Krajowe Eliminacje 2017 Eurovision poland

In November Poland swept to victory at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest with young Roksana Wegiel, a talented artist who had built a name for herself as the winner of The Voice Kids. She’d been internally selected by TVP, bypassing a national selection contest, and gave the network a bit of street cred. They had a hunch she would slay and their gamble paid off.

Now the president of Polish broadcaster TVP has suggested internal selection may be the way to go for the adult contest, too. That would mean killing off the much-loved “Krajowe eliminacje” — the national final that famously showcased the likes of Margaret and Michal Szpak.

Speaking to Radio Zet, Jacek Kurski spoke about the strategy for Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv. The decision, it seems, has not yet been made.

He first spoke about the success of the JESC internal selection. “Sometimes it is better to make such an intuitive choice, but then you have to bear full responsibility for it,” he said. “With Roksana, I succeeded. It was a hit.”

He also points out that established artists don’t always want to compete in a national final. They have to associate themselves with lesser-known acts and there are big fears about losing out to them.

“We are looking for a formula,” he said. “We know why the qualifiers have not been successful so far. We had signals from some prestigious —  some of the best — Polish performers that they do not want to participate in the [national selection], where nine or ten artists have to lose and one wins. It is a bit ‘counting horses at the market’.”

“Therefore, we are looking for a more discreet formula that will involve the best, but at the same time not be such an open competition. Maybe this is the right formula. I can not give details yet.”

What do you think? Should Poland choose internally? Should established artists fear a national final? Let us know down below!

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Safiya
Safiya
5 years ago

Much-loved Krajowe Eliminacje? Who loves it? Most Polish Eurovision fans I know hate it… I’m Polish and I think that the biggest problem about Krajowe Eliminacje is that no one ever seems to treat it seriously. First of all, most countries start discussing their national selections months before Eurovision, while the Polish broadcaster does it last minute, they announce some dates and then often change them etc. Secondly, in other countries we actually get to know the participants, there are some official events, the videos or snippets of the songs are posted on official YouTube channels of broadcasters, while in… Read more »

Elwira
Elwira
5 years ago

MARGARET, EWA FARNA OR DODA in Eurovision Poland 2019

EurovisionBenny_AUT
EurovisionBenny_AUT
5 years ago

I would actually prefer an internal selection for Poland – I believe that if they selected internally, they would send nothing but the best of their best – Poland is very ambitious!

piotr
piotr
5 years ago

This might be a good move, but only if they really can bring someone big with great song. if it ends like in 2015, which I am worried about, this could turn really bad for my country (i really liked Monika Kuszy?ska herself but her song was too cheesy)

esc1234
esc1234
5 years ago

I am getting winner vibes from Poland, dont know why but i feel they will win in the years to come

MrBrightside
MrBrightside
5 years ago

Much-loved! That was funny!

Jo.
Jo.
5 years ago

As they should.

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
5 years ago

That’s for the better tbh. Polish pop stars are so good, but most of them won’t do KE.

Dawid
Dawid
5 years ago

Sylwia grzeszczak or Doda ??????? if one of them goes to eurovision , there will be about 70% of Poland watching eurovision ?

Daniel
Daniel
5 years ago
Reply to  Dawid

OMG I really want Sylwia Grzeszczak, she’s my guilty pleasure for Eurovision and she said that the would like to compete in Eurovision, but she doesn’t have a good song. In that case probably Jacek Kurski is right and she was just scared of loosing with no-name artists. She will perform for the first time at the New Year Concert in TVP and maybe it means something? Doda always wanted to go to Eurovision, but she’s saying it everytime: „I’m not able to do a good show by myself, There should be a professional team and money. Then I will… Read more »

Brooklyn
Brooklyn
5 years ago

I mean i dont blame them! They need every penny to host the contest.

Daniel
Daniel
5 years ago
Reply to  Brooklyn

Don’t worry. They were saving up money for Eurovision since Jacek Kurski started to want win Eurovision in 2016 :). We have money for JESC2019, Good performance in 2019 and hosting ESC2020 ??

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
5 years ago
Reply to  Brooklyn

That makes sense actually. Since Poland did win the bid to host Junior Eurovision in 2019 after their win, they probably want to focus their finances on that and not on a national Final that could result in a mediocre winner that could flop at the adult Eurovision. If they go internal selection and it pays off, Poland could be on the path to be the first country to win all four active Eurovision events–Poland has won Eurovision young dancers, Eurovision young musicians and now junior Eurovision. I think the drive to win Eurovision is why armenia is going internal… Read more »

josh
josh
5 years ago

It’s a good idea for sure. I just hope they include some Polish lyrics in it too, like their JESC winner. A mix of English & Polish would be perfect <3

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
5 years ago
Reply to  josh

Am I the only one who thinks bilingual songs usually sound like a mess? The only good one I recall is Hasheket Shenishar, and that’s only because she didn’t go back and forth between Hebrew and English, she just switched halfway and never came back. Monolingual songs are much better.

123
123
5 years ago

*Jacques lawsuit incoming*

Jo.
Jo.
5 years ago
Reply to  123

That was funny, but still a hot mess. An entertaining hot mess.

Jo.
Jo.
5 years ago

There are many decent bilingual entries, but they would’ve sounded better in just one language. 1944 for example, I think the Crimean Tatar part is much more effective than the English one.

Lolek
Lolek
5 years ago

I think bilingual songs can work, especially if a second language is only a minor element (think poli Genova who only used Bulgarian for the refrain “dai mi lyubovta”).

Otherwise Poland’s Cleo and Donatan did a decent job of incorporating both polish and English too (if memory serves).

JJ Abrahames
JJ Abrahames
5 years ago

national selection in poland is awful from songs up to stage and technical process
Schpak and Margaret were cringe

Anna
Anna
5 years ago

That would be amazing. I don’t really like their national selection.

Daniel
Daniel
5 years ago
Reply to  Anna

Their? I thought you’re Polish, Ania :O

Anna
Anna
5 years ago
Reply to  Daniel

Nope.