| Year: | 1998 |
| Country: | Poland |
| Preselection: | Internal selection |
| Preselection Date: | 30 March 1998 |
| Entrant: | Sixteen |
| Song: | To takie proste |
| Final Result: | 18th, 17 points |
Poland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "To takie proste" written by Jarosław Pruszkowski and Olga Pruszkowska. The song was performed by the band Sixteen. The Polish entry for the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom was selected by the Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) through an internal selection, and "To takie proste" performed by Sixteen was announced as the Polish entry on 30 March 1998.
Poland competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 1998. Performing during the show in position 7, Poland placed seventeenth out of the 23 participating countries, scoring 19 points.
See main article: Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest. Prior to the 1998 contest, Poland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 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.
The Polish national broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), broadcasts the event within Poland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Having internally selected their entries since 1994, the broadcaster opted to continue selecting the Polish entry via an internal selection for 1998.[2]
The Polish entry for the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest was selected by TVP via an internal selection with record companies, artist managers and individual artists being directly invited to submit entries.[3] The broadcaster received 45 submissions from 38 artists including De Su, Kasia Stankiewicz and Mietek Szcześniak, and a five-member selection committee, which among its members included composer Wojciech Trzciński and journalist Janusz Kosiński, reviewed the received submissions in February 1998 and selected the Polish entry.[4] [5] [6] On 30 March 1998, a press conference took place at the TVP Headquarters in Warsaw where it was announced that the band Sixteen would represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "To takie proste", written by band members Jarosław Pruszkowski and Olga Pruszkowska.[7] [8]
Following the entry announcement, a group of Polish music producers protested against TVP's lack of clear rules for selecting their representative, as the regulations initially published by the broadcaster assumed the possibility of selecting the Polish entry through a national final. They also alleged that the selection of Sixteen was influenced by the fact that the son of committee member Wojciech Trzciński worked for the band's record company Poly Gram. Trzciński subsequently denied the allegations, explaining that Sixteen was selected in accordance with the contest regulations and that the level of submitted songs did not allow for a national final to be organised.[9]
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Poland was set to perform in position 7, following the entry from Slovakia and before the entry from Israel.[10] [11] The day before the contest, Poland was considered by bookmakers to be the ninth most likely country to win the competition.[12] The Polish conductor at the contest was Wiesław Pieregorólka, and Poland finished in seventeenth place with 19 points.[13]
The show was broadcast in Poland on TVP with commentary by Artur Orzech.[14] The Polish spokesperson, who announced the results of the Polish televote during the show, was Jan Chojnacki.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Poland and awarded by Poland in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Belgium in the contest.[15]