Concluding Poland Eurovision 2020
This post continues and concludes the report for Poland’s selection process for Eurovision 2020 with a look at the third semi-final and the grand finale. TVP used its long-running talent show format Szansa na Sukces as the basis for a much lengthier process than we have seen in recent years.
In the first two rounds, seven contestants were given ABBA songs and Eurovision classics respectively. A jury comprising of three former Polish contestants at Eurovision: (1) Cleo, who—with Donotan and some milkmaids—entered in 2014; (2) Michał Szpak, who gained Poland’s third best placing of all time in 2016; and (3) Gromee, a DJ who—with Lukas Meijer—represented the country in 2018; chose one contestant each week to go to the final.
Poland 2020—Semi-final 3, Szansa na Sukces, TVP2, 16 February 2020
The third round was based on Beatles songs. Cleo took on the rotating role of foreperson of the jury. As in previous rounds, songs were allocated randomly and sung “karaoke style” with no time for preparation.
The seven contestants were as follows:
Marek Kaliszuk, an experienced music theatre performer from Gdynia in the north of Poland, drew lot number 5 and sang the 1965 hit Help!
Nick Sinckler, another music theatre performer originally from New Jersey but who has lived in Poland for 13 years, drew lot 7 and sang Can’t Buy Me Love.
Basia Gąsienica-Giewont, a criminologist and musician from the southern mountain town of Zakopane, drew lot 1 and performed Love Me Do, first released in 1962.
Albert Černý is the lead singer of Lake Malawi, the band that represented the Czech Republic in Eurovision 2019. He is from the Czech town of Trzyniec, directly on the Polish border and his grandparents were Polish, so he consequently speaks good Polish and feels a connection to the country. He drew lot 4 and was allotted Please Please Me.
Norbert Legieć, a 16-year-old DJ from Kraków, drew lot 2 and sang She Loves You.
Marzena Ryt from Wrocław, who participated in the tenth edition of the Voice of Poland, drew lot 3 and sang the 1961 classic Twist and Shout.
Adrian Makar, from a small town on the Ukrainian border, and for whom this represented the furthest he had ever travelled, drew lot 6 and sang A Hard Day’s Night.
In announcing the results, Cleo gave special recognition to Nick Sinckler and Basia Gąsienica-Giewont. She then announced that Albert Černý was the winner and would progress to the grand finale.
Poland 2020—Grand Finale, Szansa na Sukces, TVP2, 23 February 2020
The process for selecting Poland’s entry for Eurovision 2020 reached a climax in a Sunday afternoon show televised live on TVP. A live orchestra joined the existing panel and the three finalists selected in previous rounds, Kasia Dereń, Alicja Szemplińska and Albert Černý.
For the first time, the public was given a say, with televoting accounting for 50% of the result. The remaining 50% was determined by a jury called by TVP including industry and television executives. This mix was meant to reflect the process at Eurovision. The panel of previous contestants for Poland—Cleo, Michał Szpak and Gromee—continued to provide commentary but was not involved in the final decision.
The final was divided into two rounds, previous Eurovision winners and a proposed entry for Poland in 2020, with all three finalists competing in both rounds. Below is a review of both rounds:
Kasia Dereń
Kasia, who had won the first semi-final, started by singing “Satellite”, Germany’s winning entry in Oslo 2010. It was pointed out that Germany had not won for many years, reminding Polish viewers that a win is possible! The song suited Kasia’s voice, although it may have been a little over sung at points.
Kasia’s proposal for Rotterdam was an upbeat dance number entitled “Count on Me”. She brought in specific backing singers for this, including Nick Sinckler who had been commended in the previous round.
Alicja Szemplińska
Alicja, who had won the third semi-final, kicked off with a rendition of “Euphoria”, Sweden’s 2012 winning song. The panel was quick to commend her brave choice and competent execution.
In the second round, Alicja presented “Empires”, a slow elegiac and rather dramatic ballad somewhat in the “Bond theme” style.
Albert Černý
Albert, the lead singer of Lake Malawi, the Czech Republic’s entry in 2019, started off with a rendition of “Fairytale”, Norway’s 2009 winning song.
Later he sang “Lucy”, Lake Malawi’s new single, and the band’s proposition for Rotterdam. This is an up-tempo pop number about a cardboard girl that Albert wants to date. The story is supposedly inspired by events in Tel Aviv during last year’s contest. Without a video or any staging, the context of the song was somewhat lost, but the performance was strong.
After both rounds, the results were revealed. For both the televote and the jury, 1 point was awarded for third place, 3 for second place and 5 for first place, with tiebreaks broken with reference to the public vote. In the event, Alicja Szemplińska won both categories obtaining a maximum 10 points and was declared the winner. Albert Černý came second in both polls and therefore scored 6. Kasia Dereń came in third with 2 points.
Alicja was therefore presented a large ticket to Rotterdam by a senior executive of TVP and reprieved her song “Empires”. We will see her in the second semi-final on Thursday 14 May.