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Piosenka dla Europy 2008Piosenka dla Europy 2008 (Song for Europe 2008) was a Polish pre-selection for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest, which took place at Belgrade Arena in Belgrade. The final of the selection was held on 23 February 2008[1] in Studio 5 at the headquarters of Telewizja Polska on 17 Woronicza Street in Warsaw,[2] where Isis Gee won with the song For Life.[3] Contest progressSong submissionStarting 30 November 2007, songs could be submitted to the headquarters of the Polish public broadcaster – Telewizja Polska. All entries had to meet the contest's regulations, primarily requiring lyrics in Polish or English, a maximum length of 3 minutes, and that the song not have been published before 1 October 2007. Each performer (not a debutant) was allowed to submit only one song.[4] The deadline for submissions was 2 January 2008, with approximately 100 songs submitted.[5] From these, a special jury selected 10 finalists. The jury consisted of: Piotr Klatt (chairman), Paweł Sztompke, Artur Orzech, Magda Czapińska, Zuzanna Łapicka, Agata Krysiak, Ryszard Poznakowski, Robert Obcowski, and Tomasz Deszczyński. The following contestants qualified:[6][7]
Additionally, five artists were placed on a reserve list, ranked from 11th to 15th:[6]
Other artists known to have submitted entries include Aisha i Delfin (Gdy nie ma Ciebie),[10] East Clubbers (Never Turn Away),[11] Kravt (My Heart),[12] Jarosław Wist (Ja w Twoich oczach),[13] Video (Bella),[14] Honeys (Sexy Toy), Żywiołak (Psychoteka), Janusz Radek (Mozartella), Ania Rusowicz (Pistolety z naszych serc), Kostek Joriadis (Ten dzień), Jay Delano (Angel), Agata Torzewska, Paweł Stasiak, Marek Torzewski, Melanie Hazelrigg, Sara May, Sumptuastic, and Charizma.[15] Wild cards Telewizja Polska decided to award three internal "wild cards". These could only be granted to songs that had not been rejected by the National Selection Jury.[16] The final period for granting the "wild cards" occurred on February 8,[16] and the winners were: Natasza Urbańska with Blow Over, Izabela Kopeć (You've Got My Love), and the band Żywiołak (Noc Kupały).[17][18] DisqualificationsOn January 8, the TVP1 Entertainment Department announced the disqualification of one of the selected songs. Kiełbasa by Krzysztof Zalewski violated the competition rules, as it was publicly performed before 1 October 2007. The artist had played the song on 15 September 2007 during a concert in Warsaw for Dzień Kotana. As a result, the 10th spot in the final went to the first reserve participant – the band Plastic.[19] Another finalist, the group Starnawski & Urban Noiz, faced potential disqualification due to allegations that their song It's Not a Game was a plagiarism of Nu Insista by Daniela Raduici, performed during the 2007 Romanian Eurovision selection.[20][21] On January 12, the musicians denied the copyright infringement claims, and the composition was not withdrawn.[22] The group appeared on the official list of participants in the competition order.[23] On February 15, eight days before the final, it was announced that Żywiołak, winner of one of the "wild cards" with Noc Kupały, was disqualified due to a violation of the contest rules. A special statement from the TVP1 Entertainment Department and the National Selection Production for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest stated that Noc Kupały (submitted under a different title according to the copyright registration) was performed live at the Etniczne brzmienie kultur concert during the Festiwal Czterech Kultur, before 1 October 2007.[24] Draw of performance orderOn January 29, a draw to determine the performance order took place at the headquarters of Telewizja Polska. Contestants or their representatives participated in the event.[25] HostsOn February 20, Telewizja Polska denied rumors that Artur Orzech, a music journalist and long-time commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest, would host the Polish national selection.[26] Two days later, the portal Wirtualne Media announced the names of the hosts for the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest national selection: Radosław Brzózka and Katarzyna Sowińska.[27][28] ControversiesBefore the final of the Polish Eurovision selection, rumors emerged about Telewizja Polska allegedly favoring Natasza Urbańska, one of the contestants.[29] Both the broadcaster and the singer denied these claims.[30] ResultsParticipants During the selection, the winner was determined by a 50% split between the jury and the televote, with voting carried out via the audio-tele system. A total of 57,462 valid votes were cast.[4][31]
ScoreboardOn February 23, the members of the jury were announced. The jury consisted of:[33]
For the first time in the history of the Polish Eurovision selections, both the jury and the viewers awarded the winner the highest score of twelve points.[3] OGAE Poland favorite Members of OGAE Poland selected their favorites shortly before the Piosenka dla Europy 2008 concert. The poll was coordinated by the Entertainment Department – Tomasz Lener and Artur Onacki. Below is the overall ranking of OGAE Poland members, covering all the finalists of the selection:[34]
ViewershipThe Piosenka dla Europy 2008 selection was watched by an average of 2.7 million viewers:[35]
References
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