Poland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020
Country	Poland
National selection
Selection process	Szansa na sukces
Selection date(s)	Semi-finals 6 September 2020 13 September 2020 20 September 2020 Final 27 September 2020
Selected artist(s)	Ala Tracz
Selected song	"I'll Be Standing"
Selected songwriter(s)	Gromee Sara Chmiel-Gromala
Finals performance
Final result	9th, 90 points
Poland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
◄2019 • 2020 • 2021►

Poland hosted and participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Warsaw. Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) was responsible for the country's participation in the contest, and organised the national final Szansa na sukces to select the Polish entry for the contest. The national final was won by Ala Tracz with the song "I'll Be Standing", which represented Poland in the contest. She ended up 9th place with 90 points. ^[1]

Background

Main article: Poland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2020 contest, Poland had participated in the contest six times: In 2003 and 2004, Poland finished in last place, and they decided not to participate from 2005 to 2015. The country returned in 2016. Olivia Wieczorek was selected to represent the nation that year with the song "Nie zapomnij". Olivia finished in 11th place out of 17 entries with 60 points. In 2017, Alicja Rega was selected to represent Poland with the song "Mój dom". She finished 8th out of 16 entries with 138 points. ^[2] In both 2018 and 2019, Poland won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest with Roksana Węgiel and Viki Gabor respectively, becoming the first country to win the contest twice in a row.

After Poland's victory in the 2019 contest on home soil in Gliwice, the director-general of TVP, Jacek Kurski, stated that the country would apply to host the event again in 2020. ^[3] However, Kurski stated that the possibility of two consecutive editions of the event in Poland could be frowned upon by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). After a period of uncertainty, in the last week of December 2019, it was reported by Gazeta Wyborcza that some Kraków City Councillors were expressing interest in taking the proposal that the contest be held in the city, focused on Tauron Arena. A few days later on 8 January 2020, the proposal was discussed at the City Council and accepted by the majority of its members. ^[4] Poland was confirmed as the host country in March 2020. ^[5]

Before Junior Eurovision

National final

Format

Szansa na sukces consisted of four shows: three semi-finals broadcast on 6 September, 13 September and 20 September, and a final on 27 September. Seven singers competed in each semi-final, with one qualifying for the final as determined by a jury of artists. Each of the three finalists performed one song selected by the producers and one song that would serve as the Polish entry for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The winner was determined by an equal combination of jury votes and SMS votes. ^[6]

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1

The first semi-final was broadcast on 6 September 2020. ^[6] All seven semi-finalists performed intergenerational hits. The jury consisted of three members: ^[7]

• Viki Gabor – singer, winner of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2019
• Edyta Górniak – singer, Polish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994
• Piotr Rubik – composer

Semi-final 1 – 6 September 2020 ^{[7] [8]}

Draw	Artist	Song	Result
1	Gabriela Łukasik	"Superhero"	Eliminated
2	Mikołaj Gajowy	"Niech mówią, że to nie jest miłość"	Eliminated
3	Lena Marzec	"Andromeda"	Finalist
4	Aurelia Radecka	"Getaway"	Honourable mention
5	Hanna Dzieniewicz	"Nie zapomnij"	Eliminated
6	Antonina Biesiadecka	"Król"	Eliminated
7	Amelia Karczewska	"Psalm dla Ciebie"	Honourable mention

Semi-final 2

The second semi-final was broadcast on 13 September 2020. All seven semi-finalists performed famous worldwide hits. The jury consisted of three members: ^[9]

• Michał Wiśniewski – singer, Polish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
• Cleo – singer, represented Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014
• Gromee – DJ, record producer, remixer, songwriter, Polish representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Semi-final 2 – 13 September 2020 ^{[10] [11]}

Draw	Artist	Song	Result
1	Aleksandra Kędra	"Perfect"	Honourable mention
2	Natalia Kosmowska	"Can't Stop the Feeling!"	Eliminated
3	Sandra Wawer	"No Roots"	Honourable mention
4	Maja Biernat	"Hold Back the River"	Eliminated
5	Agata Serwin	"What Makes You Beautiful"	Finalist
6	Zuzanna Darnikowska	"Be the One"	Eliminated
7	Maja Janowska	"Budapest"	Eliminated

Semi-final 3

The third semi-final was broadcast on 20 September 2020. ^[12] All seven semi-finaliats performed songs from fairytales. The jury consisted of three members: ^[13]

• Marina Łuczenko-Szczęsna – singer, songwriter, actress
• Dawid Kwiatkowski – singer-songwriter
• Kasia Łaska – singer, voice actress

Semi-final 3 – 20 September 2020 ^[14]

Draw	Artist	Song	Result
1	Ala Tracz	"Kolorowy wiatr"	Finalist
2	Lena Małodzińska	"Mam tę moc"	Eliminated
3	Szymon Lubicki	"Ani słowa"	Honourable mention
4	Antonina Piotrowska	"Ty druha we mnie masz"	Honourable mention
5	Konrad Repiński	"Większy świat"	Eliminated
6	Anna Laskowska	"Miłość rośnie wokół nas"	Eliminated
7	Dominika Głąb	"Pół kroku stąd"	Eliminated

Final

The final was held on 27 September 2020. Three artists competed in the final, and the winning artist and song represented Poland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020. ^[7] The jury consisted of three members: ^{[15] [16]} Konrad Smuga (director of Polish performances at Junior Eurovision), Grzegorz Urban (music director of Szansa na Sukces), and Anna Cyzowska-Andura (director of the TVP Entertainment Agency). Another pannel, consisting of Viki Gabor, Cleo and Dawid Kwiatkowski was also present during the show, but did not have any power over the voting. The winner was Ala Tracz with the song "I'll Be Standing", which was composed by Gromee and Sara Chmiel-Gromala. ^[17]

Final – 27 September 2020 ^[17]

Artist	Draw	Cover	Draw	JESC song	Jury	Televote	Total	Place
Lena Marzec	1	"Superhero"	4	"You and Me"	3	3	6	2
Agata Serwin	2	"Can't Stop the Feeling!"	5	"What I'm Made Of"	1	1	2	3
Ala Tracz	3	"Mam tę moc"	6	"I'll Be Standing"	5	5	10	1

At Junior Eurovision

During the opening ceremony and the running order draw, which both took place on 23 November 2020, Poland was drawn to perform sixth on 29 November 2020, following Belarus and preceding Georgia. ^[18]

Voting

The same voting system that was introduced in the 2017 edition was used, where the results were determined by 50% online voting and 50% jury voting. ^[19] Every country had a national jury that consisted of three music industry professionals and two children aged between 10 and 15 who were citizens of the country they represented. The rankings of those jurors were combined to make an overall top ten. ^[20]

The online voting consisted of two phases. The first phase of the online voting began on 27 November 2020 when a recap of all the rehearsal performances was shown on the contest's website Junioreurovision.tv before the viewers could vote. After this, voters also had the option to watch longer one-minute clips from each participant's rehearsal. This first round of voting ended on Sunday 29 November at 15:59 CET. The second phase of the online voting took place during the live show and began right after the last performance and was open for 15 minutes. International viewers were able vote for three songs. ^[21] They were also able to vote for their own country's song. These votes were then turned into points which were determined by the percentage of votes received. For example, if a song received 10% of the votes, it received 10% of the available points.

Points awarded to Poland [22] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points   Georgia   Malta   Serbia 7 points 6 points   Kazakhstan 5 points   Netherlands 4 points   Russia 3 points 2 points   Belarus   Germany   Spain 1 point   France Poland received 44 points from the online vote

Points awarded by Poland [22] Score Country 12 points   Belarus 10 points   Ukraine 8 points   Netherlands 7 points   Spain 6 points   Malta 5 points   Georgia 4 points   Russia 3 points   Kazakhstan 2 points   Germany 1 point   France

Detailed voting results

The following members comprised the Polish jury: ^[23]

• Agata Serwin
• Lena Marzec
• Ada Kućmierz
• Oliwia Stefanowska
• Norbi  [ pl ]

Detailed voting results from Poland ^[22]

Draw	Country	Juror A	Juror B	Juror C	Juror D	Juror E	Average Rank	Points Awarded
01	Germany	3	7	9	11	11	9	2
02	Kazakhstan	5	6	8	10	8	8	3
03	Netherlands	4	3	2	3	3	3	8
04	Serbia	6	11	11	9	10	11
05	Belarus	7	2	1	1	1	1	12
06	Poland
07	Georgia	8	9	5	4	6	6	5
08	Malta	9	1	6	7	9	5	6
09	Russia	10	10	7	5	5	7	4
10	Spain	2	4	4	8	4	4	7
11	Ukraine	1	5	3	2	2	2	10
12	France	11	8	10	6	7	10	1

References

1. "Final of Poland 2020 - Junior Eurovision Song Contest — Poland 2020". Junioreurovision.tv. EBU. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
2. "Poland – Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Gliwice-Silesia 2019". junioreurovision.tv. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
3. ""Poland is so proud of you": 2019 Winner Viki Gabor talks to the press". junioreurovision.tv. EBU. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
4. Granger, Anthony (January 2020). "Poland: Councillors Support Motion For Krakow To Host Junior Eurovision". Eurovoix. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
5. "We're going back to Poland!". junioreurovision.tv. EBU. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
6. Granger, Anthony (17 August 2020). "Poland: Szansa na Sukces – Eurowizja Junior 2020 Show One Jurors Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
7. Granger, Anthony (6 September 2020). "Poland: Lena Marzec Wins Szansa na Sukces – Eurowizja Junior 2020 Semi-Final One". Eurovoix. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
8. Polewski, Kamil (6 September 2020). "Eurowizja Junior 2020: Lena Marzec pierwszą finalistką Szansy na Sukces!". eurowizja.org.
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10. Granger, Anthony (13 September 2020). "Poland: Agata Serwin Wins Szansa na Sukces – Eurowizja Junior 2020 Show Two". Eurovoix. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
11. Polewski, Kamil (13 September 2020). ""Eurowizja Junior 2020: Agata Serwin drugą finalistką Szansy na Sukces!"". eurowizja.org (in Polish). Retrieved 13 September 2020.
12. Granger, Anthony (19 August 2020). "Viki Gabor Revealed As Juror For Szansa na Sukces – Eurowizja Junior Show Three". Eurovoix. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
13. Granger, Anthony (20 September 2020). "Today: Szansa na Sukces – Eurowizja Junior Semi Final Three". Eurovoix. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
14. Czerniawski, Mieszko (20 September 2020). "Szansa na Sukces: Ala Tracz ostatnią finalistką!". eurowizja.org. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
15. Granger, Anthony (21 September 2020). "Poland: Jury For The Szansa na Sukces – Eurowizja Junior 2020 Final Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
16. "Alicja Tracz will represent Poland at the 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest". escXtra. 27 September 2020.
17. Granger, Anthony (27 September 2020). "Poland: Alicja Tracz To The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
18. "This is the running order for Junior Eurovision 2020". Junioreurovision.tv. EBU. 23 November 2020. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020.
19. Granger, Anthony (16 October 2020). "Junior Eurovision'20: Voting To Be Tweaked With Discussions On Going Around Points Presentation". Eurovoix. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020.
20. Granger, Anthony (15 November 2018). "Junior Eurovision 2018 – How Does The Voting Work?". Eurovoix.
21. "How to vote for your favourite at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020". Junioreurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 10 November 2020. Archived from the original on 10 November 2020.
22. "Results of the Final of Poland 2020". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
23. Czerniawski, Mieszko (30 November 2020). "Eurowizja Junior 2020: tak głosowało polskie jury. Kto głosował na Polskę?" [Junior Eurovision 2020: this is how the Polish jury voted. Who voted for Poland?]. Eurowizja.org (in Polish). Retrieved 25 September 2024.