"Pali się" [ˈpa.lʲi ɕɛ] is a song by Polish band Tulia. A bilingual version with additional English text, titled "Fire of Love (Pali się)", represented Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv.[1] It did not progress to the final.
Eurovision Song Contest
The song was selected to represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 after Tulia was internally selected by the Polish broadcaster. On 28 January 2019, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Poland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 14 May 2019, and was scheduled to perform in the first half of the show. Once all the competing songs for the 2019 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the show's producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Poland performed in position 4, and did not qualify for the final.[2] It was later revealed that Poland was placed 11th in the semi-final, receiving 120 points, missing qualification by 2 points. It is also the best-scoring Eurovision song which failed to qualify to the final.[3]
Music video
The team's representatives confirmed that the main inspiration in the making of the music video was the film Cold War, directed by Paweł Pawlikowski. The video features cameos by Polish actors Jędrzej Tarank, Bartłomiej Firlet and Piotr Miazga from the television series Ojciec Mateusz.[4]
Controversy
The original music video for the song featured a wayside cross, although this cross was later removed in the music video for the song's Eurovision version. Following the realisation that the cross had been removed, allegations of censorship and discrimination against Christians arose.[5] General director of Polish broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) Jacek Kurski called for the record company Universal Music Polska to restore the original version of the music video.[6] The two videos are nearly identical, apart from the erasure of the cross in the Eurovision version.[7][8][9]
Tulia's management stated in an interview that the cross was removed due to European Broadcasting Union (EBU) restrictions on the promotion of political institutions; they also added that they themselves were not responsible for the editing of the video. However, a figure of John of Nepomuk is still visible in the background of the Eurovision version music video.[10]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fire of Love (Pali Się)" | 2:45 |
References
- ^ Granger, Anthony (8 March 2019). "Poland: Tulia Will Perform "Pali Sie" At Eurovision". Eurovoix.
- ^ "First Semi-Final: 10 acts qualify for Eurovision 2019 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ "Who voted for Poland". Eurovision.tv. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "W teledysku Tulii na Eurowizję usunięto istotny szczegół. Dlaczego?".
- ^ "Cenzura? Krzyż usunięty z anglojęzycznej wersji teledysku Tulii "Pali się"". gosc.pl. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Prezes Kurski: "Nikt z Telewizji nie wyraził zgody na usunięcie znaku Krzyża z teledysku piosenki "Pali się" zespołu Tulia"". wpolityce.pl. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Tulia - Fire of Love (Pali Się) - Poland Eurovision 2019". YouTube: TuliaVEVO. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ "Tulia - Pali Się". YouTube: TuliaVEVO. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ "Teledysk bez przydrożnego krzyża. Z angielskiej wersji polskiej piosenki na Eurowizję po prostu go wycięto". natemat.pl. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Usunięto krzyż z teledysku Tulii. Jest oświadczenie". dorzeczy.pl. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Fire Of Love (Pali Się) - Single by Tulia". Apple Music. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.