Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Poland
Member station	TVP
National selection events	National Final Krajowe Eliminacje do Konkursu Piosenki Eurowizji 2003–2004 Piosenka dla Europy 2006–2009 Krajowe Eliminacje 2010–2011 2016 Internal Selection 1994–1999 2001 2005 2014–2015
Appearances
Appearances	19 (13 finals)
First appearance	1994
Best result	2nd: 1994
Worst result	Last: 2011 SF
External links
TVP page
Poland's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Poland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 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's debut in the contest in 1994 remains its most successful entry, with Edyta Górniak finishing second. The country reached the top ten for the second time with Ich Troje finishing seventh in 2003. Poland 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 has qualified for the final for three consecutive years, achieving a third top ten finish in 2016, with Michał Szpak finishing eighth.

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.

Subsequent Polish entries were less successful, placing between 11th and 20th. Poland did not compete in 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, finishing 7th in the final. Blue Café finished 17th in 2004 with "Love Song".

Poland's only appearance in the final between 2005 and 2013, was in 2008. Even then, its song ("For Life", sung by Isis Gee) placed a lowly 24th.

In 2005 TVP went back to an internal selection, picking "Czarna dziewczyna", a multilingual song performed in Polish and Russian. The song just missed out on a place in the final, coming 11th in the semi-final, as did Poland's 2006 entry. With the comeback of the public vote on TVP, Ich Troje were chosen again in 2006, but could not repeat their 7th place from 2003. Poland's 2007 entry, "Time To Party", sung by The Jet Set, only finished 14th in the semi-final.

Members of the Polish OGAE have said at their annual convention that they would like Edyta Górniak to represent Poland for a second time. It is unknown if Górniak would enter Eurovision again.^[1]

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 withdrawal.^[2] TVP informed esctoday.com that their decision to abstain does not hamper their chances of being back in 2013, thus leaving the door open for a return. However, Poland confirmed on 22 November 2012, that it will not be participating in 2013.^[3]

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] The song qualified for the final which is only the second time Poland has qualified for the final, the last time was 2008. Donatan and Cleo performed 9th in the final and ended up placing 14th overall, achieving Poland's best result at the contest since 2003.

In 2015 TVP selected Monika Kuszyńska and her song "In The Name Of Love" internally as well. She was the first ever Eurovision participant to sit in a wheelchair during her performance after a serious car accident in 2006 Monika Kuszyńska had been involved in. She qualified for the final placing 8th out of 17 and came 23rd of 27 in the final receiving ten points. Just like Donatan and Cleo she fared clearly better with the televoters, coming 4th in the semi final and 15th in the final respectively.

Contestants

Table key

• NOTE: If a country won the previous year, they did not have to compete in Semi Finals, or back in the early 2005-2007 era, countries who did well did not have to compete in Semi Finals the following year. The top ten non-Big four along with the Big four countries automatically qualified, for example, if Germany and France placed inside the top 10, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with everyone within the top 10.

Voting history

As of 2016, Poland's voting history is as follows:

Most points given in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Ukraine 106 2  Sweden 74 3  Norway 64 4  Germany 53 5  Russia 50 Most points received in the grand finals only Rank Country Points 1  Germany 66 2  Austria 46 3  France 38 4  Lithuania 35 5  Norway 31

Most points given in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Ukraine 143 2  Norway 103 3  Sweden 93 4  Russia 74 5  Belgium 65 Most points received in the semis and finals Rank Country Points 1  Germany 124 2  Ireland 86 3  Norway 72 4  Lithuania 71 5  Ukraine 70

Commentators and Spokespersons

Photogallery

• 

  The Jet Set at Helsinki (2007)

• 

  Isis Gee at Belgrade (2008)

• 

  Donatan & Cleo at Copenhagen (2014)

• 

  Monika Kuszyńska at Vienna (2015)

• 

  Michał Szpak at Stockholm (2016)

See also

• Poland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
• Poland in the Eurovision Dance Contest

References

External links

• Points to and from Poland eurovisioncovers.co.uk
• OGAE Poland official site eurowizja.org

Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 to 2013 2014 2015 2016
Artists 1990s Edyta Górniak Justyna Steczkowska Kasia Kowalska Anna Maria Jopek Sixteen Mietek Szcześniak 2000s 2000 Andrzej Piaseczny 2002 Ich Troje Blue Café Ivan & Delfin Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy The Jet Set Isis Gee Lidia Kopania 2010s Marcin Mroziński Magdalena Tul 2012 to 2013 Donatan and Cleo Monika Kuszyńska Michał Szpak
Songs 1990s "To nie ja!" "Sama" "Chcę znać swój grzech..." "Ale jestem" "To takie proste" "Przytul mnie mocno" 2000s 2000 "2 Long" 2002 "Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic" "Love Song" "Czarna dziewczyna" "Follow My Heart" "Time to Party" "For Life" "I Don't Wanna Leave" 2010s "Legenda" "Jestem" 2012 to 2013 "My Słowianie - We Are Slavic" "In the Name of Love" "Color of Your Life"
(Note: Entries scored out are when Poland did not compete)