Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Poland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 22 times since its debut in 1994. Although Poland did not become a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) until 1993, earlier contests had often been broadcast on Telewizja Polska (TVP), the Polish broadcaster.

Poland
Member stationTVP
National selection events
Participation summary
Appearances22 (14 finals)
First appearance1994
Best result2nd: 1994
External links
TVP page
Poland's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see
Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Poland's debut in the contest in 1994 remains its most successful entry, with Edyta Górniak finishing second. This remains Poland's only top five result in the contest. The country reached the top ten for the second time with Ich Troje finishing seventh in 2003. Poland then failed to qualify from the semi-finals in six out of seven years between 2005 and 2011, before withdrawing from the contest in 2012 and 2013. Since returning in 2014, Poland had qualified for the final for four consecutive years (2014–2017), achieving a third top ten finish in 2016, with Michał Szpak finishing eighth. Since 2018 the country failed to qualify two times in row (2018–2019)

History

The first ever performance by Poland was at the 1994 contest: Edyta Górniak's song was also by far the most successful for Poland to date, receiving 166 points and placing second. Poland was almost disqualified that year though; there was no free-language rule in operation at the time, and a furor erupted at the dress rehearsal when Górniak sung the second half of "To nie ja!" in English. Six national delegations formally petitioned for Poland to be disqualified; however Eurovision rules required a majority of delegations (13 in this case) to complain before the European Broadcasting Union could examine the case for disqualification, so Poland was allowed to remain.

The Polish entry for the 1995 contest was again selected through internally was Justyna Steczkowska with "Sama". Steczkowska could not replicate Górniak's 2nd place, receiving only 15 points and placing 18th.

The 1996 entry was Kasia Kowalska with "Chcę znać swój grzech...". It placed 15th with 31 points.

Poland competed in the 1997 competition with the song "Ale jestem" , was the first uptempo Polish entry, which was performed by Anna Maria Jopek .At the close of voting, it had received 54 points, placing 11th in a field of 25.

In 1998 Poland was represented by band Sixteen they performed the song "To Takie Proste" in the final of the competition, finishing 17th of 25 entrants.

in 1999 Mietek Szcześniak represented Poland with the song "Przytul mnie mocno",he also was the first man who represented his country. He placed 18th with 17 points.

Poland returned to Eurovision following an enforced one-year absence 2002.

For the 2003 contest Poland organized its first public selection for Eurovision entry; It was no surprise when the group Ich Troje won the public vote ahead of Blue Café, placing 7th of 26 countries in the final. This placing allowed Poland to skip the semi-final of the 2004 contest, automatically qualifying for the final.

The Polish entry for the 2004 contest was again selected through National Final, the winner of Krajowe Eliminacje was Blue Café with "Love Song". Group could not replicate Ich Troje's 7th place, receiving only 27 points and placing 17th.

In 2005 TVP went back to an internal selection, picking "Czarna dziewczyna", a multilingual song performed in Polish and Russian.Poland competed first time at the semi-final. The song just missed out on a place in the final, coming 11th in the semi-final with 81 points only 4-point behind Latvia.

Poland's 2006 entry with the comeback of the public vote on TVP, Ich Troje were chosen again in 2006 with song "Follow My Heart", but could not repeat their 7th place from 2003 failed to qualify for the final, coming 11th with 70 points in the semi-final only 5-point behind Macedonia. Poland's 2007 entry, "Time To Party", sung by The Jet Set, only finished 14th in the semi-final.

Poland's only appearance in the final between 2005 and 2011, was in 2008. Even then, its song ("For Life", sung by Isis Gee) placed a lowly 24th.

In the 2009, Poland selected Lidia Kopania and her song "I Don't Wanna Leave" performed in the second semi-final on 14 May 2009, however she failed to qualify finished 12th with 43 points.

The 2010 entry for Poland was Marcin Mroziński with song "Legenda", country performed in the first semi-final on 25 May 2010 but he didn't qualify for the final, finishing 13th with 44 points.

In 2011, Poland was represented by Magdalena Tul, and the country's entry was sung in Polish. Her song was called "Jestem", translated as "I am", although initially a favorite with bookmakers, "Jestem" failed to qualify finished last 19th with 18 points in the first semi-final. This is the worst Polish result to date.

Members of the Polish OGAE have said at their annual convention that they would like Edyta Górniak to represent Poland for a second time. For years it was unknown if Górniak would enter Eurovision again,[1] until when in 2016 she made a second attempt at representing her country in the contest, placing third in the national final.

2012–2013 absence

In December 2011, it was announced that Poland would not compete at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku. The Polish broadcaster stated that having to organize the European Football Championship 2012 (hosted by Poland and Ukraine) was a major factor in their non-participation.[2] TVP informed esctoday.com that their decision to abstain would not hamper their chances of returning in 2013. However, Poland confirmed on 22 November 2012 that it would not be participating in {{Escyr|2013.[3]

Return

TVP, the Polish national broadcaster has confirmed on 5 December 2013 that Poland will return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014.[4][5] On 25 February, it was announced that Donatan and Cleo would represent Poland with their song "My Słowianie".[6] They qualified for the final placing 8th with 70 points, making it only the second time Poland has qualified for the final since 2008. Donatan and Cleo performed 9th in the final and ended up placing 14th out of 26 with 62 points. The duo fared clearly better with the televoters, finishing third in the semi-final and 5th in the final respectively.

In 2015 TVP has selected their entry internally again by choosing Monika Kuszyńska and her song "In The Name of Love". She was the first ever Eurovision participant to sit in a wheelchair during her performance, due to the fact that she was paralyzed after being involved in a serious car accident in 2006. Monika performed last in the second semi-final on 21 May 2015 and qualified for the final placing 8th with 57 points. In the final, she came 23rd out of 27 acts, receiving ten points. Alike Donatan and Cleo, she fared clearly better with the televoters, coming fourth in the semi-final and 15th in the final respectively.

In 2016, TVP went back to conducting a national final, called Krajowe Eliminacje, with Michał Szpak winning. Szpak performed second in the second semi-final on 12 May 2016, and qualified for the final by finishing in sixth place, with 151 points. In the final, held on 14 May 2016, he performed 12th and placed 8th out of 26 acts, with 229 points, which gave Poland their third best result ever.

In 2017, TVP decided to host the second edition of the national final, with Kasia Moś and her song "Flashlight" winning. Moś performed 11th in the first semi-final on 9 May 2017. She qualified for the final placing 9th with 119 points. In the final, held on 13 May 2017, she performed 2nd and came 22nd out of 26 acts with 64 points total.

Poland's run of qualifications came to an end in 2018, when the song "Light Me Up" by Polish DJ Gromee and Swedish vocalist Lukas Meijer, again chosen during the national final, failed to qualify to the final by placing 14th with 81 points in the second semi-final. It is the first Polish entry since its return to the contest in 2014, to not qualify for the final.

In 2019, TVP returned to internal selection, after a successful internal choice of Roksana Węgiel for Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018. On 15 February 2019 it was announced that TVP has chosen Tulia for the Polish representative to Tel Aviv. However Poland failed to qualify for the grand final by placing 11th with 120 points in the first semi-final only 2-point behind Belarus.

In 2020, TVP will use talent show Szansa na sukces to select the Polish artist and song, having used the show to select the song "Superhero" performed by Viki Gabor for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019, winning the contest.[7]

Contestants
Table key
2
 Second place
◁
 Last place
X
 Entry selected but did not compete
Year Artist Language Title Final Points Semi Points
1994
 Edyta Górniak Polish "To nie ja!" 2 166 No semi-finals
1995
 Justyna Steczkowska Polish "Sama" 18 15
1996
 Kasia Kowalska Polish "Chcę znać swój grzech..." 15 31 15 42
1997
 Anna Maria Jopek Polish "Ale jestem" 11 54 No semi-finals
1998
 Sixteen Polish "To takie proste" 17 19
1999
 Mietek Szcześniak Polish "Przytul mnie mocno" 18 17
2001
 Andrzej Piaseczny English "2 Long" 20 11
2003
 Ich Troje German, Polish, Russian "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" 7 90
2004
 Blue Café English, Spanish "Love Song" 17 27 Top 11 previous year[lower-alpha 1]
2005
 Ivan & Delfin Polish, Russian "Czarna dziewczyna" Failed to qualify 11 81
2006
 Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy English, Polish, German, Russian, Spanish "Follow My Heart" 11 70
2007
 The Jet Set English "Time To Party" 14 75
2008
 Isis Gee English "For Life" 24 14 10 42
2009
 Lidia Kopania English "I Don't Wanna Leave" Failed to qualify 12 43
2010
 Marcin Mroziński English, Polish "Legenda" 13 44
2011
 Magdalena Tul Polish "Jestem" 19 ◁ 18
2014
 Donatan & Cleo Polish, English "My Słowianie – We Are Slavic" 14 62 8 70
2015
 Monika Kuszyńska English "In the Name of Love" 23 10 8 57
2016
 Michał Szpak English "Color of Your Life" 8 229 6 151
2017
 Kasia Moś English "Flashlight" 22 64 9 119
2018
 Gromee feat. Lukas Meijer English "Light Me Up" Failed to qualify 14 81
2019
 Tulia Polish, English "Fire of Love (Pali się)" 11 120
2020
 Alicja English "Empires" Contest cancelled[lower-alpha 2] X

Awards

Barbara Dex Award
Further information: Barbara Dex Award
Year Performer Host city Ref.
2001 Piasek Copenhagen
[8]

Commentators and spokespersons
Year Commentator Spokesperson Ref.
1994 Artur OrzechJan Chojnacki
1995
1996 Dorota Osman
1997 Jan Wilkans
1998 Artur Orzech
1999
2000 Did not participate
2001 Maciej Orłoś
2002 Did not participate
2003 Maciej Orłoś
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008 Radosław Brzózka
2009
2010 Aleksandra Rosiak
2011 Odeta Moro-Figurska
2012 No broadcastDid not participate
2013
2014 Artur OrzechPaulina Chylewska
2015 Aleksandra Ciupa
2016 Anna Popek
2017
2018 Mateusz Szymkowiak
[9][10]
2019
[11][12]

Photogallery

See also

Notes
  1. According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the Grand Final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with all countries ranked in the top ten.
  2. The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. Floras, Stella (25 August 2008). "OGAE Poland: A convention to remember". ESCToday. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  2. Van Ee, Dennis (16 December 2011). "Poland: TVP withdraws from Eurovision 2012". ESCDaily. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  3. "No return: Poland will not be in Malmö". esctoday.com. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  4. http://www.esctoday.com/69854/tvp-poland/
  5. http://www.tvp.pl/o-tvp/centrum-prasowe/komunikaty-prasowe/tvp-znow-w-konkursie-eurowizji/13230106
  6. "My, Słowianie na Eurowizji" (in Polish). Tvp.pl. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  7. Farren, Neil (2 January 2020). "Poland: Szansa na Sukces to Select Eurovision 2020 Entrant". eurovoix.com.
  8. Adams, William Lee (9 July 2015). "Poll: Who was the worst dressed Barbara Dex Award winner?". Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  9. "Energetyczni Gromee i Lukas Meijer wystąpią w drugim półfinale 63. Konkursu Eurowizji". tvp.pl (in Polish). 27 April 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  10. ""May we have your votes please?"". eurovision.tv. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  11. Herbert, Emily (30 April 2019). "Poland: Artur Orzech Returns as Eurovision 2019 Commentator". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  12. "Eurovision 2019 Spokespersons – Who will announce the points?". eurovisionworld.com. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
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