Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015


Poland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "In the Name of Love", written by Kuba Raczyński and Monika Kuszyńska. The song was performed by Monika Kuszyńska, who was selected by Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska to represent the nation at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. The selection of Kuszyńska along with her song "In the Name of Love" were presented to the public in March 2015. In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals "In the Name of Love" placed eighth out of the 17 participating countries, securing its place among the 27 other songs in the final. In Poland's eighteenth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "In the Name of Love" finished in twenty-third place, receiving 10 points.

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Poland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seventeen times since its first entry in 1994. Its 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, thus far, reached the top ten on one other occasion, when Ich Troje performing the song "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" finished seventh in 2003. 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 during 2012 and 2013. Poland returned in 2014 with Donatan and Cleo and the song "My Słowianie - We Are Slavic", which qualified for the final, and finished in 14th place.
The Polish broadcaster for the 2015 Contest, which broadcasts the event in Poland and organises the selection process for its entry, was Telewizja Polska. Poland has previously used both national finals and internal selections to select their entry. After their internally selected 2014 entry qualified the nation for the final for the first time since 2008, the broadcaster opted to continue selecting the Polish entry via an internal selection for 2015.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

TVP announced that the Polish entry for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest would be revealed on 9 March 2015 during the TVP1 programme Świat się kręci, hosted by Agata Młynarska and Maciej Kurzajewski. During the show it was announced that Monika Kuszyńska would represent Poland with the song "In the Name of Love" written by Kuszyńska herself together with her husband Kuba Raczyński. Kuszyńska was previously the lead singer of the Polish pop group Varius Manx until she experienced a car accident in 2006 which left her partially paralysed. The official music video for the Polish entry was released the same day and featured scenes from Monika Kuszyńska's career prior to her accident. The Polish language version of the song "Obudź się i Żyj" was also released following the announcement.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" 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. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 26 January 2015, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Poland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2015 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 last in position 17, following the entry from Slovenia.
All three shows were broadcast in Poland on TVP1 and TVP Polonia with commentary by Artur Orzech. The three shows were also aired on a one-day delay on the channels TVP Rozrywka and TVP HD. The Polish spokesperson, who announced the Polish votes during the final, was Ola Ciupa.

Semi-final

Monika Kuszyńska took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 16 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.
The stage show featured Monika Kuszyńska seated in a wheelchair wearing a white dress with long trains flanked by three backing vocalists on one side and a pianist on the other side. Purple and pink were the dominant colours of the stage lighting with the background LED screens displaying blossoming trees and waving white veils. An additional feature of the performance included the use of the screens on each side of the stage to display black and white images from Monika's past. The three backing vocalists that joined Kuszyńska were Ola Tabiszewska, Jan Radwan and Natalia Bajak, while the pianist was Kuba Raczyński.
At the end of the show, Poland was announced as having finished in the top ten and subsequently qualifying for the grand final. It was later revealed that the Poland placed eighth in the semi-final, receiving a total of 57 points.

Final

Shortly after the second semi-final, a winner's press conference was held for the ten qualifying countries. As part of this press conference, the qualifying artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. This draw was done in the order the countries were announced during the semi-final. Poland was drawn to compete in the second half. Following this draw, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final, as they had done for the semi-finals. Poland was subsequently placed to perform in position 18, following the entry from Germany and before the entry from Latvia.
Monika Kuszyńska once again took part in dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May before the final, including the jury final where the professional juries cast their final votes before the live show. Kuszyńska performed a repeat of her semi-final performance during the final on 23 May. At the conclusion of the voting, Poland placed twenty-third with 10 points.

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Poland and awarded by Poland in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to Poland

12 points10 points8 points7 points6 points
5 points4 points3 points2 points1 point

    • Points awarded by Poland

    Split voting results

    The following five members comprised the Polish jury: