The Polish national final "Piosenka Dla Europy" (A Song To Europe) will be staged in TVP's Warsaw studios on Saturday 28th January, and following Albania, it will select the second Eurovision entry to compete in Athens in May. Like Albania, Poland will be among 24 countries competing in the semi-final on Thursday May 18th. Also similar to Albania, a combination of a panel of experts and a national televote, will select the winning entry.

Despite the fact that Poland first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin in 1994, there was no Polish national final until 2003, as TVP preferred to select their entry internally. The first national final was very controversial when TVP underestimated the level of interest in the show and only a fraction of the text votes actually made it through to count in the result. Despite that, the song selected "Keine Grenzen - Zadnych Granic" written and performed by Ich Troje did well in Riga, finishing seventh, and earning Poland one of its best ever Eurovision result. The second Polish national final in 2004 selected "Love Song" by popular local group Blue Café, but that only finished 17th in Istanbul and Poland were relegated. Disappointed by the result, TVP considered withdrawing from the 2005 contest, before making an internal selecteon and despite the fact that their choice, Ivan & Delfin's "Czarna Dziewczyna", missed out on making the Kyiv final by a handful of points, TVP has now poured considerable effort into its 2006 selection and ended up with a high quality field of 15 songs in competition on Saturday night.

27 year old Agata Torzewska comes from Poland's second city of Lodz and she will perform the opening song which is a multi-lingual effort in Polish, France and English. There's some lovely orchestration in this mid-tempo entry which sounds a little more like something from the French pop chants than a Polish Eurovision entry. However it does depend a little too much on the chorus and the ending is quite poor. A nice show opener, but not a song we'll be hearing in Athens I think.

I have already done a sneak peek of this entry by Belgian Danzel. It's a typical techno-lite track which more or less depends on repeating it title for its chorus (something which didn't stop "My Number One" from winning in Kyiv). There is a nice break which allows the audience to cheer and clap along, and Danzel is certainly a good performer. This is certainly a contender, but without the home support that some other acts might enjoy, it may miss out.

18 year old newcomer, the attractive blonde Kasia Mos certainly has a rich voice and this song which has an American flavour mixed with a nice synthesizer sound, certainly starts well (even if it does sound like New Musik's "World Of Water" at times). However there is a rather awkward and pointless break and the song never really regains its momentum. If there's a good stage act, it could be a contender, but based on the audio track, it's an outsider in my book.

29 year old Maciej Silski (who has a nice taste in shirts), co-wrote the track he will perform. Sung completely in Polish, it's certainly got a good drum and guitar sound as its foundation, and the chorus really rocks out in Bon Jovi style. Its a really credible modern rock song, but I'm not sure that even after Norway and Moldova's great results in 2005, that this would do well at Eurovision, without some kind of gimmick.

Here's another entry which I have previously sneak peeked here. Both the singer and songwriters behind this entry are Dutch, but the sound of the song is quite middle-Eastern, and at times the tempo brings back memories of Turkey's winner from 2003. It's certainly written with modern Eurovision in mind, but after a very good beginning it does run out of steam a little. Like Danzel, it may lack local support and this is another song which I don't think we'll be hearing in Athens. 

Having won the first Polish national final in 2003 and done well in Riga, Ich Troje return with a very different type of song. Recruiting German producer and DJ The Real Mc Coy, this song has a very full electronic pop sound and a simple but memorable chorus. At least two versions have already been recorded, and the version for Saturday will be the bilingual English/Polish one. Either way, this is probably the one to beat, but amazingly, while most of the other songs have preview videos, this one does not.

The Polish national final certainly offers a great variety of musical styles and here is another example. Dezire look a little like famous Russian faux-lesbians tATu (well at least the two lead singers do), but their song owes a lot more to Destiny's Child. Already well known in Poland, Dezire could be dark horses in this year's selection with their funky R+B flavoured track. Personally I find the song very repetitious, but if it's performed well, I would not be shocked to see this song going all the way to Athens.

Another entry which I've previously had on a "sneak peek" and it's still my personal favourite from the fifteen finalists. Ha-Dwa-O's song has a sublime slide guitar lead and it really has instant appeal. Although well known in Poland, the duo do not have the same high profile as Ich Troje (who beat them in 2003). However unlike some of the pop acts in contention, Ha-Dwa-O have vast live performing experience to draw on, so this is one song that might upset the odds.

This starts like it's going to be one of the few slow songs in the selection, with its simple and monotonous breakbeat. Then it gets a little more lively as it gets to the chorus, however being sung in Polish is a real handicap to foreigners and there isn't a great deal to the song's melody and you get the feeling that it could have come from any Balkan final of the last five years. Frankly its very disappointing.

The one thing that this selection may have lacked until now is a big old-fashioned Eurovision ballad. Then along comes 21 year old Sławek, with a piano led ballad that fills the bill nicely. The only problem is that in its original form, it is clearly over three minutes and the predicable key change comes far too late. However with a better arrangement, good looking Slawek may melt the hearts of enough teenage girls to have a chance of making it to Athens.

The duo of Rafał Malicki and Monika Głębowicz form Mosqitoo, who are newcomers. It starts out like one of those 1970's soul-lite songs, before the producer goes overboard on the studio trickery, filling the track with rather annoying sound effects. The chorus is so unsubstantial, you might just miss it completely. This mid-tempo entry takes three minutes to go nowhere, and in such a high quality field, this looks pretty certain to get lost.

Formed in 1998 Brathniki are a popular group who's pop/rock music has an ethnic flavour and they have already released four albums. Their potential Eurovision entry has elements of both the Polish and Hungarian entries from 2005 and has the accordion as the leading instrument before having a lovely violin break. It certainly goes along at a great pace and the performance should be lively. If Poland wants to "go ethnic" for a second year, then this is might well be in the frame.

The third duo of the evening and a big contrast to what went before. The Jet Set were formed especially for the Eurovision selection, Tray comes from from Chicago while his partner Sashy comes from Warsaw. Their song is the kind of R+B track you hear on radio everyday and while it certainly is contemporary, I'm not sure it's what people expect Poland to send to Eurovision. While the chorus is strong, the verses are done in rap and rap hasn't exactly done well at Eurovision, It also appears to sample a Backstreet Boys track, which could cause problems, in the unlikely event that it progresses to Athens.

A pretty straightforward rock track from the six piece Kto To. There's not a lot you can say about this, as it really doesn't have much of a hook, although the cropped chorus certainly grows on you with repeated listens. It might be interesting in English, but since it's not a winner I think that's a pretty mute point. 

I've already done a sneak peek of this entry here and I have to repeat that I believe that if Ich Troje are to be beaten on Saturday night, then this could be the one to do it. Its position in the running order is certainly a help, and the song is so instant and catchy that if the performance is good, it could really score in the televote. There's also a very good promotional video.

1. "Follow My Heart" - Ich Troje feat. The Real McCoy
2. "I Fell In Love" - Queens
3. "Popatrz Na Mnie" - Ha-Dwa-O

The Polish final is getting a lot of coverage on the net and further coverage (unfortunately all in Polish) check out these links;