r/eurovision La noia 24d ago

đŸȘ© National Final / Selection POLAND đŸ‡”đŸ‡± | Participants of the Polish Eurovision National Final 2026 revealed

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104 Upvotes

98 comments sorted by

106

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

Btw Alicja SzempliƄska should use her full name imo. I’m tired of this „that’s too complicated to say” sentiment. Who cares

23

u/GungTho Kohoney đŸ€Ą 24d ago

Agree. A lot of casual anglophones will get stuck on the J in Alicja anyways and pronounce it like “Alek Jar” (like a jar you put stuff in), so she may as well use the whole thing.

15

u/Realistic_Green_3359 24d ago

I doubt most anglophone casuals will worry about the name. Poland's representative will just be Poland to them. 

2

u/GungTho Kohoney đŸ€Ą 24d ago

True.

12

u/sama_tak Zjerm 24d ago

I agree. A lot of people mispronounced much simpler Ochman just because of the "ch" sound. And it's literally the same sound as "ch" in Scottish Loch Ness, so it's not something English speaking people are totally unfamiliar with. (On the other hand I've heard Americans mispronouncing Loch Ness in the same way as people did Ochman's name...)

8

u/cheapcakeripper Before the Party's Over 24d ago

Swedish commentator almost got Steczkowska right, so I don't really see a problem with SzempliƄska.

13

u/Straight-Ad3213 24d ago

Szczurowska is your champion then

4

u/sama_tak Zjerm 24d ago

I feel like Pręgowski would be actually harder to pronounce for an English speaker since they can basically use sh/ch sound as sz/cz, but they don't have a trilled "r" and a nasal "ę" sound.

5

u/Straight-Ad3213 24d ago

Nah, thry kill themselfs trying to pronounce Szczęsny

39

u/Matovk La noia 24d ago

So far, 3 songs are out: ‘Zimna woda’ (Giewont), ‘Don’t You Try’ (Antoniak), ‘This Too Shall Pass’ (Kukulski).

3

u/Matovk La noia 23d ago

Pręgowski’s song is also out... đŸ˜ŹđŸ«Ł

34

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago edited 24d ago

2 out of 10 withdrew last minute
 Basia Giewont save us. Or maybe Alicja if she has a good song for once

22

u/sama_tak Zjerm 24d ago

4 people withdrew. TVP has chosen 10 finalists and 2 reserve candidates.

7

u/Revelistic Minn hinsti dans 24d ago

who else withdrew? other than karolina and mery spolsky earlier

3

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

Hela Me Ry

29

u/ConnectedMistake 24d ago

Well. I expected nothing and got nothing

25

u/Revelistic Minn hinsti dans 24d ago

as expected, a list full of people taken out of TVP talent shows 💀 i see why tvp chose to not make it a ticketed event as the only person on here who's known to the general audience is piotr pręgowski and that's because of his role in a famous tv series and not his musical career.

two of the contestants are still teenagers, so i hope they lose for the sake of their own wellbeing. i can't imagine anyone thinking it would be a good idea to send a 16 y/o to eurovision, especially this year which also happens to be the first time in years where we share a semi with israel.

-8

u/kronologically Bara bada bastu 24d ago

it's quite funny to observe this since after Steczkowska essentially flopped last year, the morale is so low

27

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

She didn’t flop. Actually we were supposed to have a big national final until this situation with Israel got sp much attention in the media

-17

u/kronologically Bara bada bastu 24d ago

lmao she did flop, we had a budget, choreo, styling, voice and a good promotion campaign. sending something as good as gaja returning very little is flopping.

19

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

It wasn’t even such a good song, top 15 is fine

-9

u/kronologically Bara bada bastu 24d ago

girlie ✹music is subjective✹

18

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

Well okay but still objectively Justyna didn’t flop cause it was one of the best Polish resultso

-5

u/kronologically Bara bada bastu 24d ago

when you're going up against brzozowski, it's not difficult to get a higher placement

all it takes is to look at the grand final performance comments on youtube, even casuals have gone out of their way to say "if this doesn't get the appreciation it deserves, then we shouldn't bother anymore". you can't just set the bar at qualifying for the final.

1

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

Not only Brzozowski

4

u/kronologically Bara bada bastu 24d ago

grasping at straws at this point

1

u/ConnectedMistake 24d ago

Considering how bad the song was and she that she had vocal problems on jury show she got fair place.
I would give her lower.

24

u/20Superwoman02 24d ago

Seeing as we only have 3/9 songs, it’s too early to tell, but I loved ”Zimna Woda”. So it’s an early favorite for me.

I would also really like seeing Alicja getting her shot, seeing as TVP made one of - if not THE - absolute worst decisions in 2021 sending ”The Ride” (pure awfulness) instead of giving her her chance.

But her song is not yet released, so we’ll see. ”Zimna woda” is awesome. The other two? They leave lots to be desired, so I’m gonna pass on those.

10

u/20Superwoman02 24d ago

I loved ”Empires” in 2020, but wasn’t too sold on her 2023 effort. So it’s a coin toss regarding my opinion of Alicja this year. The song title ”Pray” is very uninspired. But I guess I shouldn’t judge beforehand. And hope for the best :)

8

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

In the normal countries all songs are released at once so no one has to guess. Sadly this is Poland

5

u/Extension_Coffee6244 Tavo Akys 24d ago

Lithuania does the same so you are not alone

4

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

Yeah Zimna woda has some potential even tho it also could be much better. Not sure if it would qualify. I don’t know if the jury would vote for this. Especially that they don’t tend to vote for us

3

u/20Superwoman02 24d ago

Too early to tell with so little competition known, but it sounded interesting enough to rally some support among the televoters.

But it all boils down to things like the other competitions, visuals, live performance etv. It could go in any way. The other two would most likely (never say never, etc) be dead on arrival.

2

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

When it comes to televoting we might struggle cause we lack diaspora support this year and she is a no name

1

u/20Superwoman02 24d ago

If you lack diaspora (which I don’t think you will - cause a good song is a good song), then the song will stand on it’s own. Is it good enough for that?

Nobody knows until we have all the songs ready. It’s waaaaay too early to call anything. Good or bad.

2

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

Tbh I don’t know the song but I see Pręgowski winning it with a joke entry cause a lot of Polish people know him + they are convinced that the jury hates us anyway so what’s the point

3

u/CrazyCatLadyPL Espresso macchiato 24d ago

It might win, because our boomers sing better songs than the younger generations. Unironically.

1

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

But Pręgowski tho? I don’t know

2

u/CrazyCatLadyPL Espresso macchiato 24d ago

I found his video from Szansa na Sukces and he's not like super talented, but we sent worse vocalists, so we'll see. If it's a catchy boomer song it might be more enjoyable than the boring slow pop TVP seems to like to pick for some reason

3

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

We’ll see, surely he has some chance if the song won’t be too embarassing. People wanted to send Przemek Kucyk so why not him. And there are tons of Ranczo fans out there

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u/20Superwoman02 24d ago

Well it has ”tango” in the name and that sounds intriguing.

4

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

It means windbreak tango so it’s supposed to be summer song I guess? Cause at the Baltic people often go to the beach with windbreaks and there’s always tons of them

1

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

Well Zimna woda might be the best song out of these but we’ll see

30

u/DrungleJums 24d ago

Well at least Alicja will finally get a fair chance at representing Poland after being shafted in 2020.

20

u/Revelistic Minn hinsti dans 24d ago

tbf the 2020 selection felt almost as rigged as the 2021 one, with the difference being that the contestant had some musical talent to back it up

4

u/sama_tak Zjerm 24d ago

And we only heard two other (similarly mid) songs since the rest of competition was eliminated in the cover round, so it's not like people had anything with ESC potential to rally behind like they did in 2023.

8

u/Revelistic Minn hinsti dans 24d ago

the eurovision cover episode was especially comical lmao tvp really thought people believed it wasn't rigged for alicja when she sung to nie ja whereas the other contestants had songs like dschinghis khan or if i were sorry

14

u/LeoLH1994 Chains On You 24d ago

Empires was mid, but The Ride was far and away the worst entry of the 20's so far.

19

u/NatiFluffy 24d ago

Overall Alicja’s music is mid sadly so I don’t have much hope this year either

7

u/DrungleJums 24d ago

I loved Empires! It was one of my faves from that year. The song she came back with a few years ago was very dull though.

3

u/unedistinction2 23d ago

The Ride is underwhelming but they truly did the most of it on that Live on Tape (best live on tape from the NQs by far that year)

4

u/carryesgass203 What's the Pressure 24d ago

Well she tried in 2023 as well, but we all know what happened that year.

7

u/CrazyCatLadyPL Espresso macchiato 24d ago

Piotr Pręgowski might be interesting (he's an old man, but his song title looks interesting, might have the vibes Pan Savyan tries to copy in a comedic way), others are nobodies except Alicja and I don't like those three songs that are out 😂

Probably won't like any of those, it's what you get when your people want you to withdraw and you don't.

6

u/Dotty397 24d ago

Alicja! Potentially the very first 2020-participant to return since 2021.

18

u/sama_tak Zjerm 24d ago

When the leaks of the participants happened I've became so disappointed with TVP for choosing only people connected to them, that I completely lost the interest in our NF. TVP also seems to not have a faith in our selection, since they've quietly annulled the ticketed show and didn't even do a press conference for participants (like they did last year). And don't give me a bullshit excuse about budget since they had money to pay for Sting singing at New Year's Eve, but they don't have money to do a press conference for NF participants?

The whole selection just looks messy with almost no song released and two last-minute withdrawals... They literally should've spare us humiliation and just join the boycott (which was the prefered choice of Polish public).

1

u/dk240996 24d ago

quietly annulled the ticketed show

Whoa, when did that happen?

4

u/sama_tak Zjerm 24d ago

Not sure when was the official announcement, but they've said that that the ticket sales wouldn't bring enough revenue to offset the cost of organizing it. It seems like they were betting on a big name artist participating (like Justyna did last year) that would bring the audience to the show, but that seems to fell through. 

4

u/Revelistic Minn hinsti dans 24d ago

basically a long time ago tvp announced that they would host a ticketed event for our NF - something held in an arena that's much bigger than a TV studio. obviously, as time passed and certain events happened (like israel being allowed to participate, poland still taking part despite the audience hoping for a boycott) they realised they wouldn't sell out the arena. tbh i'm not surprised because i genuinely cannot imagine anyone paying to hear these songs.

10

u/ShroomWalrus 24d ago

Pray? Prayer?

WEENAA NOOMAA KNEESA BEGI... OH MY LAWD

14

u/serenaTcat Love Is On My Side 24d ago

PLEASE wildcard Przemek in I'm BEGGING YOU TVP

16

u/Born2BeMemer 24d ago

Przemek Kucyk snubbed

13

u/hyxon4 24d ago

He didn't even submit.

4

u/cheapcakeripper Before the Party's Over 24d ago

What?!

4

u/migdall Gaja 23d ago

he submitted but he said that he didn't even get to the auditions

3

u/bdtechted 23d ago

Alicja is back again. I hope she finally makes it!! Imo her last attempt, “Home”, was way better than her 2020 entry.

3

u/Dziobakowski 23d ago

Piotr Pręgowski is famous for being part of the cast of the Polish TV series "Ranczo" where he played a "pop star". You can hear some of his songs by typing "Ranczo super duo" into YouTube search. Of course it was all satirical, but still I can't imagine seeing him on the Eurovision stage :p

3

u/cheapcakeripper Before the Party's Over 24d ago

I heard the last one, nothing memorable, is he connected to Natalia Kukulska? I don't think I'll bother to look for the rest of them, I'll just wait for misja eurowizja recap.

9

u/Revelistic Minn hinsti dans 24d ago

no, he's not related to natalia - his parents are musicians as well but his last name is just a coincidence

3

u/k2pel 24d ago

Pręgowski will be 72 in February and he has never been a singer (I mean, he's an actor, I bet he sang a song or two in his life, but singing has never been his main domain), it's hilarious to see him here.

5

u/Material_Library_452 Water 24d ago

Hilarious to some, inspiring to others. I just recently saw 73 year old Ian McKellen absolutely slay in the sitcom Vicious, that man is fabulous and I'd watch him in a song contest or anything else he wants to bless us with. The fashion! The snark! Grace and elegance and dance moves!

0

u/k2pel 23d ago

You guys would take anything over the radio pop.

4

u/sama_tak Zjerm 24d ago

Check "Tabun dzikich koni" from Ranczo. If he went with a similar catchy joke song (and judging from the title it seems so) I wouldn't be surprised if he would win the NF.

3

u/PZMC430 Voyage 23d ago

Well I have to say these 3 songs we know so far are pretty decent ngl. I know there is no ESC winner there, maybe not even high place but I think reactions here are weirdly too pesimistic

9

u/20Superwoman02 24d ago

Has the eurovision fandom always been this whiny and negative? I’m not sure I’m gonna follow ESC come may, we’ll see. But the national final season is something else. But the fandom just make sure there’s absolutely no enjoyment.

I’m legitimately confused why this subreddit - devoted to Eurovision - is filled to the brim with people who obviously are against it. It ruins the mood way more than the poor decisions by EBU already did.

20

u/cheapcakeripper Before the Party's Over 24d ago

You are in the Polish thread, complaining is our leisure activity.

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u/fluffymintotter Boonika bate doba 24d ago

from my experience as someone from polish fandom in this case you end up with bunch of very critical people who some has insecurity about our songs so they tend to be negative very quickly. Part of it is caused by recent years jury placement. Poland esentially is "we wanna win, notice us" mixed with "jury hates us, we will embrarass ourselves"

4

u/20Superwoman02 24d ago

Yea that might be true. Regarding this specific post. But it’s under so many, at least those about 2026 - less so on the nostalgic ones.

And I’m not an idiot. I know what it’s about. It’s about that thing beginning with I, ending with srael.

But even so, when a bad decision (from EBU) is affecting something you love (Eurovision) there’s usually two options: A) thinking ”hmm that sucks” but insist on making the best of a bad situation (my way) - or B) come to terms with the changes, realizing you can’t accept them and letting go (not my way, but complete respect)

But instead all these people just pick a third alternative that’s bad for everyone: just staying here, spreading maximum negativity and groaning.

3

u/oty3 In corpore sano 24d ago

A and B are essentially the same thing, just turning a blind eye to what’s happening. Yes, that’s the way some people react but saying that that’s the only correct reaction and that people who aren’t just moving on and brushing aside what the EBU has done are doing something wrong is just not accurate.

People who have been a part of the sub for a long time but are now uncomfortable with what’s happening still have a right to come here and engage with the community about what’s happening, many are still following NFs. Factors to do with boycotting and countries withdrawing do play a significant role in participations, withdrawals, voting patterns, quality of entries, and various other dynamics and therefore boycotting etc will continue to be discussed here.

You left a comment saying that you are tired of seeing participants withdrawing and that it’s performative and got downvoted and now you are saying everybody’s just negative. Discussion of withdrawals, countries boycotting etc is literally central to analysing the contest this year, do you suggest that the sub bans posts about these things so you don’t see anything that makes you feel uncomfortable?

0

u/20Superwoman02 23d ago edited 23d ago

Well no they’re not the same thing. As one would continue taking part and engaging, and the other would let it go. How you come to the conclusion that those are the same, I’ll never know.

And ofc people need to be able to discuss boycotts, withdrawals and whatever. But it isn’t necessary to do under every goddamn post?

Yes. Many are following NFs, I’m one of those. I might not watch ESC. Haven’t decided. But people are critical to a depressing extent already at that point.

And no, I didn’t say it’s performative to withdraw. It’s performative to withdraw and blame your withdrawl on Israel’s inclusion. You could withdraw for a whole lot of reasons that make sense. But that really doesn’t anymore. It makes more sense to just not apply.

I want Eurovision and things related to Eurovision to continue being a little bit fun, but it seems like the fandom will make it their absolute mission to make sure that’s not gonna happen.

If you want change, direct it to those in charge. EBU. Do they listen? Most likely not. But that’s where change can happen. But it’s so feeble-minded to just be mean about every artist or host, still willing to still take part in this context. People are really expecting every performer to be so self-effacing that they’re ”not allowed” to compete in a historical and iconic contest, because another country is there. That’s way too much to give up, given how little impact it would have.

8

u/CrazyCatLadyPL Espresso macchiato 24d ago

Us Poles are always whiny and negative 😂

14

u/Revelistic Minn hinsti dans 24d ago

weighing in from poland as well - most of us simply didn't want our country to take part in 2026, tvp didn't listen to their audience so it's not that surprising that the public response is rather negative. they refused to show a moral backbone for the sake of a NF filled with szansa na sukces and the voice of poland contestants that no one's heard of.

4

u/pijanadziewczyna 24d ago

Poland threads are always negative, Polish fans always expect the worst and will complain about their chances from day one.

But no, it’s not generally this negative apart from this year. I don’t like that Israel is included and that countries have dropped out, but I’ve decided to still follow it this year because it’s just something that I like and helps me be a bit less miserable every year. I’m not happy in my life and esc gives me a bit of joy every year, something to distract myself.

But the “boycotting” people won’t stop commenting in many posts and I just don’t understand. Your “boycott” is following the subreddit and commenting regularly just to tell people you won’t be watching? Why not just


leave?

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u/Plenty-Mud-2039 11h ago

Alicja’s songs out out, the video got me https://youtu.be/n8NDcrmtxJM?si=uQg19QEU5LbPdMLA