Tulia will represent Poland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv with their song “Fire of Love (Pali się)”. Its a folk anthem sung in the traditional white voice style.
After selecting the country’s Eurovision representative via the national final Krajowe Eliminacje for the past three years, Polish network TVP reverted to internally selecting its act for 2019. It is thought that the broadcaster slimmed down its Eurovision selection in order to focus on hosting Junior Eurovision later this year. On 15 February, it finally announced its choice – folk girl group Tulia.
Israel is calling so we’ve compiled 10 facts you need to know about Tulia. Are you ready for the fire? Let’s do this!
1. Who are they?
Tulia are a vocal quartet. The four singers are Joanna Sinkiewicz, Dominika Siepka, Patrycja Nowicka and Tulia Biczak, who the band is named after. She explains to our William at Eurovision in Concert — “I introduced the girls to sing this Depeche Mode cover and that’s why… But I didn’t want the band to be named after me”. The ever-modest Tulia doesn’t consider herself the band’s leader, even if the others do (“maybe a little”).
2. They went platinum
Tulia were formed in 2017 and in 2018 they released their debut album, simply titled Tulia. The LP included both covers from other artists and original music. It went platinum in Poland, selling over 30,000 copies. Their Eurovision entry “Pali Sie” is also on the record.
3. They bring folk realness
Tulia may not be your traditional girl group. However, they are traditional in a very different sense. They wear time-honoured costumes from the Opoczno region of Poland and sing in Bialy Glos – a specific vocal tradition known as ‘White Voice’. It originates in the country’s southern mountain regions.
4. They have beautiful lyrics
Their song nods strongly to Polish Folk, which prides itself on poetry and song with the omnipresent themes of love, sorrow and mourning. To some ears, it may seem like screeching to the Kaiser Chiefs. But when you strip all of it away and focus on the lyrics, Tulia offer something much deeper – a meditation on a cold and lonely heart.
5. They make songs their own
Tulia rose to fame after their cover of “Enjoy The Silence” by the iconic electronic group Depeche Mode. The clip is now closing in on four million views on YouTube. They have also covered Metallica’s rock ballad “Nothing Else Matters” in their own unique style. That has over six million hits!
6. They’re racking up the numbers
Ten million. That’s how many people have viewed Tulia’s cover of Dawid Podsiadlo’s song “Stranger”. They already have more than four million views across three versions of “Pali Sie” — now that’s a following!
7. They are award winners
Tulia’s stock continues to rise. This year, they won a Fryderyk award – Poland’s equivalent of a Grammy for Debut of the Year. They were also nominated for best New Performance.
8. They have big festival experience
Tulia aren’t just Fryderyk winners. At the 2018 National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, Tulia took home three prizes, including the prestigious Super Premiere award for their song “Jeszcze cie nie ma”. This led to the group embarking on their first tour where they played to full houses.
9. They are Universal-ly awesome
Their music is published by Universal Music Poland. The label also has ties with previous Eurovision acts like Kasia Kowalska (1996), Anna Maria Jopek (1997) and Ich Troje (2003 and 2006). Poland’s first Junior Eurovision winner Roksana Wegiel is on their books too.
10. They have mayoral approval
Tulia are from the western Polish town of Szczecin and their vinyl album was proudly shown off by none other than the city’s mayor Piotr Krzystek. Taking to Instagram, he wrote “To jest nasza duma”, which translates to “This is our pride”. He also had the ladies round for a special coffee morning in his official offices.
We can’t wait to watch Tulia bring the fire on the Eurovision stage in May. Does Tulia make you burn inside? Let us know in the comments below.
Polish movie: „Cold war” („Zimna wojna”),was an inspiration for the Tulia’s video of „Pali si?”. Film is about impossible love in the times of dark grey communism that Poland went through – broken faces without emotions, lack of coloures (all black-white in movie and in video) – it is all deeper than it seems, and is a glimpse of a Polish soul – born to be free.
Tulia should represent Poland with another song – “Pali sie” is not the best choice in my opinion. By the way, what do you think about new song of Roksana Wegiel – JESC 2018 winner ? – you can find it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIwOREfEZ7k
Pali sie is the best
Poland is dark horse
would be a lovely top 5…(in this order: Ice, Por, Pol, Slo, Ita, they are all in my top 10) …I dare to dream.
I just came back from their concert in Katowice and I have to say that they were A M A Z I N G. Their live vocals were just like on the record. They were super smiley, interacted a lot with the audience and even made some jokes. I am completely satisfied with their performance. 10/10.
I hope they qualify 🙂
Love them!
Top 10 of course
11. “Tulia” means tulip.
In which language? Tulip in polish would be “tulipan”.
Oh right. I misheard something then. Sorry.
I went curious so I typed Tulia on google translate and it said it’s swahili meaning stay calm.
so somewhat opposite of hatari, which means danger/risk… so in case of hatari, tulia? … 😀
Tulia girls liked Hatari performance, in one of Polish interviews they even said it would be interesting to create a musical fusion: Tulia&Hatari.
Betts really underestimate them. I think the audience will love them and jury will give them points too as they are extraordinary vocalists .
It would be awesome to see Tulsa in the final, but it’s still a borderline entry. We’ll see in May.
Poland this year has an outstanding entry. I am very happy they get to be on the Eurovision stage and I am sure they will qualify.
I simply love them. I hope The Romanian and the Polish song will past the semi. They are such different and unusual songs
All 4 of them are lovely. How can one not like them?
True. Young, talented, powerful, pretty and wise. Proud to be Polish ?
These are four talented ladies. Here’s to hoping they take Poland to the final. I wish them nothing but the most successful career possible.
I’m 100% sure they will qualify.