Poland's representative at this year's Junior Eurovision will be Maja Krzyżewska with 'I Just Need a Friend'.
Let's find out more about Poland's artist and entry at Junior Eurovision 2023, as well as their history at the contest!
About the artist: Maja Krzyżewska
Maja is a thirteen-year-old singer from Suwałki, in Szeszupka.
At the age of four her mother suggested she join her school's music group, where Maja learnt piano and realised her passion for music.
Earlier this year, Maja was able to make her passion a reality when she took part in the Polish version of The Voice Kids. She was part of team Cleo, who represented Poland in Copenhagen at Eurovision 2014.
Maja secured her place at Junior Eurovision by winning the Polish national selection, Szanza na Sukces. During the show, she performed covers of 'Set Fire to the Rain' by Adele, and 'Photograph' by Ed Sheeran. Maja was declared the winner in the final held on September 24.
Aside from music and singing, another major hobby of Maja's is rhythmic gymnastics. In general, she loves any "new challenges", especially those that provide an adrenalin rush!
About the song: 'I Just Need a Friend'
'I Just Need a Friend' was composed specifically for Junior Eurovision, with both Maja and the other superfinalist Leon performing it in the second round of the national final. The song contains both English and Polish lyrics.
Like its title suggests, 'I Just Need a Friend' reveals the singer's loneliness, and describes the search and criteria for an ideal companion.
In the first verse Maja describes how she has never had a friend on Earth. The ideal companion is described throughout the song as someone who can help the singer through her daily struggles, and ultimately provide emotional support and comfort. The simile of beautiful butterflies in the chorus, suggests that having a friend can make challenges easier to overcome.
Poland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Poland had a rather unfortunate start to their Junior Eurovision participation, finishing last at the first two Junior Eurovision Song Contests in 2003 and 2004. These poor results prompted Poland to withdraw from the contest - but fortunately, Poland returned to the Junior Eurovision family in 2016 and and has participated every year since.
2018 saw Poland secure their first Junior Eurovision victory with Roksana Węgiel's performance of 'Anyone I Want to Be', a song that had initially been offered to Iggy Azalea and Ria Ora.
This win meant Poland hosted 2019 Junior Eurovision at Gilwice Arena in Gilwice. Viki Gabor then made a it back-to-back wins for Poland in front of her home crowd, winning the contest with her song 'Superhero'. Poland became the first Junior Eurovision nation to win and host the contest for two consecutive years. Unfortunately, however, the 2020 contest was held in a studio in Warsaw due to impacts of the COVID-1 pandemic.
In 2021, Sara James scored another strong result for Poland finishing runner-up, while last year Laura came tenth with 'To the Moon'.
Let's see if Maja will continue Poland's recent strong form at Junior Eurovision this year.
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