Poland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with "Solo" performed by Blanka. The Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) organised the national final Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję! in order to select the Polish entry.
In the second semi-final, Poland qualified for the final on 13 May.
Prior to the 2023 contest, Poland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest twenty-four times since its first entry in 1994.[1] Poland's highest placement in the contest, to this point, has been second place, which the nation achieved with its debut entry in 1994 with the song "To nie ja!" performed by Edyta Górniak. Poland has only reached the top ten on two other occasions, when Ich Troje performing the song "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" finished seventh in 2003, and when Michał Szpak performing the song "Color of Your Life" finished eighth in 2016. Between 2005 and 2011, Poland failed to qualify from the semi-final round six out of seven years with only their 2008 entry, "For Life" performed by Isis Gee, managing to take the nation to the final during that period. After once again failing to qualify to the final in 2011, the country withdrew from the contest throughout 2013. Since returning to the contest in 2014, Poland managed to qualify to the final each year before failing to qualify to the final between 2018 and 2021. In 2022, Ochman brought Poland back to the final, eventually finishing 12th with his song "River".
The Polish national broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), broadcasts the event within Poland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. The broadcaster opted to select the Polish entry for the 2022 contest during a national selection show titled Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję!, a process that was continued for their 2023 entry.[2]
Before Eurovision
Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję!
Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję! ("Here beats the heart of Europe! We choose the hit for Eurovision!") was the national final organised by TVP in order to select the Polish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The show was held on 26 February 2023 in the Transcolor Studio in Szeligi, hosted by Aleksander Sikora [pl], Ida Nowakowska and Małgorzata Tomaszewska [pl],[3][4] and broadcast on TVP1 and TVP Polonia, as well as online via the platform TVP VOD.[5][6] The national final was watched, according to the Average Minute Rating, by 1.5 million people, with a recorded market share of 10.6%.[7] According to Nielsen Audience Measurement, the show attracted 1.1 million viewers, while the Real Viewership Model reported the number to be 1.4 million.[8]
Competing entries
TVP opened a submission period for interested artists and songwriters to submit their entries between 19 September 2022 and 10 February 2023.[3][9] The broadcaster received 300 submissions at the closing of the deadline.[10] It was recommended for the artists to take part in the process of composing or songwriting of their song.[3] A five-member selection committee consisting of a representative of TVP, a radio personality, a music expert, a journalist and a representative of the Polish Musicians Union selected ten entries from the received submissions to compete in the national final, while TVP reserved the right to select the final finalist (a wildcard) from outside of the submissions. The chosen competing entries were announced on 15 February 2023 during the TVP2 programme Pytanie na śniadanie.[11][12] Among the competing artists was Alicja Szemplińska, who was due to represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before its cancellation. The competing artists were required to submit a promotional video for their song to TVP by 20 February 2023.[13]
On 23 February, Janusz Daszczyński [pl], journalist and former chairman of TVP, expressed outrage at the participation of the song "Booty", performed by Ahlena, via his Facebook account, claiming that selecting such a song for the national final was "scandalous", and that the lyrics of the entry were obscene and not fit for being broadcast on national television.[14] The topic was discussed during a programme council meeting held on the same day, which resulted in Ahlena being asked to change parts of the composition of the song, which the artist complied with.[14]
The jury ranking and the overall ranking were revealed during the live show, while the televote ranking was revealed on 27 February following public pressure.[17] In June 2024, in a court case between OGAE Poland and TVP, the Voivodeship Administrative Court of Warsaw ordered TVP to publish detailed results of the selection, as the results are deemed public information.[18]
Jury chairperson Edyta Górniak following Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję!
Throughout the jury voting sequence, where Jann received only 7 points despite being the overwhelming favourite to win, booing could be heard throughout the audience.[19][20][21] Following Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję!, accusations were made against TVP and the jury of alleged deals with winner Blanka, who had been heavily promoted by the broadcaster beforehand.[22] In addition, viewers accused the jury of intentionally lowering the score of Jann in favor of the eventual winner, which caused demands for the results to be annulled.[23] It was alleged that Blanka and Allan Krupa, son of Edyta Górniak (chairman of the jury), knew each other personally,[24] which Krupa later denied.[25] The votes of jury member Agustin Egurrola were also questioned, as Blanka's dance troupe consisted of dancers from the Volt Dance Group, which is owned by Egurrola, leading to allegations of cronyism.[26]
Shortly prior to the show, TVP changed the format of the results sequence, which was originally supposed to be held in a similar way to 2022 with two voting rounds and proportional rankings.[27] Multiple sites later reported that the viewers cast three times as many votes for Jann than runner-up Blanka, which caused further outrage, with viewers criticising the impact the jury had on the result with the new voting system.[26][28]
Following the final, two petitions appeared, in which Internet users demanded a change of representative. The two petitions gained over 87,000 signatures combined.[29][30] Five major Polish fan portals, namely Eurowizja.org (jointly with the Polish OGAE fanclub), Dziennik Eurowizyjny, Dobry Wieczór Europo, Misja Eurowizja and Let's Talk About ESC, petitioned for TVP to reveal the split results of the selection, which, together with the issue of the allegations of fixing the results, would be examined by an "independent, external company".[31] An official appeal was sent to TVP on 2 March.[32] TVP then issued a statement on 9 March, claiming that it "complied with the voting rules in accordance with the regulations" and that the voting was "supervised by a notary present during the final".[33]
On 17 July 2023, an official complaint was filed by OGAE Polska regarding the matter to the Voivodeship Administrative Court of Warsaw,[34] with the court deciding in June 2024 that the detailed results are public information and have to be published.[18]
Promotion
In order to promote "Solo" as the Polish entry for the 2023 contest, Blanka embarked on a promotional tour throughout Europe. She was set to perform during the Moldovan national final Etapa națională2023 as a guest, however, her flight to the event was cancelled.[35][36] Kicking off her international promotional activities on 10 March 2023 performing at the Melfest WKND in Stockholm, she then travelled to Barcelona to attend the Eurovision pre-party held on 25 March 2023, then to Tel Aviv on 3 April, where she performed at Israel Calling in Hangar 11,[37] and to Madrid on 8 April 2023, where she performed at the PrePartyES in Sala La Riviera.[38] She was also due to make appearances at the Eurovision in Concert 2023 at Amsterdam's AFAS Live on 15 April 2023 and the London Eurovision Party at London's Here at Outernet venue on 16 April, but withdrew from them due to illness.[39]
At Eurovision
A video postcard introduced Blanka's performance in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The postcard was filmed at the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw in March 2023 in collaboration with the host broadcaster BBC.
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 31 January 2023, an allocation draw was held, which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, and determined which half of the show they would perform in. Poland has been placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 11 May 2023, and has been scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.[40]
Once all the competing songs for the 2023 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Poland was set to perform in position 9, following the entry from Greece and before the entry from Slovenia.[41]
At the end of the show, Poland was announced as a qualifier for the final.
^Polskie preselekcje do Eurowizji 2023 - nagrania ze studia [Polish preselection for Eurovision 2023 - recordings from the studio] (Television production) (in Polish). Transcolor Studio, Warsaw: Dziennik Eurowizyjny, YouTube. 28 February 2023.
.jpg)
