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 populou ...

has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in . Although Poland did not become a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) until 1993, earlier contests had often been broadcast on

Telewizja Polska Telewizja Polska S.A. (; "Polish Television"; TVP), also known in English as the public Polish Television is a Polish state media corporation. It is the largest Polish television network, although viewership has been declining in the 2010s. Sinc ...

(TVP), the Polish broadcaster. Poland's debut in the contest in remains its most successful entry, with

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 ...

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 Ich Troje ("The Three of Them") is a Polish pop band. Ich Troje was founded in 1996 by songwriter Michał Wiśniewski and composer Jacek Łągwa. Since 2000, Ich Troje has been one of the most successful Polish groups. They have sold more than 1.5 ...

finishing seventh in . 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. Since returning in 2014, Poland had qualified for the final for four consecutive years (2014–2017), achieving a third top ten finish in , with

Michał Szpak Michał Szpak (born 26 November 1990) is a Polish singer who found fame on the X Factor (Polish season 1), inaugural season of the Polish ''X Factor (Polish TV series), X Factor'' in 2011. On 12 May 2016, Szpak represented Poland at the Eurovisi ...

finishing eighth. The country failed to qualify three contests in a row (2018, 2019 and 2021), a streak that ended with Ochman finishing 12th in 2022.

History

The first ever performance by Poland was at the 1994 contest:

's song, " To nie ja!" is also by far the most successful Polish entry 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 internal selection. It was Justyna Steczkowska with " Sama". Steczkowska could not replicate Górniak's 2nd place, receiving only 15 points and placing 18th out of 23. During the competition in 1996, a qualifying round was organized with the aim of reducing the number of countries participating in the final of the competition. The qualifying stage was not televised or recorded, and national juries audited the studio versions of all competition proposals and awarded them points. Out of 29 works sent by public broadcasters, 22 entries qualified for the finals. The only country not participating in the qualifying round was the competition host, Norway. The 1996 entry was Kasia Kowalska with " Chcę znać swój grzech...". She qualified to the final and placed 15th with 31 points. Poland competed in the 1997 competition with the song "

Ale jestem Ale is a type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to bal ...

", the first uptempo Polish entry, which was performed by

Anna Maria Jopek Anna Maria Jopek (born 14 December 1970) is a Polish vocalist, songwriter, and improviser. She represented Poland in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Ale jestem" and finished 11th out of 25 participating acts; and in 2002, she co ...

. At the close of voting, she 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, receiving 19 points. In 1999 represented Poland with the song "

Przytul mnie mocno Poland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. The Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) selected country's entry via an internal selection. Mietek Szcześniak was ultimately selected to represent Poland at the 1999 contest in Jerusa ...

". He was the first male singer who represented Poland. He placed 18th with 17 points. Due to the low results over previous five years, Poland did not participate in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2000 The Eurovision Song Contest 2000 was the 45th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven" by Charlotte Nilsson. Organised by the Europea ...

. Poland returned to the 2001 contest following an enforced one-year absence. However, after they placed 20th out of 23, they had to withdraw again from the

Eurovision Song Contest 2002 The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tallinn, Estonia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Organised by the Euro ...

. They did however return in 2003. For the 2003 contest Poland organized its first public selection for Eurovision entry;

and some of the biggest Polish music acts, such as

Wilki Wilki (''Wolves'') are a Polish alternative/pop rock band from Warsaw. Wilki have written songs both in English and Polish. They are currently signed to Sony Music in Poland. Discography Studio albums Live albums Compilation albums B ...

Blue Café Blue Café are a Polish musical group with jazz, soul and Latin influences. The band was formed in Łódź in 1998 and had three consecutive hit singles in Poland in 2002-03. They were nominated in the category Best Polish Act at the 2003 MTV ...

and

Varius Manx Varius Manx is a Polish pop group, formed in Łódź in 1989 by composer Robert Janson. The name is a variation on the English word "various" plus Manx, the variety of cat. The band have sold more than 2 million albums in their native Pola ...

, participated in the pre-selection, it was no surprise when the group

won the public vote ahead of

, 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 Krajowe Eliminacje. The winner was Blue Café with "

Love Song A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order ...

". Group could not repeat 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 at the semi-final for the first time. The song just missed out on a place in the final, coming 11th in the semi-final with 81 points, only 4 points behind Latvia. Poland's 2006 entry was chosen 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. They failed to qualify for the final, coming 11th with 70 points in the semi-final only 6 points behind Macedonia. Poland's 2007 entry, " Time To Party", sung by

The Jet Set The Jet Set is a Polish R&B duo which consists of English-born David Junior Serame (South African ancestry) and Russian-born Sasha Strunin. They represented Poland in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki. Eurovision ...

, only finished 14th in the semi-final. Poland's only appearance in the final between 2005 and 2011, was in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Even then, its song (" For Life", sung by

Isis Gee Tamara Diane Wimer (born October 11, 1972), known professionally as Tamara Gee (formerly Isis Gee), is an American pop singer and songwriter. She grew up singing and performing from the age of 5, and was a professional vocalist by the time she w ...

) only qualified as a jury wildcard and placed a lowly 24th in the final, ahead of only United Kingdom. In the 2009, Poland selected

Lidia Kopania Lidia Kopania-Przebindowska (born 12 May 1978, Koluszki, Poland) is the frontwoman of the musical group Kind of Blue. Kopania had previously represented Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, held in Moscow, Russia. Biography In 2003, Kopa ...

and her song " I Don't Wanna Leave". She performed in the second semi-final on 14 May 2009, however she failed to qualify, finishing 12th with 43 points. The 2010 entry for Poland was

Marcin Mroziński Marcin Mroziński (; born 26 September 1985 in Inowrocław) is a Polish actor, singer and television presenter. Biography Early life Mroziński was born 26 September 1985 in Inowrocław, Poland. He started his music career at age 8. He participate ...

with song " Legenda". He 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 Magdalena Ewa Tul (born 29 April 1980) is a Polish singer and composer. In 2000 she moved from Gdańsk to Warsaw where she started working as a singer and actress for Studio Buffo, a musical theater. She performed there as a lead singer in ''Metr ...

, 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, finishing last 19th with 18 points in the first semi-final. This remains the worst Polish result to date. Members of the Polish OGAE have said at their annual convention that they would like

to represent Poland for a second time. For years it was unknown if Górniak would enter Eurovision again, 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 will not compete at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

in Baku. The Polish broadcaster stated that having to organize the

European Football Championship 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

(hosted by Poland and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) was a major factor in their non-participation. TVP informed esctoday.com that their decision to abstain would not hamper their chances of returning in . However, Poland confirmed on 22 November 2012 that they would not be participating in .

Return

TVP, the Polish national broadcaster has confirmed on 5 December 2013 that Poland will return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014. On 25 February, it was announced that

Donatan Donatan, (born Witold Marek Czamara on 2 September 1984 in Kraków) is a Polish musician, music producer and sound engineer. Donatan along with Teka co-created RafPak. Life and career Donatan was born to a Russian mother and Polish father. He ...

and

Cleo Cleo may refer to: Entertainment * ''Cleo'' (magazine), an Australian magazine established in 1972, now active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand * Cleo (group), a South Korean girl group formed in 1999 * ''Cleo'' (play), by Lawren ...

would represent Poland with their song " My Słowianie". They qualified for the final placing 8th with 70 points, making it only the second time Poland has qualified for the final since 2008.

and

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 Monika Kuszyńska (born 14 January 1980) is a Polish singer and songwriter. She represented Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song " In the Name of Love" and was previously the lead singer of the Polish pop rock band Varius Man ...

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. Kuszyńska 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. At the beginning of October 2015, TVP confirmed its participation in the 61st Eurovision Song Contest. Although the original representative of the country was to be selected internally by the station's management, on January 26, 2016 TVP1 director informed that the Polish representative will be selected through national final. Because of this, the ''Krajowe Eliminacje'' returned in 2016.

and some of the biggest Polish music acts, such as Margaret,

Natalia Szroeder Natalia Weronika Szroeder (born 20 April 1995) is a Polish singer-songwriter and TV presenter. She is most known for her works with rapper Liber, of which she appeared with in his songs ''Wszystkiego na raz'' and ''Nie patrzę w dół'' in 2013. ...

took part in the competition with

winning it. 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, the interest for turned out to be smaller.

Kasia Moś Katarzyna "Kasia" Moś ( ; born 3 March 1987) is a Polish singer, songwriter, and dancer. She was previously a member of The Pussycat Dolls Burlesque Revue in 2011, and in 2012, she came third in the third series of the Polish version ...

and her song " Flashlight" was announced as a winner. 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 Lukas Meijer (born 21 August 1988) is a Swedish rock musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter, vocalist of band No Sleep For Lucy. Together with Polish DJ Gromee, he represented Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, wi ...

, 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, not to qualify for the final. In 2019, TVP returned to an internal selection, after a successful internal choice of

Roksana Węgiel Roksana Emilia Węgiel (; born 11 January 2005), also known as Roxie, is a Polish singer who rose to fame in her native country after winning The Voice Kids (Polish series 1), season one of the The Voice Kids (Polish TV series), Polish version of ' ...

who won the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the sixteenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the Belarusian Television and Radio Company (BTRC) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It took place in the Bela ...

. On 15 February 2019, it was announced that TVP has chosen Tulia to represent Poland in Tel Aviv. However Poland failed to qualify for the grand final by placing 11th with 120 points in the first semi-final only 2 points behind Belarus. In 2020, TVP used the 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 The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the seventeenth edition of the annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest, organised by Telewizja Polska (TVP) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It was held on 24 November 2019, at the Gliwice Ar ...

, which went on to win.

Alicja Szemplińska Alicja Maria Szemplińska (born 29 April 2002), also known mononymously as Alicja, is a Polish singer. She won season 10 of ''The Voice of Poland'' in 2019. The following year, she won Poland's national Eurovision selection competition '' Szansa ...

won the national final with the song "

Empires An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

", winning both the public and the jury vote. However, the 2020 contest was later cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2021, TVP used an internal selection. On 12 March 2021 during the

TVP2 TVP 2 (TVP Dwa, ''Program II Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Dwójka"'') is a Polish public mainstream TV channel operated by TVP. Launched in October 1970, its varied line-up contains a variety of programming (documentary, history, talk-shows, game-sh ...

programme ''Pytanie na śniadanie'' it was announced that

Rafał Brzozowski Rafał Brzozowski (born 8 June 1981) is a Polish singer and television presenter. His career started through participation in the first season of The Voice of Poland in 2011. He hosted the Polish version of Wheel of Fortune. Brzozowski attempt ...

would represent the country with the song " The Ride". Poland failed to qualify for the final, placing 14th with 35 points in the second semi-final. In 2022, TVP used the national final '' Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję'' to select its entry. The national final was held on 19 February 2022, with 10 entries competing, and was won by Ochman with "

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

". Ochman performed 14th in the second semi-final on 12 May 2022. He qualified for the final placing 6th with 198 points. In the final, held on 14 May 2022, he performed 23rd, where he placed 12th with 151 points.

Participation overview

Awards

Barbara Dex Award

Related involvement

Commentators and spokespersons

Stage directors

Photogallery

File:ESC 2007 Poland - The Jet Set - Time to party.jpg,

in Helsinki ( 2007) File:ESC 2008 - Poland - Isis Gee, 1st semifinal.jpg,

in Belgrade (

) File:Marcin Mrozinski 02.jpg,

in Oslo ( 2010) File:Magdalena Tul 20110214.jpg,

in Düsseldorf ( 2011) File:ESC2014 - Poland 20.jpg,

in Copenhagen (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

) File:20150520 ESC 2015 Monika Kuszyńska 3850.jpg,

in Vienna ( 2015) File:ESC2016 - Poland 06.jpg,

in Stockholm (

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

) File:Kasia Moś Eurovision 2017.jpg,

in Kyiv (

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

) File:ESC2018 - Poland 01.jpg, Gromee and

in Lisbon (

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

) File:ESC2019-Poland.jpg, Tulia in Tel Aviv (

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) File:Eurovision 2022 - Semi-final 2 - Poland - Ochman.jpg, Ochman in Turin ()

Notes

References

External links

Points to and from Poland
''eurovisioncovers.co.uk''
OGAE Poland official site
''eurowizja.org'' {{Eurovision Song Contest Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest Music competitions in Poland