The 11th Sopot TOPtrendy Festival took place from 7 to 9 June 2013 at the Forest Opera in Sopot, Poland.[1] The festival was organized by Polsat television,[2] which broadcast the event on its channel. A live broadcast was also available online via the Ipla [pl] platform.[3]
On the first day, three concerts took place: the 25th anniversary celebration of the band Big Cyc, the TOP Concert, and the 20th anniversary celebration of the band Hey. On the second day, two concerts were held: Greatest Hits of the Year and the Trendy Contest. On the third day, the 10th Sopot Night of Cabaret took place.[4]
Organization
On 28 March 2013, Polsat television announced the organization of the 11th edition of the Sopot TOPtrendy Festival [pl], scheduled for 7 to 9 June. Konrad Stachurski was appointed as the festival's spokesperson. On the same day, the television network began accepting applications for the Trendy Contest, which debuting artists could submit until April 21.[5] Four days later, the organizers informed the public that the festival would take place at the Forest Opera in Sopot after a four-year break due to the renovation of the amphitheater.[6]
On May 7, Polsat presented the detailed plan for the festival, which was to feature five concerts. The three-day event was to open with a concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band Big Cyc. Following that would be the TOP Concert, where artists with the highest album sales from the previous year (Ania, Andrzej Piaseczny, Seweryn Krajewski, Coma, Hey, Kamil Bednarek, Maria Peszek, Artur Andrus, Donatan, and Kazik na Żywo) were invited to perform on the Forest Opera stage. The first day was set to close with a concert commemorating the 20th anniversary of the band Hey.[7]
On the second day of the event, for the first time in the festival's history, the Greatest Hits of the Year concert was scheduled. Artists whose songs had been the most frequently played on Polish radio stations in the past year (Enej [pl], LemON [pl], Ewelina Lisowska, Loka [pl], Jula, Liber [pl] and Natalia Szroeder, Łukasz Zagrobelny [pl], Pectus [pl], Rafał Brzozowski, Anna Wyszkoni, Sylwia Grzeszczak, and Margaret) were invited to perform in the Sopot amphitheater.[8] The second day of the event also featured the Trendy Contest. Polsat television collected 358 submissions, though the names of the finalists were to be announced at a later date.[7]
According to the program Sopot TOPtrendy Festival 2013, the concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band Big Cyc was scheduled for Friday, June 7, at 8:00 PM.[4] In the Forest Opera, the group presented their hits.[13] On stage, they were joined by special guests invited for this occasion, including Krzysztof Ibisz, Jerzy Połomski, Elżbieta Romanowska,[14] Patrycja Pająk, Karolina Szostak [pl], and Szymon Majewski.[15] During the concert, Big Cyc received the Golden Bra award.[16]
The TOP Concert was scheduled for 9:00 PM according to the program for Sopot TOPtrendy Festival 2013.[4] Ten artists with the highest number of albums sold in the previous year in Poland performed.[19] The first place was taken by Artur Andrus with the album Myśliwiecka [pl].[20] The concert was hosted by Agnieszka Popielewicz and Maciej Rock [pl].[21]
Donatan – Nie lubimy robić (performed by Cleo) and Budź się (performed by Donguralesko [pl])
Andrzej Piaseczny – Pastorałka największych przyjaciół, To co dobre, to co lepsze, and Śniadanie do łóżka
Kazik na Żywo – Artyści
Maria Peszek – Ludzie psy, Sorry Polsko, and Pan nie jest moim pasterzem
Kamil Bednarek – Jestem... (sobą) (and Staff) and Dni, których jeszcze nie znamy
Artur Andrus – Piłem w Spale, spałem w Pile and Królowa nadbałtyckich raf
20th anniversary of Hey
The next event in the Sopot TOPtrendy Festival 2013 program was a concert celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hey, scheduled for midnight.[4] The group performed its greatest hits, joined by special guests they had invited: Czesław Mozil, Ania, Artur Rojek, and Andrzej Smolik.[23] During the concert, Hey received a special award from the city of Sopot and a lifetime achievement statue from RMF FM radio.[24]
Enej – winners of the Greatest Hits of the Year concert
According to the program for Sopot TOPtrendy Festival 2013, the Greatest Hits of the Year concert began at 8:00 PM on Saturday, June 8.[4] Twelve artists performed the most-played songs of the past year on Polish radio stations.[26] Viewers voted via SMS for their favorite performance, with Tak smakuje życie by Enej [pl] ultimately winning.[27] The concert was hosted by Paulina Sykut-Jeżyna [pl] and Darek Maciborek [pl].[28] Additionally, the winners of the fifth season of Must Be the Music, Piotr Szumlas and Jakub Zaborski, gave a special performance of I'll Be There for You by The Rembrandts.[29]
At 10:00 PM, the Trendy Competition began, in which ten debuting performers competed for the title of Trendy Artist and a promotional campaign on Polsat television. The participants were selected for the competition by music journalists and Polsat television earlier.[31] The winner was Sebastian Riedel [pl] with the band Cree [pl], chosen by viewers through SMS voting. The laureates also received a special prize from the listeners of RMF Maxx [pl] radio in the form of a promotional campaign on that station worth 100,000 PLN.[32] Awards were also given to: Dr Misio [pl] (Journalists' Award), FairyTaleShow (Internet Users' Award), and Natalia Przybysz (Jury Award, guaranteeing a promotional campaign on RMF FM worth 100,000 PLN).[33] The concert was hosted by Paulina Sykut-Jeżyna [pl] and Maciej Dowbor [pl], as well as Igor Kwiatkowski [pl] and Robert Motyka [pl] from the Paranienormalni [pl] cabaret.[28] Special performances were given by Ewa Farna, who premiered her single Znak, and Honorata Skarbek, who sang the song Nie powiem jak.[34]
The Sopot TOPtrendy Festival was considered one of the most important and popular festivals in Poland. Its 11th edition received positive feedback from the media, where praise was directed at the performers, some of whom were described by various outlets as "the biggest stars on the Polish music scene".[39][40]
After the festival, however, some criticism was aimed at Kazik Staszewski (vocalist of the group Kazik na Żywo), who did not collect the award for his band's 5th place in the TOP Concert,[40] and at the performance by Donguralesko and Donatan. During the TOP Concert, Donguralesko performed a song laden with profanity and concluded with the statement, "smoke, plant, legalize".[41] One outlet also criticized Polsat television for scheduling the Hey band's anniversary concert at a late hour that was inconvenient for viewers.[42]
The performance by Pączki w Tłuszczu during the Trendy Competition, however, drew the most attention from the media and internet users. The band's vocalist, Tomasz Karolak, was accused of singing off-key during the song Tylko bądź, with one portal calling his performance a "disaster".[40][43]
Margaret's performance during the Biggest Hits of the Year concert also attracted media attention. She appeared on stage with scantily clad dancers, whose costumes seemed to be made of leaves.[44][45]
The 11th edition of the Sopot TOPtrendy Festival was additionally criticized by Kuba Wojewódzki in an issue of Polityka, where he described it as "a mix of the Jarocin Festival with a local fair, barbecue, teleshopping, and harvest festival". In his column, he also criticized one of the festival's hosts, Maciej Rock, and Olaf Lubaszenko, who performed during the Sopot Cabaret Night.[46][47]
Viewership
The first day of the festival had an average viewership of 1,561,055, the second day reached 2,118,863 viewers, while the last day of the festival was followed by approximately 3,210,232 people. The average viewership for the entire festival was 2,304,427. During the broadcast, Polsat television was the market leader among competing stations.[48] However, the festival attracted about 412,000 fewer viewers than the previous year.[49]
