910138
16 United Kingdom26231612131826
17 Iceland6417221283112
18 Estonia13112121141713
19 Belarus18182020242217
20 Azerbaijan581010199292
21 France2211685611
22 Italy242593231347
23 Serbia463524718
24  Switzerland191681541265
25 Australia1158111256
26 Spain22222319222514
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References
  1. "Poland Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  2. Herbert, Emily (23 January 2019). "Poland: TVP Opens Submissions Window for Eurovision Internal Selection". Eurovoix.
  3. "Cenzura? Krzyż usunięty z anglojęzycznej wersji teledysku Tulii "Pali się"". gosc.pl. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  4. "Prezes Kurski: "Nikt z Telewizji nie wyraził zgody na usunięcie znaku Krzyża z teledysku piosenki "Pali się" zespołu Tulia"". wpolityce.pl. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  5. "Tulia - Fire of Love (Pali Się) - Poland Eurovision 2019". YouTube: TuliaVEVO. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  6. "Tulia - Pali Się". YouTube: TuliaVEVO. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  7. "Teledysk bez przydrożnego krzyża. Z angielskiej wersji polskiej piosenki na Eurowizję po prostu go wycięto". natemat.pl. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  8. "Usunięto krzyż z teledysku Tulii. Jest oświadczenie". dorzeczy.pl. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  9. Jordan, Paul (28 January 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Which country takes part in which Semi-Final?". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  10. "Exclusive: This is the Eurovision 2019 Semi-Final running order!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  11. Groot, Evert (30 April 2019). "EExclusive: They are the judges who will vote in Eurovision 2019!". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
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