Poland’s Eurovision 2019 act, Tulia, have said they would only try and return to the contest if there was more “transparency” from national broadcaster TVP.
The band, who competed in Tel Aviv, Israel with the song “Fire of Love (Pali się)”, say a number of conditions would need to be met before they considered competing to represent Poland again.
In an interview with Goniec, the three band members were also clear what the most important condition was to them:
The number 1 condition would now be the transparency of the entire organisation, voting, selection, results, preparations, contact with the audience.
Tulia have also said they would want closer co-operation with the broadcaster if they worked with them in the future. The band claimed they would want to “sit down together and think carefully about the whole strategy” with everyone involved.
TVP, the Polish broadcaster who organises Poland’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, has come under significant scrutiny in 2023. After a controversial national final, in which Blanka won the right to represent the country in Liverpool with her song “Solo”, fans in Poland and across Europe have claimed the results were manipulated.
However, the broadcaster has refused to release the full voting results of the final. This is despite the Polish branch of the OGAE fan club filing a complaint with the Provincial Administrative Court against TVP’s decision to keep the results under wraps.
The fallout from Blanka’s victory, then, is still ongoing. In the wake of the final, Blanka came under fire on social media who accused her and TVP of rigging the contest in her favour. While Blanka finished 2nd in the public vote, she won the jury vote to come in first place overall.
In a separate interview with Plejada, Polish Eurovision commentator Marek Sierocki revealed that he was surprised that Blanka won, and wouldn’t have been his choice:
I can’t reveal who my favourite was, but it wasn’t Blanka. Nevertheless, I think that Blanka did not deserve the hate that fell on her.
Currently, TVP have not officially confirmed that Poland will be participating at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, set to be held in Malmö, Sweden. However, before next year’s preparations can begin, questions will continue to surround the broadcaster’s transparency around the contest.
Image Source: EBU / Chloe Hashemi | Source: Eurowizja
Poland debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 alongside a number of other Eastern European countries. Their debut year saw their best result to date, as Edyta Gorniak finished in 2nd place with her song “To nie ja!”. Following this, Poland failed to repeat this initial success, managing a top 10 placing on only one other occasion during their initial 1994-2011 run in the contest. In 2012, following a string of non-qualifications, Poland withdrew from the contest due to financial difficulties. Since their return in 2014, they have been considerably more successful in the contest, having qualified for the final for every year up to 2017.
