Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Poland will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 with the song "Pray", written by Alicja Szemplińska, Sinclair Alan Malcolm and Weronika Gabryelczyk, and performed by Alicja herself. The Polish participating broadcaster, Telewizja Polska (TVP), organised the national final Finał krajowych kwalifikacji in order to select its entry for the contest.

Prior to the 2026 contest, Telewizja Polska (TVP) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Poland twenty-seven times since its first entry in 1994.^[1] Its highest placement in the contest, to this point, had been second place, achieved with its debut entry in 1994, "To nie ja!" performed by Edyta Górniak. It had only reached the top ten on two other occasions, when "Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic" performed Ich Troje finished seventh in 2003, and when "Color of Your Life" performed by Michał Szpak finished eighth in 2016. Between 2005 and 2011 (except in 2008), and again between 2018 and 2021, it failed to qualify from the semi-final; additionally, TVP was absent from the contest in 2012 and 2013. Between 2014 and 2017, it managed instead to qualify to the final each year. In 2025, "Gaja" performed by Justyna Steczkowska qualified for the final, eventually finishing 14th.^[1]

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. It had selected its entry for the contest both through national finals and internal selections in the past. In 2025, TVP selected its entry through the national final Wielki finał polskich kwalifikacji. On 3 November 2025, TVP confirmed its intention to participate in the 2026 contest and to again select its entry through a televised final.^[2]

Finał krajowych kwalifikacji ("The final of the national qualifiers") was the national final format developed by TVP in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The competition consisted of a final filmed at the TVP studios in Warsaw on 1 March 2026;^[3][4] it was hosted by Artur Orzech and aired on 7 March 2026 on TVP1 and TVP Polonia, with the results announced the following day during the morning show Pytanie na śniadanie on TVP2.^[5] Both broadcasts were also shown online via the streaming platform TVP VOD.^[6]

On 3 November 2025, TVP opened a submission period for interested artists lasting until 24 November 2025. Applicants were required to hold Polish citizenship for their entries to qualify to compete. At the closing of the deadline, 173 entries had been received. The submissions were assessed by an 11-member jury composed of representatives from the Polish music industry, media and the broadcaster itself, and chaired by Piotr Klatt, which shortlisted 20 artists and songs based on the ten favourites of each jury member and subsequently oversaw a live audition phase on 18 December 2025, with the possibility for artists deemed by the selection committee to have established musical careers to be exempt from this stage. Following the live auditions, by 20 December 2025, the jury had selected ten finalists (plus two backups); the final list of selected entries was later revised, with Karolina Czarnecka withdrawing and eight finalists subsequently announced on 14 January 2026; the broadcaster also reserved the option to award up to three wildcards to determine additional participants, which was not invoked.^{[2][7][8][9][10]}

Among the selected competing artists was Alicja, who was set to represent Poland in 2020 before the contest's cancellation.^[10]

Key:   Entry withdrawn

The final was aired on 7 March 2026. The winner, "Pray" by Alicja, was selected exclusively by a public vote. Viewers could vote for each song up to three times via the TVP VOD application throughout the week preceding the show and later via SMS, with the voting lines opened during the broadcast and closed at midnight on 8 March.^[6] In addition to the competing entries, the show featured guest performances by Michał Wiśniewski (2003 and 2006 Polish representative as part of the group Ich Troje) and Viki Gabor (2019 junior contest winner).^[11]

Following the release of the accompanying music video for "Don't You Try" by Ola Antoniak, a discrepancy was reported between the video's high YouTube view count and the comparatively low number of streams of the song on Spotify, leading to suspicions that the views may have been artificially boosted for promotional purposes, particularly in light of a sharp decline in daily YouTube views.^[13] The allegations were refuted by Antoniak's manager.^[14]

After Antoniak placed second, some observers questioned the validity of the result, citing relatively low online engagement with her performance compared to other finalists and concerns that the introduction of app voting, which some considered insufficiently verified, could have enabled irregularities. In response, TVP stated that the systems used to handle the vote were "monitored and secured, ensuring the proper conduct of the process".^[15]

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, and consist of two semi-finals held on the respective dates of 12 and 14 May and the final on 16 May 2026. All nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Four" (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final will progress to the final. On 12 January 2026, an allocation draw was held to determine which of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show, each country will perform in; the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[16] Poland was scheduled for the second half of the first semi-final.^[17]