Poland’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens was "Follow My Heart", sung by Ich Troje. It was the second time the group represented Poland, following their 7th place in 2003 in Riga. This time the group was joined on stage by German dancemusic producerOlaf Jeglitza a.k.a. Real McCoy who enjoyed a couple of massive dance hits in the mid 1990s. "Follow My Heart" is a 1990s style synthesizer led track and is also multi-lingual. The song was composed by André Franke, and the lyrics were written by Michał Wiśniewski, Jacek Łągwa and Real McCoy. Ich Troje was created in 1997 by songwriter Michał Wiśniewski and composer Jacek Łągwa. The group's name can be translated as "the three of them", as it was originally composed of Wiśniewski, Łągwa and a third female singer, which alternated through the years. Ich Troje is perhaps one of the most popular musical ensemble in Poland over the recent years, even though they are frequently scrutinized by professional music critics. In the eliminations, the jury composed of some of the aforementioned critics and seasoned performers reflected that sentiment by awarding Ich Troje relatively low scores. After the televoting scores were announced, the members of the jury barely hid or even openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the result.
The whole event did not attract many established Polish artists, with Brathanki being the only one other than Ich Troje. Danzel also enjoyed some popularity in Poland at some time, but the rest of the performers was rather hoping to launch their career there. The televised final took place on 28 January 2006 at the TVP Studios in Warsaw. Fifteen entries competed and the winner, "Follow My Heart" performed by Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy, was determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury made up of music professionals and a public telephone vote. As there was a tie for the first place, the results of the public televote took precedence and led to the victory of Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy. The national final was hosted by Artur Orzech and Agnieszka Szulim.
At Eurovision
Performance
Some notable changes to the group took place in comparison with their previous ESC entry and other performances. First of all, the current female vocalist Anna Świątczak was joined by her predecessors Magda Femme and Justyna Majkowska, therefore reaching the limit of six performers on stage. Secondly, Wiśniewski sported green rather than usual red hair, which was not related to the ESC but rather to a promotional contract with a mobile network operator, whose color code is green. The group performed in ornate costumes displaying an eclectic mix of different historical styles and themes. The whole performance was rather full of gravitas and pompous, with Łągwa sitting by a grand piano and Wiśniewski kissing Świątczak and displaying affection towards the unborn baby. This was somewhat counterbalanced by Real McCoy wandering around the audience while delivering his rap lines. Follow My Heart came 11th out of 23 entries in the semi-final, which was a repeat of the 2005 result, and a near miss, as only the 10 entries that come first in the semi-final advance to the final night. Therefore, Poland will have to compete in the semi-final again in ESC 2007.
