Poland was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 7 May 2024. Performing during the show in position 6, "The Tower" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Poland placed twelfth out of the 15 participating countries in the semi-final with 35 points.
Prior to the 2024 contest, Telewizja Polska (TVP) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Poland twenty-five times since its first entry in 1994.[1] Its highest placement in the contest, to this point, had been second place, achieved with its debut entry in 1994, "To nie ja!" performed by Edyta Górniak. It had only reached the top ten on two other occasions, when "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" performed Ich Troje finished seventh in 2003, and when "Color of Your Life" performed by Michał Szpak finished eighth in 2016. Between 2005 and 2011 (except in 2008), and again between 2018 and 2021, it failed to qualify from the semi-final; additionally, TVP was absent from the contest in 2012 and 2013. Between 2014 and 2017, it managed instead to qualify to the final each year. In 2023, "Solo" performed by Blanka qualified to the final, eventually finishing 19th.[1]
As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, TVP organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. In 2022 and 2023, the broadcaster selected its entry for the contest through a national final show titled Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję!. TVP confirmed its intention to take part in the 2024 contest on 20 September 2023.[2]
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
In October 2023, claims surfaced that TVP was reverting to an internal selection following the controversy surrounding the 2023 national final.[3] On 9 January 2024, the broadcaster confirmed that the Polish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 would be selected internally, and opened a submission period for interested artists lasting until 2 February. Applicants were required to hold Polish citizenship for their entries to qualify to compete. TVP received 212 submissions at the closing of the deadline, including entries from Edyta Górniak and Justyna Steczkowska, who represented Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 and 1995 respectively.[4][5]
A five-member selection committee each awarded scores from 1 to 10 to ten of the received submissions, with the one receiving the highest score being selected as the Polish entry for the contest by 13 February 2024.[6] The selection committee consisted of: Łukasz Pieter (Radio ZET), Michał Hanczak (Radio Eska), Kasia Moś (2017 Polish Eurovision entrant), Konrad Szczęsny (President of OGAE Poland) and Piotr Klatt [pl] (music journalist, deputy director of the TVP Entertainment Creation and Fixture Agency). Luna with the song "The Tower" was announced as the Polish entrant on 19 February 2024 during the morning show Pytanie na śniadanie [pl] on TVP2.[5][7][8][9] TVP subsequently released the list of songs that received points from the selection committee.[10] The votes were removed off the official TVP website hours after publishing, and Eurowizja.org pointed out that all songs combined received 272 points in the initial scoring, whilst 275 should've been allocated; the corrected results were subsequently published a few hours afterwards, together with the summary of each jury member's individual votes.[6][10][11]
Top 23 entries ranked by the selection jury[6][10][11]
As part of the promotion of her participation in the contest, Luna attended the Melfest WKND event in Stockholm on 8 March 2024, the PrePartyES in Madrid on 30 March 2024, the Barcelona Eurovision Party on 6 April 2024, the London Eurovision Party on 7 April 2024, the Nordic Music Celebration's Eurovision Night in Oslo on 20 April 2024 and the Copenhagen Eurovision Party (Malmöhagen) on 4 May 2024.[13][14][15][16][17][18] She was also set to perform at the Eurovision in Concert event in Amsterdam on 13 April 2024 and the Nordic Eurovision Party in Stockholm on 14 April 2024,[19][20] but ultimately opted to be absent in order to rest her voice.[21]
At Eurovision
Luna during a dress rehearsal for the first semi-final on 6 May 2024.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 took place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden, and consisted of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 7 and 9 May and the final on 11 May 2024. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete in the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. On 30 January 2024, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country would perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.[22] Poland was scheduled for the first half of the first semi-final.[23] The shows' producers then decided the running order for the semi-finals; Poland was set to perform in position 6.[24]
Luna took part in technical rehearsals on 27 April and 1 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 6 and 7 May.[30] Her performance of "The Tower" at the contest was staged by Jerry Reeve and choreographed by Lukas McFarlane and Kamila Zalewska,[31] with Julia Żytko, Angus Simpson and Jordan Garcia as supporting dancers and Maciej Starnawski [pl] and Marta Dywicka as backing vocalists.[32]
Semi-final
Poland performed in position 6, following the entry from Ukraine and before the entry from Croatia.[24] The country was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Poland placed 12th with 35 points.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded by and to Poland in the first semi-final and in the final. Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting in the final vote, while the semi-final vote was based entirely on the vote of the public.[33] The Polish jury consisted of Łukasz Pieter, Marek Sierocki, Filip Sojka, Monika Wydrzyńska, and Natalia Zastępa.[34] In the first semi-final, Poland placed 12th with 36 points. Over the course of the contest, Poland awarded its 12 points to Ukraine in the first semi-final, and to Switzerland (jury) and Ukraine (televote) in the final.[35][36]
Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent. Each jury, and individual jury member, is required to meet a strict set of criteria regarding professional background, as well as diversity in gender and age. No member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.[38] The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.
The following members comprised the Polish jury:[34]
