Poland is heading to Vienna this week, and Pulse Of Culture is going with her. Alicja Szemplinska is representing Poland at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with "Pray," a bold, high-energy gospel-R&B-hip-hop hybrid that opens with a church choir and explodes into trap beats, marking a dramatic departure from her ballad roots. We were at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport to bid her farewell before she departed for Vienna, where she will compete in the First Semi-Final on Tuesday May 13th. Then, we tell the story of how Alicja got here, from her beginnings all the way to becoming Poland’s 2026 Eurovision representative.
And we explore what Eurovision means to Poland through two of the country’s most prominent openly gay performers: Michal Szpak, who represented Poland at Eurovision 2016, and beloved pop icon Andrzej Piaseczny, known as Piasek, who came out publicly in 2021. We will have a conversation about identity, visibility, and why Eurovision holds a unique place in Polish culture. This is Part One of Pulse Of Culture’s Eurovision 2026 coverage.
Join us on May 17th for our full recap. Pulse Of Culture is a weekly English-language magazine for anyone with a connection to Poland, including tourists, the diaspora, and those simply curious. New episodes are released every Sunday. Host: Sally Jastrzebska
Chapters:
00:00 Poland at Eurovision 2026: Pulse of Culture Special
00:43 Alicja Szemplinska at Chopin Airport: Poland’s Eurovision 2026 Farewell to Vienna
03:26 Who is Alicja Szemplinska? Poland’s Eurovision 2026 Representative and Pray Explained
06: 46 Michal Szpak and Andrzej Piaseczny: Eurovision, Identity and Polish Pop Culture
11: 17 Teatr Wielki Opera Academy Warsaw: Training the Next Generation of Opera Stars
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