Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Possible withdrawal

After coming 24th (second last) in the 2008 contest, talks within TVP suggested that Poland may withdraw from the 2009 contest. However, they indicated that their decision on withdrawal would be based on changes, if any, to the current voting system. TVP also suggested to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the contest's organisers, that an international jury should be put into use in the next contest, such as the one used in the Eurovision Dance Contest. TVP's spokeswoman, Aneta Wrona, indicated that Poland's decision would not be affected by the then-ongoing war in South Ossetia. TVP's decision might also have been affected by Poland's win in the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008, and Poland being the possible host of the next edition.

After the EBU revealed a new voting system for the final of the 2009 contest, introducing a mixture of televoting and jury voting, TVP officially confirmed their participation in Moscow.

Piosenka dla Europy 2009

TVP confirmed that they will use the Piosenka dla Europy contest to select the Polish representative for the 2009 contest, which was planned to be held on 20 or 21 February. However, this date was changed by TVP to 14 February, purely for "commercial reasons". TVP made an open call for songs, and will select around seven songs to compete in the contest. They will be joined by up to five artists internally selected by TVP, bringing the total number of songs to a maximum of 11. The final line-up will be announced on 23 January.

The deadline of entries was set at 16 January to anyone wishing to enter, regardless of citizenship. However, TVP requires a minimum of one single or album to have been released per artists. Alternatively, artists must have competed in professional song contests or music festivals at a national level or have a working contract with a record label or a professional concert agency. 122 entries were received by TVP, 87 of which came from within Poland. The 12 finalists were named on 23 January. TVP later had to disqualify Katarzyna Skrzynecka's "Amazing", composed by Jud Friedman and Allan Rich, after it was revealed it had been performed in October 2007 on Taniec z Gwiazdami, the Polish version of Dancing with the Stars. Mikromusic's "Kardamon i pieprz" was also later disqualified for the same reasons. The draw for the running order was held on 28 January.

The winner of Piosenka dla Europy 2009 was Lidia Kopania with "I Don't Wanna Leave". The song was the favourite in the televote, and came second in the jury vote. During the show, the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 winner Ruslana and last year's Polish entry Isis Gee performed.

3.8 million have been reported to have watched the 2009 Piosenka dla Europy, constituting a 28% audience share, being the most watched show that night.

Promotion

After winning Piosenka dla Europy, Kopania visited some of the competing countries at Eurovision to promote her Eurovision entry. Kopania performed "I Don't Wanna Leave" during the Latvian national final on 28 February, as well as during the Ukrainian national final on 8 March. She has also been lined up to perform during the UK Eurovision Preview Party on 17 April in London, United Kingdom and the Eurovision Promo Concert in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 18 April.

At Eurovision

Poland had to compete in the second semi final, as determined on for 30 January. They have not automatically qualified for the final as Isis Gee came 24th in the 2008 contest. Lidia performed fifth in the running order of the semi-final on 14 May, following Serbia and preceding Norway. She failed to qualify Poland to the final on 16 May.