Will Poland return to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2016?

After twelve years, it seems that Poland will finally return to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest just in time to hit the sunny beaches of Malta. Back in June, Polish political site Natemat.pl reported that TVP had started proceedings (and paperwork) to compete at JESC 2016.

That news sent Junior Eurovision fans into a tizzy, with Facebook fan groups and Twitter accounts going into overdrive. Thus far there has been no confirmation. And when wiwibloggs approached TVP about the matter earlier this month a spokesman declined to comment. However, he did say that the broadcaster would clarify its position in the near future.

Poland participated twice in the contest, in the founding year 2003 and again 2004. On both occasions the country took last place with three points.

After these weak results, Poland soured to the contest and withdrew in 2005. In 2008, the country briefly flirted with the idea of returning — only to dash hopes once again by staying away.

Since then it’s been all quiet on the Polish front. Juliusz Braun, the Head of TVP between 2011 and 2015, simply wasn’t a fan of children’s television. He rejected both Junior Eurovision and The Voice Kids.

In a statement he once suggested that JESC may not be in the best interest of the contestants’ welfare.

“We have considered participation numerous times, when we received invitations from the EBU to compete. We decided that such a project was not appropriate for public television. It’s dragging children into show business.”

But now TVP has a new head, Jacek Kurski (photographed at top). Polish viewers were not amused when he was selected as the new head of the state-controlled network TVP, owing to his strong ties to the ultra-conservative Law and Justice party.

However, and much to the delight of Eurovision fans, Kurski seems to be a huge fan of festivals, having tweeted his support for Michal Szpak from Stockholm on the night of the second semi-final this year.

Po raz 1. od lat reprezentanta PL na Eurowizj? wybrano w uczciwym g?osowaniu. Trzymajmy za niego kciuki. Zaraz pó?fina?.

— Jacek Kurski PL (@KurskiPL) May 12, 2016

And he is a driving force behind plans to lengthen and expand Poland’s national selection for the adult Eurovision.

We are still waiting for an official confirmation, but we are definitely hoping for a Polish return to Junior Eurovision! If Poland decides to return, the participant will set a record breaking result, since the automatic 12 points rule was not yet invented in 2004.

Are you eager for a Polish return? Let us know in the comments below!

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