Michał Szpak (born 26 November 1990) is a Polish singer who found fame on the inaugural season of the Polish ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2011. On 12 May 2016, Szpak represented Poland at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

with the song " Color of Your Life".

Early life

Michał was born in

Jasło Jasło is a county town in south-eastern Poland with 36,641 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2012. It is situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), and it was previously part of Krosno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in Lesse ...

, a small town in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. His older sister Marlena is an Opera singer born from his father Andrzej Szpak's first marriage. After the split, father Szpak got married for the second time, from this relationship was born Damian, Michał, and Ewa. The couple split when Michał was 10. Because of this and a job offer, his mother moved to Italy. The Szpak children kept living in Poland with dad, and used to visit mom during holidays. Brother Damian became one of the greatest support for the young Michał due to his excentricity. His early music influences included

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Zbigniew Preisner Zbigniew Preisner (; born 20 May 1955 as Zbigniew Antoni Kowalski) is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. He is the recipient of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis as we ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. As a high school student together with his friend, Kamil Czapla, Szpak was part of the Whiplash band playing mostly

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

style music. Over the years, he has admitted that unlike his older sister, he has never taken any formal music lessons. Szpak currently resides in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, where he is pursuing a

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

degree at the

University of Social Sciences and Humanities , latin_name = , former_names = Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej , president = , established = 1996 , type = Private , founder = Piotr Voelkel, Andrzej Eliasz, Zbigniew Pietrasiński and Janusz Reykowski , rector = Associate Profe ...

Career

2011–2014: Career beginnings and ''X Factor''

On March 6, 2011, Szpak took part in Poland's first edition of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' when he sang

Czesław Niemen Czesław Niemen (; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki, and often credited as just Niemen, was one of the most important and original Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the 20th century, singing ...

's classic "

Dziwny jest ten świat ''Dziwny jest ten świat'' (''"Strange is this World"'') is Czesław Niemen's first solo album, released in 1967. At 20 December 1968, as first album in Poland, ''"Dziwny jest ten świat"'' was awarded with Golden record (160 000 copies sold). ...

" (Strange is the world). He eventually reached the final of the competition. On 5 June 2011, Szpak and 2008 British winner

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series ''The X Factor'' in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and Syc ...

sang "

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...

" during the final. On June 17, 2011 he was part of the lineup for the Orange Warsaw Festival at

Stadion Legii The Stadion Wojska Polskiego (, en, Polish Army Stadium), officially named Stadion Miejski Legii Warszawa im. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego ( eng, The Marshall Józef Piłsudski's Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw) in Warsaw, Poland, is an all- ...

, which also included international artists such as

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

Skunk Anansie Skunk Anansie are a British rock band whose members include Skin (lead vocals, guitar), Cass (bass, guitar, backing vocals), Ace (guitar, backing vocals) and Mark Richardson (drums and percussion). Skunk Anansie formed in 1994, disbanded in 2 ...

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mi ...

Sistars Sistars is a Polish pop/soul group formed in 2001. Their music showcases the vocals of sister vocalists Natalia Przybysz and Paulina Przybysz, and producers/composers Bartek Królik, Marek Piotrowski incorporating elements of rap, R&B, funk a ...

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

The Streets The Streets are an English music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner. The project has released six studio albums: ''Original Pirate Material'' (2002), ''A Grand Don't Come for Free'' (2004), ''The Hardest Way to M ...

and

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in the ...

. Between September 4 and November 6 of 2011, Szpak participated in the 13th edition of ''

Taniec z gwiazdami ''Dancing with the Stars: Taniec z gwiazdami'' (previously: ''Taniec z gwiazdami'' ) is a Polish light entertainment reality television series broadcast by Polsat. It is the Polish version of the United Kingdom's popular ''Dancing with the Stars ...

'', the Polish version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', where he was partnered with the Polish professional dancer Paulina Biernat. Together they reached 5th place in the competition. Szpak's debut EP, ''XI'', was released by

Universal Music Poland Universal Music Polska Sp. z o.o. (Universal Music Poland), is a Polish subsidiary of Universal Music Group, it was founded in 1998 in Warsaw. Labels CEO is Maciej Kutak after Jan Kubicki's departure. Label was founded after PolyGram, within its ...

in December 2011. On December 7, 2011, Szpak performed as a guest celebrity on the finale of the '' Top Model. Zostań modelką'' (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

for ''Top Model. Become a Model'') show, an ongoing Polish

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

documentary based on

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

' ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

''. In 2013, he was awarded first prize at the Russian song Festival in

Zielona Gora Zielona may refer to the following places: *Zielona, Lublin Voivodeship (east Poland) *Zielona, Gmina Gródek in Podlaskie Voivodeship (northeast Poland) *Zielona, Gmina Supraśl in Podlaskie Voivodeship (northeast Poland) *Zielona, Bochnia County i ...

for his performance of the famous Russian song titled " Dark Eyes" (Russian "Очи чёрные", Ochi chyornye).

2015: ''Byle być sobą''

'' Byle być sobą'' (English: ''Only to be yourself'') is the debut studio album by Szpak. It was released in Poland on 13 November 2015 through

Sony Music Entertainment Poland Sony Music Entertainment Poland Sp. z o.o. (SMEP) is a Polish subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. It was founded in 1995 in Warsaw. The label's CEO is Kazimierz Pułaski. The label was founded after Sony Music Entertainment took over the cat ...

. Titled as a reflection of his life and frame of mind at 24 years following the unexpected death of his mother, the album includes 12 songs performed in Polish as well as in English. The album, which was dedicated to the singer's mother has met with critical success in Poland. His flawless rendition of the song "Jesteś bohaterem" (English: "Real Hero") brought him first prize at the 2015

National Festival of Polish Song in Opole The National Festival of Polish Song in Opole ( pl, Krajowy Festiwal Piosenki Polskiej w Opolu, KFPP) is an annual music festival in Opole, Poland. Together with the Sopot Festival it is one of the two most important music festivals in Poland. The ...

2016: Eurovision Song Contest

Michał Szpak represented Poland in the

with the song " Color of Your Life". The winner in the Polish national final was chosen by televoting; Polish TV viewers could give only one vote for each favorite singer from a single telephone number. He beat world-famous Polish performer

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

, who came second, and another long time accomplished singer,

Edyta Górniak Edyta Anna Górniak (; born 14 November 1972) is a Polish pop singer with a career spanning 3 decades. Górniak started as a musical theatre actress in 1990. She performed in the most popular musical in Polish history, the Tony Award-nominated ...

, who was third. This was the first time Poland has held a competition to choose its entry since its return in 2014. The Eurovision pre-selection show took place on 5 March 2016 at the TVP Headquarters in Warsaw and was hosted by

Artur Orzech Artur Dariusz Orzech (born 22 February 1964, in Jelenia Góra) is a Polish journalist, radio and television presenter and music broadcaster. After graduating from ''IV Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Adama Mickiewicza w Warszawie'' in 1983 with an ...

. The Polish public chose Michał Szpak and his entry song titled " Color of Your Life", with Szpak winning overwhelmingly with 35.5% of the vote. “I would like to take part in Eurovision, to face the European artists and present the entry which I believe will leave big emotional mark on everyone”, stated Michal. To promote his Eurovision Song Contest entry Szpak took part in the Eurovision Concert Tour in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(17 April 2016),

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

(12 April 2016),

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

(9 April 2016) and later

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. On 12 May, Szpak performed in the first half of the second Eurovision semi-final. Following his live semi-final performance of "Color of Your Life" he made it through to the grand final. On 14 May he performed 12th in the running order between the Eurovision contestants from France and Australia. All in all, Szpak won 3rd place from the public tele-voting and ended up benefiting from the new voting system. Despite being in second to last place with the juries, he leapt from seven points to 229 when public votes were added, and finished eighth overall.

2017–present: Judge at ''The Voice of Poland'' and ''Dreamer''

After finishing in 8th place in the

, Michał Szpak has gone on to become a coach on ''

The Voice of Poland ''The Voice of Poland'' is a Polish reality talent show that premiered on September 3, 2011, on the TVP 2 television network. ''The Voice of Poland'' is part of the international syndication ''The Voice'' based on the reality singing competition ...

'' replacing

Natalia Kukulska Natalia Maria Kukulska (born March 3, 1976) is a Polish singer performing pop and R&B music, turning towards alternative electronica in the 2010s. She debuted as a child singer in 1986, and released her first "adult" solo album in 1996. Her mos ...

. In 2017 he was the winning coach in his debut season with ''The Voice'', promoting the winner,

Marta Gałuszewska Marta Gałuszewska (born 23 February 1994 in Elbląg), is a Polish pop singer, known for winning the eighth season of '' The Voice of Poland'' on 25 November 2017. She chose to join Michał Szpak team. In the final episode of the show, Gałusze ...

. In 2018 he released his second studio album titled ''Dreamer''. The songs from the album have achieved huge success on YouTube, each receiving well over a million views. In November 2018 he released his latest single, titled "Dreamer (Thanks to You My Friend)". The song is about being strong, moving on and chasing your dreams with the help of your friends and loved ones. His previous singles from the album, "King of the Season" and "Rainbow", have received 3.1m and 2.4m views on YouTube respectively.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As featured artist

Tours

* ''XI Tour'' (2012) * ''Color Of Your Life Tour'' (2016–2017) * ''Classica Tour'' (2018)

Awards and nominations

* 2011: Polish Edition of The X Factor – second place * 2011: Poland Style & Design Awards for Creative Performance & Achievement Emerging Talent * 2013: Golden Samovar – Russian Song Festival 2013 in Zielona Góra * 2015: Super Premieres – 1st Prize at the 52.

* 2016: Winner of the Polish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest * 2016: Eighth place on the

in Stockholm * 2016: Personality of The Year – grand gala "Plejady Gwiazd" * 2016: Superartist and Grand Prix Opole 2016 Award at the 53. National Festival of Polish Song in Opole

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szpak, Michal 1990 births Living people Polish pop singers English-language singers from Poland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2016 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Poland 21st-century Polish male singers 21st-century Polish singers SWPS University alumni People from Jasło