Poland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest explained

Poland
Contest:JESC
Broadcaster:Polish: [[Telewizja Polska]]|i=unset (TVP)
Apps:10
Highest:1st:,
Host:,
Related:Polish: [[Szansa na Sukces]]
Current:2023

Poland has entered the Junior Eurovision Song Contest ten times, competing in the first contest in . The Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) decided to withdraw from the contest after coming last in both 2003 and in, despite TVP signing a 3-year contract with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). In 2016, it was announced that Poland would return after an 11-year break. Poland is the first country in the history of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest to win twice in a row: in with Roksana Węgiel and her song "Anyone I Want to Be" and then in with Viki Gabor and her song "Superhero".

There was some debate on whether Poland could return to Junior Eurovision in . TVP stated that the contestant could be chosen through the existing program Polish: Mini szansa, and would be broadcast on the secondary channel TVP2. This however did not materialise, and Poland remained out of the contest. On 14 June 2016, the Head of Music at TVP announced that Poland was considering a return to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2016, after an 11-year absence from the contest. He stated that an invitation was issued to potential participants to submit songs to the broadcaster, but reaffirmed that they had not made a complete decision on whether they would actually be participating. On 30 August 2016, TVP officially confirmed that Poland would return and launched its national selection.[1]

History

Poland made their debut at the inaugural Junior Eurovision Song Contest in . The Polish broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), were in charge of organising their entrants into the contest. Thirteen participants took part in the first national selection which was held on 28 September 2003. The winner who went on to represent Poland at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was Katarzyna Żurawik with her song "Polish: Coś mnie nosi|i=unset".[2] Żurawik performed in position 7 at the contest. She finished in last place scoring 3 points. In 2004, girl group Kwadro represented country with song "Polish: Łap życie|i=unset"; however, Poland again came last scoring 3 points.[2] Despite TVP signing a 3-year contract with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), they later decided to withdraw from the contest.[3]

Poland had considered returning to Junior Eurovision in, as TVP stated that the contestant could be chosen through the existing program Polish: Mini szansa, and would be broadcast on the secondary channel TVP2.[4] However, Poland decided to remain absent from the contest.[5] On 14 June 2016, the Head of Music at TVP announced that Poland was considering a return to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2016, after a 12-year absence from the contest. He stated that an invitation was issued to potential participants to submit songs to the broadcaster, but reaffirmed that they had not made yet a complete decision on whether they would actually be participating.[6] On 30 August 2016, TVP officially confirmed that Poland would return and launched its national selection.[1] In 2018, the form of choosing a representative and song changed - the person representing Poland was selected internally based on the viewers' votes in the previously performed program The Voice Kids and the song was fully internally. Roksana Węgiel was as the Polish representative, competing with the song "Anyone I Want to Be". She won the contest and gave Poland its first victory in the competition. In 2019 in Gliwice, the host country used a children's talent show format, Polish: [[Szansa na sukces]], as the selection method for their artist. Viki Gabor and her song "Superhero" represented Poland and won with 278 points. It is the second time Poland won and the first time a country won on home soil. As hosts, they finished 9th being represented by Ala Tracz and the song "I'll Be Standing", which is their worst result since 2016. In the following year, Poland achieved its third podium result by finishing in 2nd place with Sara James.

Participation overview

+ Table key
1First place
2Second place
3Third place-->
Last place
XEntry selected but did not compete-->
Upcoming event
YearArtistSongLanguagePlacePoints
Kasia Żurawik"Polish: Coś mnie nosi|i=unset"Polish16 ◁3
Kwadro"Polish: Łap życie|i=unset"Polish17 ◁3
Olivia Wieczorek"Polish: Nie zapomnij|i=unset"Polish, English1160
Alicja Rega"Polish: Mój dom|i=unset"Polish8138
Roksana Węgiel"Anyone I Want to Be"Polish, English1215
Viki Gabor"Superhero"Polish, English1278
Ala Tracz"I'll Be Standing"Polish, English990
Sara James"Somebody"Polish, English2218
Laura"To the Moon"Polish, English1095
Maja Krzyżewska"I Just Need a Friend"Polish, English 6124

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[7] The Polish broadcaster, TVP, sent their own commentators to the contest in order to provide commentary in the Polish language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Poland. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2003.

YearCommentatorSpokesperson
Artur OrzechJadwiga Jaskulski
Nicoletta Włodarczyk
Dominika Ptak
Grace
Marianna Józefina Piątkowska
and Matylda
Aleksander SikoraViki Gabor
Gabriela Wojciechowicz

Hostings

YearLocationVenuePresenters
GliwiceGliwice Arena[8] Ida Nowakowska, Aleksander Sikora and Roksana Węgiel[9]
WarsawStudio 5, TVP Headquarters[10] Ida Nowakowska, Małgorzata Tomaszewska and Rafał Brzozowski[11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Poland confirms return to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest!. Stella. Nathan. ESCBubble. 30 August 2016.
  2. Web site: About Kasia Zurawik. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 15 June 2016.
  3. Web site: Poland withdraws from Junior Contest. Jurczak. Pawel. 23 August 2005. ESCToday. 8 June 2009.
  4. Web site: Junior Eurovision 2008: Poland returns to JESC?. Kuipers. Michael. 20 April 2008. ESCToday. 10 June 2009.
  5. Web site: Granger. Anthony. JESC 14 Poland and Romania will not return. eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. 15 June 2016. 6 August 2014.
  6. Web site: Poland: May Return to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Granger. Anthony. Eurovoix. 14 June 2016.
  7. Web site: Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!. Fisher. Luke James. Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. 21 November 2015. 21 November 2015.
  8. Web site: Gliwice-Silesia Host City of Junior Eurovision 2019. junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 6 March 2019.
  9. Web site: Proud to present: The presenters of Junior Eurovision 2019!. 22 August 2019. junioreurovision.tv.
  10. Web site: Junior Eurovision 2020 To Be Held At The TVP Headquarters. Anthony. Granger. October 8, 2020. eurovoix.com. 8 October 2020.
  11. Web site: 2020-10-07. Meet the presenters of Junior Eurovision 2020!. 2020-10-07. Junior Eurovision.