Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Prior to the 2006 contest, (TVP) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Poland ten times since its first entry in . Its highest placement in the contest, to this point, has been second place, achieved with its debut entry with the song "" performed by Edyta Górniak. It has only, thus far, reached the top ten on one other occasion, when "" performed by Ich Troje finished seventh . In , "" performed by Ivan and Delfin failed to qualify from the semi-final. As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, TVP organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. The broadcaster confirmed its participation in the 2006 contest on 11 November 2005. In 2003 and 2004, TVP organised televised national finals that featured a competition among several artists and songs in order to select its entry. The broadcaster opted to internally select its 2005 entry, however, along with their participation confirmation, TVP announced that it would select its 2006 entry via a national final. ==Before Eurovision==

was the national final organised by TVP in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The show took place on 28 January 2006 at the Studio 5 of TVP in Warsaw, hosted by Artur Orzech and Agnieszka Szulim. A combination of public televoting and jury voting selected the winner. The show was broadcast on TVP1 and TVP Polonia as well as streamed online at the broadcaster's website tvp.pl. The national final was watched by over 5 million viewers in Poland with a market share of 36%. Competing entries TVP opened a submission period for interested artists and songwriters to submit their entries between 11 November 2005 and 10 December 2005. The broadcaster received 112 submissions at the closing of the deadline. An eleven-member selection committee selected fifteen entries from the received submissions to compete in the national final. The selection committee consisted of Piotr Klatt (journalist and musician, managing editor at TVP1), Janusz Kosiński (editor at TVP and music journalist for Trójka and AntyRadio 94), Tomasz Deszczyński (President of OGAE Poland), Kamil Górecki (member of OGAE Poland), Bartek Jastrzębowski (television director), Zygmunt Kukla (conductor, music director of the Opole Festival and Sopot Festival), Paweł Rurak Sokal (musician and composer, represented as a member of Blue Café), Robert Sankowski (music journalist and reviewer for Gazeta Wyborcza), Maria Szabłowska (journalist at Polish Radio), Bogdan Olewicz (composer) and Andrzej Witkowski (editor for the Opole Festival and Sopot Festival at TVP). The selected entries were announced on 20 December 2005. Among the competing artists was the band Ich Troje (which represented ). Final The televised final took place on 28 January 2006. Fifteen entries competed and the winner, "Follow My Heart" performed by Ich Troje, was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a six-member professional jury and a public vote. The jury consisted of Maryla Rodowicz (singer), Maria Szabłowska (journalist at Polish Radio), Elżbieta Skrętkowska (creator of Szansa na sukces), Beata Drążkowska (member of OGAE Poland), Zygmunt Kukla (conductor, music director of the Opole Festival and Sopot Festival) and Robert Leszczyński (music journalist). Ich Troje and Katarzyna Cerekwicka were both tied for the first place with 17 points, however the results of the public vote took precedence and led to the victory of Ich Troje. In addition to the performances of the competing entries, the band Bajm and Blue Café (who represented Poland in 2004) performed as the interval acts. == At Eurovision ==

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the ten highest placed finishers in the are required to qualify from the semi-final on 18 May 2006 in order to compete for the final on 20 May 2006; the top ten countries from the semi-final progress to the final. On 21 March 2006, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order for the semi-final and Poland was set to perform in position 12, following the entry from and before the entry from . The semi-final and the final were broadcast in Poland on TVP1 and TVP Polonia with commentary by Artur Orzech. TVP appointed Maciej Orłoś as its spokesperson to announce the Polish votes during the final. Semi-final Ich Troje and Real McCoy took part in technical rehearsals on 11 and 13 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 17 and 18 May. The Polish performance featured the members of Ich Troje performing in white, gold and beige ornate costumes and joined by two backing vocalists, while Real McCoy performed off stage amongst the audience. Male vocalist of Ich Troje, Michał Wiśniewski, had green and white hair rather than his usual red due to his promotional contract with a mobile network operator. Wiśniewski concluded the performance by tearing off the dress of pregnant vocalist and his then-fiancée Anna Świątczak and displayed affection towards their unborn baby. The stage was predominately in blue and red colours with gold stars displaying on the background. The performance also featured pyrotechnic effects. At the end of the show, Poland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Poland placed eleventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 70 points. Voting Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Poland and awarded by Poland in the semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to in the semi-final and the final of the contest. Points awarded to Poland Points awarded by Poland ==References==