Blanka Stajkow ( bg, Бланка Стайков; born 23 May 1999), known mononymously as Blanka, is a Polish singer and model. She represented Poland in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is the upcoming 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, after , winner of the with the song " Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to meet the dem ...

with the song "

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

", finishing in 19th place.

Early life

Stajkow was born in

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

to a Polish mother who works as a model and a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n father who is a wealthy businessman. According to Stajkow, neither of her parents have a musical background. Her mother encouraged her from an early age to try various activities, including joining disco dance groups and going to music schools. In an interview, Stajkow mentioned that during mornings, her mother would always turn on either

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Trace Urban Trace Urban (formerly MCM Africa then Trace TV) is a French pay-TV music video television channel owned by TPG Capital. It is the parent channel of the various Trace music channels. It is the third most distributed French television channel in t ...

, which encouraged her to go into the music industry. At the age of 13, she produced and released her first single, "Strong Enough".

Career

''Top Model'' and Warner Music Poland (2021–2022)

In 2021, she participated in ''

Top Model ''Top Model,'' also called ''Next Top Model,'' is a fashion-themed reality television show format produced in many countries throughout the world and seen in over 120 countries producing over 200 seasons, which are referred to as "cycles". T ...

'', a Polish reality television show. While on the show, she released her first official single, "Better". The following year, she signed a contract with

Warner Music Poland Warner Music Poland Sp. z o.o., is a Polish subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it was founded in 1994 in Warsaw. The label's CEO is Piotr Kabaj. The label started with a catalog of Polish national record label Polton which was bought from Starst ...

, and released her second single, "

Eurovision Song Contest (2023)

On 15 February 2023, Stajkow was announced as one of ten competitors of , the Polish national selection for the

with her song "Solo". She won the contest, receiving maximum points from the jury and coming second in public voting. As a result, she became Poland's entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Her victory in sparked

controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

in Poland due to alleged rigged votes and corruption within the jury panel for the national selection. At Eurovision, Blanka performed in the second semi final, placing third and advancing to the grand final. In the final, she finished 19th with 93 points.

Discography

Singles

Promotional singles

Notes

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Living people 1999 births 21st-century Polish women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Poland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2023 Polish people of Bulgarian descent Musicians from Szczecin Polish female models