"To nie ja" | |
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Eurovision Song Contest 1994 entry | |
Country | |
Artist(s) | |
Language | |
Composer(s) |
Stanisław Syrewicz
|
Lyricist(s) |
Jacek Cygan
|
Conductor | |
Finals performance | |
Final result |
2nd
|
Final points |
166
|
Appearance chronology | |
"Sama" (1995) ► |
"Once in a Lifetime" | ||||
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Single by Edyta | ||||
from the album Dotyk | ||||
A-side | Once in a Lifetime | |||
B-side | To nie ja | |||
Released | 1994 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:00 | |||
Label | ORCA, Edel | |||
Writer(s) | Graham Sacher, Jacek Cygan, Stanisław Syrewicz | |||
Producer(s) | Graham Sacher | |||
Edyta Górniak singles chronology | ||||
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"To nie ja" (It wasn't me) was the Polish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, performed in Polish by Edyta Górniak. This was Poland's debut at the contest, and consequently the first time that the Polish language had been used in a contest entry. The song achieved second place in the Eurovision final - at the time the highest ever placing attained by a debut song (even in the very first Contest, Switzerland won with their second song of the night). It was released as a single in English as "Once in a Lifetime".
The song is a dramatic ballad, with Górniak describing herself as having an "easy world" - seemingly one of easy distinctions between good and bad. She sings that she is not Eve, referring to the Biblical character, and asking for her listener not to blame her for the sins of that figure.
Górniak's voice was compared to that of Mariah Carey in its range (a comparison made easier by the fact that she performed in a short white dress, reminiscent of some of Carey's outfits), and many contest fans have argued that if she had been allowed to sing in English (contest rules at the time stipulating that songs had to be in the national languages of the competing countries), she could have achieved victory. The result has stood as the most successful first-time entry in contest history until the ballad "Molitva" performed by Serbian Marija Šerifović went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2007; Serbia's first entry as an independent state. Serbia and Montenegro's entry in the 2004 contest also placed second. At the same contest, Hungarian entrant Friderika, making her country's début with "Kinek mondjam el vétkeimet?" placed fourth, presaging the domination of the contest by Eastern and Central European performers in subsequent years.