Poland was represented by the bandIch Troje, with the song '"Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic", at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 24 May in Riga, Latvia. Poland returned to Eurovision after an enforced one-year absence following relegation after a poor result in 2001, and for the first time since joining Eurovision in 1994, broadcaster TVP opted to choose their entry through a public final rather than via internal selection. "Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic" was chosen as the Polish entry at the national final, named Krajowe Eliminacje do Konkursu Piosenki Eurowizji, on 25 January, although there were technical problems with the voting which caused a degree of controversy.
There was great interest in the country's first televised final and some of the biggest names in the Polish music industry had been tempted to take part. The final was held on 25 January 2003 at the TVP studios in Warsaw, hosted by Artur Orzech. 14 songs competed, with the winner chosen by SMS voting. At the end of the event, "Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic" performed by Ich Troje was declared the winner. Unconfirmed reports suggested that Varius Manx, Bracia Cugowscy and Ha-Dwa-O had finished 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.
Controversy
After the final, it immediately came to light that so great had been the volume of SMS messages sent that the system was overwhelmed, and fewer than 25% had been successfully transmitted and registered during the 15-minute voting window - it was later said that votes were still being received at the collation point several hours after the broadcast had finished. In response to questions from the media and public, TVP reported that once all votes had been registered the top three placings announced on the night remained the same, although they released only the percentage of votes received by the top three songs rather than an exact votes tally.
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Ich Troje performed 20th in the running order, following France and preceding Latvia. At the close of voting "Keine Grenzen-Żadnych granic" had received 90 points, placing Poland 7th of the 26 entries, the country's first top 10 finish since their second place debut in 1994 giving country its second-best position ever in the contest to date. The 12 points from the Polish televote were awarded to Belgium. Meaning that Poland automatically qualified for the final in the 2004 contest.
