While many Eurovision fans were delighted with the results yesterday, Poland have been left with a bitter taste in their mouths after not making it to the final. Today, a day after the first semi-final, the Polish media is full of articles about how the country’s representative Luna had a slim chance of entering the final from the very beginning, as this time only the jury gave her the ticket to the big stage.
We already reported that yesterday, May 7, the first Eurovision semi-final was held. In it, 10 songs were chosen after the audience’s vote, which will compete for victory in the final this Saturday, May 11.
Unlike other years, Poland’s representative for Eurovision this year was chosen only after the jury’s vote. That is, the audience in Poland this year had no say in which of the national selection participants to send to Eurovision.
The jury consisted of five people – two radio personalities, singer Kassia Moss (Poland’s representative at Eurovision 2017), the director of the Eurovision Fan Clubs Association and a music journalist and entrepreneur. Each member had to rate the 212 songs submitted for the national selection on a scale of 1 to 10, and the one with the highest score would represent the country at Eurovision.
Several Polish media write that the Poles were skeptical about such a national selection procedure from the very beginning, because the viewers were not given the opportunity to express their opinion. Discussions began to escalate after the selection results were announced – as it turns out, Luna (real name Aleksandra Katrina Velgomas) is the daughter of businessman Andrzej Velgomas, and the family owns Dawtona, a popular canned and pickled goods company in Poland. This has led Eurovision fans to conclude that Luna’s ticket to Eurovision may have been bought.
However, criticism intensified during Luna’s Eurovision tour.
Doomed to defeat from the start
According to the Polish media “Gazeta”, the first criticism of Luna began to appear after her performance in the Spanish city of Barcelona. Elzabeta Zapendowksa, a famous and recognized music critic in Poland, spoke about this particularly harshly in an interview:
This song is definitely not a masterpiece. It’s an easy hit. However, it should be emphasized that the performance is really weak and amateurish.
In the end, what she said was also reflected in Eurovision itself – Poland was not among the countries that made it to the final. Despite the fact that the singer was obviously devastated by the result (she did not stay for the press conference after the event, instead going straight to the hotel), Luna posted photos on her Instagram, telling her followers about their support.
However, people didn’t hide their anger at Luna’s performance in the comments, writing:
“The weakest of Poland’s Eurovision performances. Weak song, weak singer, weak scenography. The only positive thing is that she came out and sang…”
“Ireland did, but Poland didn’t. After all, Ireland’s song was a parody”
“Poland’s worst performance since the beginning of Eurovision! Shame”
“Good thing she didn’t get in [finālā]. She supports LGBT more than Poland. Besides, Stechkowska had a super song and would definitely have made it to the finals. But if dad buys the finale, it looks like this.”
We remind you that the second semi-final, in which the representative of Latvia Dons will also perform, is expected already this Thursday, May 9.
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Tags: Bought ticket weakest performances Poland shocked outcome Eurovision semifinals
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