The Wiwi Jury — our in-house team of music unprofessionals — is reviewing and rating the 37 competing songs in Eurovision 2025. Up first is Poland, who have chosen Justyna Steczkowska with “GAJA”.
Are we excited to see her back after three decades? Read on to find out!
Justyna Steczkowska – “GAJA” (Poland Eurovision 2025)
Review: Justyna Steczkowska – “GAJA”
Antranig: Wow, Poland makes a huge impression at Eurovision 2025. “GAJA” offers drama and intrigue as it takes us on a musical journey for three minutes. This is a song which wouldn’t be out of place as the backing track of a gladiatorial film, or even an intergalactic adventure. Listening to all of the entries, this is the one that makes me want to know more and it leaves a huge mark on recaps. Paired with Justyna’s impeccable vocals and slick choreography, I have no doubt this is going to deliver Poland its best result in a long time.
Score: 9.5
Pablo: Justyna is a tour de force on stage and takes it upon herself to elevate an OK song to a great live experience. Therein lies the issue: “GAJA” by itself is fairly unremarkable. The song has awesome elements, but the final product is much less than the sum of its parts, making it three minutes that just pass by without guts or glory. A watered-down, not-immediate, alternate version of “WITCH Tarohoro” (even borrowing the same lyrical hook by the end), but aided by the fact she sounds much better in Polish. It’s on Justyna to portray this with precise pathos and elevate instead of saturate. Bring the “wow” instead of the “why?”.
Score: 5
Simon: I love the fact that Justyna now has the record for the longest gap between two participations. Which is also the theme of the entry, because she presents strong vocals and amazing skills especially when spinning around in the chorus holding a long note. But where is the actual melody? It’s not really there unfortunately, so I’m left longing for a little bit more — it’s clear she has it in her and could have done with a better song. So the score is mainly given to Justyna and not the song.
Score: 7
Tomas: After originally being Poland’s second ever representative at Eurovision, Justyna makes a grand return after 30 years. This song, and Justyna’s iconic performance in the national final, makes me really excited to see the entry qualify and hopefully receive a big number of points from the televoting. This is a really intense song that draws you to the screen, as the energy that is delivered is probably unseen before at Eurovision. Justyna will be flying, spinning around, serving vocals and bringing Poland back to the Eurovision final.
Score: 9
Poland Eurovision 2025 ranking
In the Eurovision 2025 Wiwi Jury, we have 17 jurors but only have room for four reviews. The remaining scores are below:
|
Andreas: 6.5 Bernardo: 4 Burak: 6.5 Cinan: 6 Deban: 6 Jonathan: 8 Jordi: 7.5 |
Lucy: 6.5 Ruxandra: 8 Scarlett: 6 Suzanne: 7.5 Tom: 7 William: 8 |
We have removed the highest and lowest scores prior to calculating the average. This is to remove outliers and potential bias. We have removed a high of 9.5 and a low of 4.
Wiwi Jury verdict: 6.97/10
What do you think of Poland’s Eurovision 2025 entry? Share your own score and review for Justyna Steczkowska’s “GAJA” below!
this mashup of Justyna and Hatari is insanely good! check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1LHhNAMHkg
Poland 5,5/12
too shouty and self-plagiarism of witcher, her song from 2024 selection
It’s an opinion, not a fact (just mentioning).
She looks like Zorja PZE’22
For me it’s the best performance and song this year. It’s like a full package. You can’t go away when it comes to those vocals. They are top 5 this year and Georgina said that too. When she uses different vocal techniques from lower notes, vibrato, higher notes, belting, growling, head voice while doing hard choreo at her age. Choreo also reflects to the lyrics. I can understand that some of the people can see it as messy or they are not adapter to the high notes but I am and I really like it. Maybe it’s not the winning… Read more »
I’m not too fond in this but she has great stage capabilities. I can barely remember the song. I guess the jury might value it more than the televote. Though talking about Poland it will surely has some diaspora helping.
Jury with more points for Poland than televoting? I doubt it will ever happen.
Wonderful! In my top three!
Justyna is a great artist who people will remember (and yes I do remember her from 1995). The song “Gaja” is lots of A and B-flat over a D minor tonic, with very long A notes throughout. A is the 5th of this key, so there’s a lot of “perfect divinity” going on here (Gaja is supposed to be a Goddess after all). Piano interpretations of the music all sound rather beautiful, so why does this song fall flat with me even though it has vibrant choreography? I cannot really explain exactly why, but I think the problem is the… Read more »
Imagine it with a live orchestra. Perhaps that would elevate it for you. When I think of Sama, it is the Dublin performance that defines it for me. Not the studio recording.
Poland – I really like that Justyna’s back 30 years after Sama, and bloody hell is she doing great for 52! I don’t mind the song, but I do listen to it and wonder what exactly the hype is for… obviously Justyna’s great, but the song just does not connect with me at all. However folks just watching the live shows won’t realise that it feels like a more restrained version of her attempt last year, so this might do pretty well. I’m just not sure it will do as well as some people think. 5/10
The strength of this song lies in the instrumental and Justyna’s vocals. So captivating and bold. And I do like the long one note chorus it’s quite different and shows the song’s two biggest strengths. It has such a mysterious quality and I also love the performance. Shame that it can’t be kept in all its merit for Basel but it will at least be strong. This has the wild dances vibe that has been missing from Eurovision for so long and I kinda live for it even though it is definitely not my style of music. The end bit… Read more »
imo it’s a 4 and that’s being generous
Yeaaaah, because in each song there is such a vocal range, and there is so much going on in the performance…
Incredibly pretentious and shouty. The only reason it stands any chance of qualifying is due to participating in one of the weakest semi-finals and years up to this date. The performance is also a huge mess. Really hoping for Ich Troje 2006 repeat so we don’t have to see this mess in the final.
There is no Serbia & Montenegro to vote without presenting their own entry and FYR Macedonia to be pushed by them from 11th to 10th at the expense of Polish entry so there will be no repeat of that.
Irrelevant, they still failed to qualify.
Great singer but the song for me is too calculated.
32nd place: I appreciate the energetic feel of the song, but the final product feels all over the place to me. Justyna is amazing and manages to sing and dance at the same time impeccably, belting out huge and challenging vocals, but that’s about the only stunning thing I find in this song. Also for me there always seem to be some Ruslana parallelisms when I am watching this performance and the comparison unavoidably comes to my mind. Nevertheless, this kind of tunes are not my cup of tea.
Yeah, I’d say Ruslana and Justyna both bring a massive amount of energy with them to the stage. (Hence the comparison.) Plus I agree that “Gaja” just isn’t working for me as a song (see above).
Poland is my dose of BOLD this year. Thank you Justyna and Poland!
Could be another Micha? Szpak situation here. I expect this to go down a treat in the televote but I think it’s sort of musically a bit of a mess and while she is so fantastically able to sing during some of the things that she’s doing and she’s a natural on stage, I think that resonates more with crowds than juries. It’s a 6.5/10 for me but I think it’ll do better than that.
She delivers the best show, even on pre-parties and is so lovely to everyone. She touched my face in Manchester and it was so special and human … :’) Gaja is about Mother Earth and Justyna definitely portrays her perfectly. The screams in the song show how hurt nature can be and are desperate calling for mercy. I love how everything about Poland’s entry is thought out in the smallest detail. Love from Greece!
This song is a mess, I won’t be listening to it on Spotify HOWEVER Justyna with her stage presence makes this into something special. I agree with one person who said that noone could sing this song like she does.
7.5/10
I love how other participants are as obsessed with Justyna as we are! Erika and Miriana were praising her on the stage in Amsterdam and JJ couldn’t hold back the emotions talking about Gaja in the interviews. This is so special, this woman is phenomenal and deserves to win, we are all voting for her this year!
This is the WINNER this year, oh ?? my ?? God ?? This woman is a full package, and can sing any song in a way it becomes hit. This Eurovisions year is a little filles up with low-effort entries and repetitive pop song that tries to copy something that was shown before so having Justyna is a huge blessing for ESC 2025 ?? She’s an ICON
Justyna is the best one this year. She SERVES everything what has to be served. Eurovision haven’t seen someone as talented as her in a while if ever. Even Loreen couldn’t keep her breath under control and wasn’t even moving that much, whike Justyna… wow. She sets the bar so high, i dont think someone will ever reach. This is what happend when people make the right choice and sent real Diva and Queen, she just deserves to win. ?????
Song is a little messy but very exciting at the same time. I like the fusion of different elements and her performance is a proper show. 7.5/10
25. Poland – Justyna – Gaja – 6/10 – I am close to getting on board with this track, I think the chorus holds it back as it is a little too screamy for my taste. I can sense an enticing beat that wants me to shake my body, I can feel myself being lead to the dance floor but I never quite get there unfortunately. I’m expecting the stage show to be full on, so I’m looking forward to the live performance of this track.
Justyna is a legend. And this year’s participation has proven that. Her vocals, her stage performance, her energy are top notch. But having said that, this song does absolutely nothing for me. Besides being a complete mess it seems just like a cacophony of noise. The only redeeming factor is Justyna herself. Are we voting for Justyna or the song?
So why even broadcast this contest on TV if, in your opinion, only the song should be judged? The performance as a whole matters, the show, vocals, message… If it were just about the song, why have the entire contest on television? Listening to it on the radio would be enough. Sure, you might not like the song, maybe it doesn’t appeal to those with simpler tastes who prefer radio-friendly hits. But for me, it’s a masterpiece. It stands out from the other songs because it’s original and not generic. The vocalist’s voice is absolutely powerful on stage. For me,… Read more »
One votes for the whole package.
You are being a tiny bit arrogant, thinking you know better than others about songs or music. For you this song might be a masterpiece for others it is just noise and quite messy and no not because some people have simple tastes as you describe.
The song is not perfect, but she sells it so convincingly. And expensively too.
Sucha class act.
One of the finest this year.
This song has grown on me since Eurovision in Concert.
Def qualifier IMO
Poland had its very best result in their debuting year, I wouldn’t mind for them breaking that record this year
She looks and sounds better than ever, but the song itself is very messy and amelodic to me. I am still happy for her that she is back on her own terms, though. But this sounds like she was just dead set on reproducing that song she applied with last year. The original is always better and I wasnt a fan of that one either.
I think lots of people fail to realize that Justyna’s classic Sama is still a top 20 entry all-time…
10/10
POLAND – Justyna Steczkowska is a force of nature. Not only that she managed to break the record of having the longest interval before her Eurovision comback (whooping 30 years), but she did it in such a dramatic way. This isn’t a case of someone’s later return with something derivative, washed out, and half-forgotten. She looks and moves better than ever. She raises the roof as any up-and-coming diva, maybe moreso. Gaja is her second consecutive try at a comeback, and in a difficult and high quality NF, she won the televote in a landslide. So, is there something to… Read more »
Welcome to Wiwi Jury 2025. 🙂
Nice review.
I can sense some reviews are going to be a bit spicy this year.
Hi, Purple! I am happy to write another Wiwi Jury season reviews. IDK why so many people say that this is a weak year. I think it’s really diverse and interesting. There will be some spicy reviews, and I am looking forward to your reviews. 🙂
A thirty year interval… to the very day! 15th May 1995 – 15th May 2025.
I don’t understand why she has been placed in the number two slot. Just one place ahead and it would be poetic.
Whoopsies, 13th May 1995 – 13th May 2025…
Just let her open, for god’s sake.
I agree. Justyna opening again would be iconic. Maybe she opens the finals? Or would two slots at the beginning be too much?
But she didn’t want to open again and expressed relief that she didn’t have to.
I’m not exactly thrilled with her in second spot but I believe she’ll qualify either way. I just hope that she gets to talk in-between songs with presenters about her previous entry and 30 years that separate her performances (preferably with Sandra Simó who even participated 4 years before her).
It really is the perfect opener of a song, be it for Eurovision or Wiwijury.