POLAND

The Polish entry was revealed on March 9th during a special edition of the talk show "Świat Się Kręci" hosted by Agata Młynarska and Maciek Kurzajewski. The video was then widely made available to view online. Representing Poland will be Monika Kuszyńska singing "In the name of love".

Back in October, TVP announced that they would be entering Eurovision this year. It was also announced that they would internally select their artist like last year. There was much speculation as to who the act might be, many suggesting that previous contestants Cleo and Edyta Gorniak might try again but these rumours were soon discovered to be unfounded.

The song is a building piano led ballad with slightly rocky elements towards the end and was written by the artist and her husband. It's a radio friendly song that has a really good structure The chorus is really repetitive and catchy and becomes very familiar very quickly. They will need to make sure this part of the song forms the basis of their recap when voting time comes as it will be the part people will most connect to and remember. The ending is a little weak but I am sure with more visual elements to add this could be ironed out.

The story of Monika is one that is played out in the video. Having been in a number of rock bands in the 90s and early 2000s she was involved in a road accident in 2006 with her band which subsequently left her paralysed from the waist down. A few years ago she came back to singing and performing as well as being involved in TV work. Unfortunately the song was revealed during a video clip which means it is tricky to evaluate her vocal capabilities. That said it is clear that she had vast experience before her accident of singing live and in front of large crowds.

It will be interesting to see what plans the Polish delegation have for this song and whether they make her disability obvious on stage. In the video it is only made clear at the very end (in fact I didn't even notice she was in a wheelchair until I watched it he second time) It needs to have a 'romantic' background and something not too busy. The song requires backing singers and hopefully no ones shoved off to the side. I have toyed with the idea of dancers and this could emphasise the story portrayed in the song yet diminish the story Monika is trying to tell about her life - it depends on which narrative they will try to concentrate on.

This is possibly one of the better ballads of this year. The chorus of this song really pulls it out of the doldrums and dreariness of many of the others. I think the presentation of this song will be truly key. Poland will take part in the second half of semi 2 which gives it a great advantage as it has many 'friendly' countries to get votes from, including those with a large Polish diaspora and with a favourable draw it could do well although it is a semi getting more crowded with ballads as the days go on. I think I will qualify but make no big shakes in the final.

ARTIST - Monika Kuszyńska

SONG - In the name of love

MUSIC - Kuba Raczyński

LYRICS - Monika Kuszyńska