Poland are one of the 18 competing countries at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Tbilisi this coming Saturday. Their artist Marianna Kłos will perform “Brightest Light” in slot number 9 during the show.
Copenhagen 2003
Poland were one of the pioneers of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest as they were one of the 16 countries that competed in the first contest in Copenhagen.
Poland held a national final to find its first entrant. Eventually Kasia Żurawik was declared the winner from a field of 13. Sadly success wasn’t to be at the contest itself as Poland were the first country to finish last with only 3 points.
Lillehammer 2004
Poland chose to remain in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest a second time in 2004, where they changed tactic and instead opted for a girl group. KWADro represented Poland with the song “Łap życie”.
Alas history repeated itself this year as once more, Poland finished in last place in Lillehammer with coincidentally just 3 points again. Broadcaster TVP were signed with the EBU contractually to participate for at least the first three contests. However, following the disappointing results Poland decided to terminate the contract early and not compete in 2005.
Valletta 2016
Poland were then absent from the contest for several years. Although talks with the EBU were in motion for them to return in 2008, this sadly never materialised. However, fast forward over a decade since their last entry, Poland made the decision to return in 2016 for the contest in Valletta.
Image Source: Andres Putting
Despite the contest having evolved in their absence, Poland continued with a national final selection process where 10 young artists were due to compete. On the night before the final, one artist withdrew. Olivia Wieczorek closed the show and her entry “Nie zapomnij” eventually won over a combination of jury and telephone votes and thus became the first artist in 12 years to represent Poland.
Olivia started a slightly brighter renaissance for Poland at the contest, finishing a modest 11th place overall, securing one set of 12 points from the Armenian kids jury in the process.
Tbilisi 2017
Following a return, TVP remained committed to the contest and remained competing in 2017. Krajowe Eliminacje do Konkursu Piosenki Eurowizji dla Dzieci 2017 determined that Alicja Rega should follow Olivia’s footsteps and represent Poland with the song “Mój dom”.
Image Source: TVP
With a new voting system now in play, Poland successfully achieved their best placing to date as Alicja finished the night in Tbilisi in 8th place. In the process, they picked up another 12 points from Ireland.
Minsk 2018
After two attempts, Minsk 2018 marked a complete turn around for Poland at the contest. For the first time, Poland opted for an internal selection to choose their entry and turned to the winner of The Voice Kids Poland, Roksana Węgiel to represent them with “Anyone I Want to Be”.
Image Source: Andres Putting
Heading into the contest hosted by their neighbours Belarus, Poland were a strong contender. After a less than a hopeful start in the voting, they finished 7th in the jury vote, including a 12 from fellow strong contenders France. However, the online vote proved to be incredibly impactful in this scenario. With a 19 point margin, they managed to win this year’s online vote and thus garnering enough points to secure a first win for Poland.
Gliwice 2019
With a refreshed attitude to the contest following their first win, Poland went into the contest bigger and better than ever. Facing stiff competition from Armenia and Kazakhstan to host the competition, following tradition, the EBU opted to allowed TVP and Poland the chance to host the 2019 edition.
A rigorous bidding process over the country ended in a race between Gliwice, Szczecin and Toruń, where Gliwice in the region of Silesia was chosen to host, the first time since 2014 that the contest was held outside of a country’s capital.
Image Source: Thomas Hanses
Poland also changed up their selection process instead opting for a multi week format on the already existing talent show Szansa na sukces. Following a three artist final, it was Viki Gabor who won the show with “Superhero”.
On home soil, Poland managed to make Junior Eurovision history. They did even better with the jury this year, finishing second and securing 12 points from both Kazakhstan and Spain. For a second year running, they won the online vote and once more it was more than enough points overall to secure them the big win. This marked the first time a country won on home soil and won two years in a row.
Warsaw 2020
With an impressive two wins now under their belt, TVP announced early on in the process that they wanted the contest to remain in Poland. The contest quickly came into jeopardy due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic across the continent. Despite the adult contest being sadly cancelled this year, the EBU managed to use the months to follow to carefully prepare a scaled down version of the Junior contest in TVP Studios in the capital, Warsaw.
Due to restrictions all over, the performances were pre-recorded and though most were done in studios in the countries representing them. The entrants from Malta, Serbia and Ukraine were able to make the journey to Warsaw to record in studio.
Szansa na sukces was once more the selection process where Ala Tracz won with “I’ll Be Standing”. Ala eventually ended the contest in 9th place of the 12 competitors.
Ala Tracz, Poland. Source: Waldemar Kompała/TVP
Paris 2021
Undeterred by the dip in results, Poland were ready once more for the contest in 2021. Remaining with Szansa na sukces as the selection show, eventually Sara James beat two fellow finalists and took her song “Somebody” to the contest in Paris.
Sara James First Rehearsal at JESC 2021
Poland furthermore cemented their position as a powerhouse in the contest as Sara finished in second place behind Armenia, securing a second place in both jury and online voting.
Yerevan 2022
2022 saw Poland’s ninth attendance at the contest. Szansa na sukces returned once more to select Poland’s entry, where once again a female artist won the ticket to the contest, this time Laura with the entry “To the Moon”.
During the contest, Poland narrowly missed a spot in the top half of the scoreboard as they finished in 9th place.
Image Source: Corinne Cumming/EBU
Nice 2023
Szansa na sukces was back in use as Poland’s selection process. However, it was only done to select the artist. For the 10th time, it was a female artist, Maja Krzyżewska, that ended victorious in a final of five artists.
Later down the line, Maja’s song was internally selected by TVP. The song “I Just Need a Friend” was chosen.
Maja Krzyżewska – Poland
Image source: EBU / Corinne Cumming
In Nice, Poland surpassed expectations and finished the contest in 6th place overall.
Madrid 2024
Poland continued in the contest last year in Madrid, and once more opted for Szansa na sukces as their selection method. Following three heats and a grand final, Dominik Arim was victorious in a head to head and became the first male artist to represent Poland at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Image Source: Corinne Cumming/EBU
Though only three countries managed to give Dominik points from the juries, he did secure 48 points total from the online vote, which took him to 12th place overall in the end.
Junior Eurovision 2025
Junior Eurovision 2025 will be held on December 13 in Tbilisi after Andria Putkaradze gave Georgia their record-breaking fourth victory with “To My Mom”. The contest will be held at the Olympic Palace, which previously hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2017.
A total of 18 countries will participate in Junior Eurovision 2025. These countries are:
Malta: Eliza Borg – “I Believe”
Azerbaijan: Yağmur – “Miau miau”
Croatia: Marino Vrgoč – “Snovi”
San Marino: Martina Crv – “Beyond the Stars”
Armenia: Albert – “Brave Heart”
Ukraine: Sofia Neresesian – “Motanka”
Ireland: Lottie O’Driscoll Murray – “Rúin”
Netherlands: Meadow – “Freeze”
Poland: Marianna Kłos – “Brightest Light”
North Macedonia: Nela Mančeska – “Miracle”
Montenegro: Asja Džogović – “I tužna i srećna priča”
Italy: Leonardo Giovannangeli – “Rockstar”
Portugal: Inês Gonçalves – “Para onde vai o amor?”
Spain: Gonzalo Pinillos – “Érase una vez (Once Upon a Time)”
Georgia: Anita Abgariani – “Shine like a star”
Cyprus: Rafaella Panteli and Christos Georgiou – “Away”
France: Lou Deleuze – “Ce monde”
Albania: Kroni Pula – “Fruta perime”
Image source: Andres Putting
