Laura Bączkiewicz & Natalia Smaś advance to the Szansa na sukces final!

Photo credit: Andres Putting/EBU

Poland’s search for their next Junior Eurovision star kicked off earlier this week with the first of three semi-finals for Szansa na sukces. The national final format has been used annually to select a JESC participant since 2019, and always consists of three semi-finals and a final show. In each semi-final seven artists will compete for two spots in the final, with the final six competing for the ticket to Yerevan in December.

The first semi-final’s theme was “worldwide hits”, with the artists performing covers of songs by Adele, BTS, Lady Gaga, and other notable artists. The jury for the semi-final was comprised of Cleo (Poland Eurovision artist 2014), Sara James (Poland Junior Eurovision artist 2021), and Marek Sierocki (Polish Commentator for JESC). The artists and songs performed in running order are as follows:

1. Laura Bączkiewicz – “Run” by OneRepublic
2. Zofia Tofiluk – “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga
3. Natalia Smaś – “Easy on Me” by Adele
4. Helena Włodarczyk – “Diamonds” by Sam Smith
5. Iga Kaczyńska – “Dynamite” by BTS
6. Anastazja Broniszewska – “Wonder” by Shawn Mendez
7. Elena Popowicz – “Rain On Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande

Laura and Natalia’s history with performing

At the end of the show it was announced that Laura Bączkiewicz and Natalia Smaś were selected by the jury to continue in the national selection, with an honourable mention being given to Helena Włodarczyk’s performance. Natalia competed on the third season of the Voice Kids Poland alongside JESC 2020 artist Ala Tracz, but was eliminated from Cleo’s team in the battles round.  She also competed in the 2021 edition of the Junior Eurovision selection, losing out to Sara James in semi-final three after performing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.

Laura has also made an appearance on the Voice Kids Poland during the fifth season of the show earlier this year. Her audition of “Dancing Queen” granted a three chair turn from the coaches, with her ultimately picking Dawid Kwiatkowski as her coach and mentor for the season. She made it all the way to the final show but was not selected for the top three by Dawid.

The next semi-final is set to take place on September 11th with the theme of “Poland at Junior Eurovision”, and the jury will consist of Lanberry (JESC 2018 and 2019 song composer) and Viki Gabor. The final is set to take place on September 25th.

Do #YOU think the jury made the right choice last weekend? Let us know on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!