Poland kick off today's rehearsals

Energising start to the day

Magdalena today wears a black top sporting the number 1 on it, and a pair of black leather trousers. Joining her on stage are four female dancers, two of whom support with backing vocals, and a male backing vocalist. The stage backdrop features a disco style wall of flashing spotlights which alternate in colour. Fire and smoke rise from the stage during the chorus and finale of the performance.

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Jestem is an energetic, well choreographed opener to Semi Final one. Given the amount of moving around she has to do, Magdalena still managed to perform well vocally. Poland's Head of Delegation Maria Markowska said "We are overall satisfied, but there are some small changes that we already wish to make, maybe more, but we will now watch everything back in the viewing room to make our decisions."

 I'm trying to keep my mind on the rehearsal, so I'm not thinking about much else. This is a possibility to see how the process works in the arena for me just to be sure," Magdalena told Eurovision.tv.
 

Magdalena, talking to Eurovision.tv backstage adds"I would like to do everything as I've imagined, and I hope that all the rehearsals will go alright. Many people have been advising Magdalena before her participation. She goes on to say "I've had so much advice already now to date! We'll see after the rehearsals, and then before the show which were the best ones. I will learn more then."

Magdalena meets the press

Magdalena opened the press conference by explaining why she decided to sing in Polish as opposed to English in the contest. She adds "The song was written in Polish, and after winning, I was undecided as to which version to sing, but all of the fans from Poland and beyond said that it's a good sound from the song in the Polish language. Also, many people from Poland really wanted to hear the Polish language again here at the Eurovision Song Contest"

Magdalena said that she was pleased with the first rehearsal in the big hall, but in the next rehearsal it will be better and that they will be very happy. "Everything is very professional, the stage didn't feel as huge as we first thought it would be, after the familiarisation today, we have changed a few things in the viewing room so second time around"

Living the dream

Australian radio's Alistair Birch asked Magdalena about her experiences in the Polish Name That Tune TV show, and whether she felt it would help her at this competition. She replied "That show involved lots of live singing, I sang there for eight years, it was very helpful with the dancing, moving around, and getting stage experience in front of the cameras."

When asked about her participation, and why she wanted to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, Magdalena stated "It's a great honour for an artist to represent their country, I was dreaming about it for many years as a little girl, it's good to be here and show myself to a larger audience. I wanted to write an uptempo song, to show what we can do on stage."

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It's good to be first

Magdalena doesn't feel that it's a disadvantage to be first on stage in the First Semi-Final, "It was my idea to choose to perform first in Polish national selection, but I won there, I feel that it's good to be first, we start the show, and it's nice when people are waiting for this, we're a lot less nervous as there is no waiting around. It's not bad to be number one again in the Semi-Final."

Magdalena and her team closed the press conference by performing an acapella version of Jestem, which went down to rapturous applause with the asssembled press and fans.

More about Magdalena

Magdalena discovered her love for music when she was 12. This is when she started developing her singing interests in a children’s vocal band. As a teenager she cooperated with many bands, gaining experience on stage and in the studio. Her first solo album The Victory of Heart was the crowning achievement of Magda's hard work throughout the years until now. Now she’s working on new material. This year on the 14th of February, Magdalena was chosen to represent Poland in the Eurovison Song Contest in Düsseldorf with her new song Jestem. She got 44.47% of the votes of the televoting audience.