Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001

Poland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song song "2 Long", composed by Robert Chojnacki, with lyrics by John Porter, and performed by Piasek. The Polish participating broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), internally selected its entry for the contest. TVP returned to the contest after an enforced one-year absence as one of the seven lowest-ranked entrants in the 1999 contest. The broadcaster announced the song "Z kimś takim" performed by Piasek as its entry on 2 March 2001. The song was later translated for Eurovision from the original Polish-language lyrics written by Piasek himself to new English-language lyrics by John Porter and it was titled "2 Long".

Eurovision Song Contest 2001
Participating broadcaster	Telewizja Polska (TVP)
Country	Poland
National selection
Selection process	Internal selection
Selection date(s)	2 March 2001
Selected artist(s)	Piasek
Selected song	"2 Long"
Selected songwriter(s)	Robert Chojnacki Andrzej Piaseczny John Porter
Finals performance
Final result	20th, 11 points
Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1999 • 2001 • 2003►

Poland competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2001. Performing during the show in position 18, Poland placed twentieth out of the 23 participating countries, scoring 11 points.

Background

Main article: Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2001 Contest, Telewizja Polska (TVP) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Poland six times since its first entry in 1994.^[1] Its highest placement in the contest, to this point, has been second place, achieved with its debut entry in 1994 with the song "To nie ja!" performed by Edyta Górniak.

As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, TVP organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. Having internally selected their entries since 1994, the broadcaster opted to continue selecting its entry via an internal selection for 2001.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

Piasek was internally selected to represent Poland in 2001

The Polish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was selected via an internal selection by the TVP Entertainment Agency, headed by Marek Sierocki, with several songwriters being directly invited to submit songs.^[2] On 2 March 2001, TVP announced that Piasek would represent Poland in the 2001 contest with the song "Z kimś takim", composed by Robert Chojnacki, with lyrics by Piasek himself.^[3][4] Prior to the selection of Piasek and the song, it was revealed that TVP had initially selected a song written by Romuald Lipko and Andrzej Mogielnicki and had approached singer Natalia Kukulska and Piasek to perform the song. However, the proposal was rejected by both artists due to artistic disagreements.^[5]

On 28 March 2001, TVP announced that Piasek would perform the English language version of "Z kimś takim" at the Eurovision Song Contest.^[6] The new version, titled "2 Long" with English lyrics by John Porter, was released on 23 April 2001. "2 Long" was the first song performed entirely in the English language that was selected to represent Poland at the Eurovision Song Contest.^[2]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all countries with the exceptions of the bottom seven countries in the 2001 contest competed in the final on 12 May 2001.^[7] On 21 November 2000, a special allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Poland was set to perform in position 18, following the entry from Slovenia and before the entry from Germany.^[8] Poland finished in twentieth place with 11 points.^[9][10]

The show was broadcast in Poland on TVP1 and TVP Polonia with commentary by Artur Orzech. TVP appointed Maciej Orłoś as its spokesperson to announce the Polish votes during the final.

Voting

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Poland and awarded by Poland in the contest. The country awarded its 12 points to Estonia in the contest.

Points awarded to Poland[11] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points  Germany 4 points 3 points  Slovenia 2 points  Sweden 1 point  Denmark

Points awarded by Poland[11] Score Country 12 points  Estonia 10 points  France 8 points  Greece 7 points  Denmark 6 points  Slovenia 5 points  Sweden 4 points  Germany 3 points  Malta 2 points  United Kingdom 1 point  Spain

After Eurovision

After the contest, Poland was awarded the Barbara Dex Award, a humorous fan award given to the worst dressed artist each year as voted by the fansite House of Eurovision, after Piasek performed in a tatty fur jacket during the first verse of the song, which was non-apparent from the lyrical content of the song.^[12]

References

1. "Poland Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
2. Królak, Sergiusz (1 March 2021). "2001: Andrzej Piaseczny". eurowizja.org (in Polish). Retrieved 4 October 2021.
3. ""Piasek" w Eurowizji". wp.pl (in Polish). 2 March 2001. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
4. "Poland names singer and song". www.eurosong.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 March 2001. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
5. "Co by było, gdyby… czyli Polska na Eurowizji od kuchni – cz. 3". eurowizja.org (in Polish). 10 December 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
6. "Konkurs Eurowizji: Piasek po angielsku". Interia Muzyka (in Polish). 28 March 2001. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
7. "Eurovision Song Contest 2001". EBU. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
8. "RULES OF THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2001" (PDF). Myledbury.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
9. "Final of Copenhagen 2001". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
10. "Eurovision Song Contest". Esc-history.com. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
11. "Results of the Final of Copenhagen 2001". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
12. Thillo, Edwin. "Barbara Dex Award". Eurovision House. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.