The Sopot International Song Festival or Sopot Festival (later called ''Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix'', ''Sopot Top of the Top Festival'' from 2012–13 and ''Polsat Sopot Festival'' in 2014) is an annual international song contest held in Sopot,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is the biggest Polish

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

altogether with the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, and one of the biggest song contests in Europe. Over the years,

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, Alla Pugacheva, Scorpions, Anastacia, Maryla Rodowicz, In-Grid and other popular performers from around the world performed at the festival. The contest was organised and transmitted live by the public

Polish Television Television in Poland was Timeline of the introduction of television in countries, introduced on an experimental basis in 1937. It was state owned, and was interrupted by the Second World War in 1939. Television returned to Poland in 1952 and for ...

(TVP) between 1994 and 2004. The following year, the concert was broadcast by the private media station TVN for the first time and remained on TVN until 2009. From 2012 to 2014, the concert was broadcast and organised by Polsat. It was later cancelled by the broadcaster. The 2015 festival was not televised, however it returned in 2017 on TVN.

Origins and history

Foundation and early years

The first International Song Festival in Sopot was in 1961. The festival was organized by musician and composer Władysław Szpilman, then working as the head of Polish Radio's music department. Additional organizational support came from Szymon Zakrzewski from Polish Artists Management (PAGART). The first three festivals (1961–1963) were held at the Gdansk Shipyard hall after which the festival moved to the Forest Opera. Through most of its history, the main prize has been the Amber Nightingale trophy.

Replacement by Intervision

Between 1977 and 1980 it was replaced by the Intervision Song Contest, which was still held in Sopot. Unlike the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, the Sopot International Music Festival often changed its formulas to pick a winner and offered many different contests for its participants. For example, at the 4th Intervision Song Festival (held in Sopot August 20–23, 1980) two competitions were effective: one for artists representing television companies, the other for those representing record companies. In the first the jury considered the artistic merits of the songs entered; while in the second, it judged the performers' interpretation." The festival has always been open to non-European acts, and countries like

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and many others have been represented in this event. The contest lost popularity in Poland and abroad in the 1980s, declining further during the 1990s, and the rather unconvincing organisations by TVP made the authorities of Sopot give the organization of the 2005 Sopot International Song Festival to a private TV channel, TVN. Since 1999, there was no contest. TVP chose to invite well-known artists instead, featuring the likes of

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, The Corrs,

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

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and Simply Red to perform. In 2005, TVN brought the international competition back, taking over from TVP, and in 2006 invited

and Katie Melua. The Sopot International Song Festival is usually considered bigger than the Benidorm International Song Festival because of its ability to attract star performers.

Revival

In 2010 and 2011, the festival did not take place due to renovation of the Forest Opera. Since 2012, it is called ''Sopot Top Of The Top Festival'' and is broadcast annually by Polsat. In 2014, the name was changed to ''Polsat Sopot Festival''. In 2015, Polsat decided not to organize the festival. However, the city authorities decided to organize a one-day festival in Sopot this year, but without a television broadcast. In 2016, the concert did not take place due to the lack of a television partner, which initially was to be TVP. After a year of break, the decision was made to restore the festival. Since 2017, it has been organized and broadcast by TVN again. The festival also provided opportunity to listen to international stars. In the past, it featured Charles Aznavour,

Boney M Boney M. is a German reggae, funk and disco music group founded in 1974. It achieved popularity during the disco era in the second half of the 1970s. The band was created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary song ...

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

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, Village People, Kool and the Gang, Vanessa Mae, Sabrina, C.C.Catch,

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, Paul Young,

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, Scorpions, Alphaville,

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, Bonnie Tyler, Jimmy Somerville, Erasure,

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a sol ...

, Vaya Con Dios,

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is a British Rock music, rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty-five studio albums, ...

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

, Tanita Tikaram,

La Toya Jackson La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956) is an American singer and television personality. The fifth child and middle daughter of the Jackson family, Jackson first gained recognition on the family's variety television series, ''The Jacksons (TV ...

, Rick Astley, Shakin’ Stevens,

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Bad Boys Blue Bad Boys Blue are a Pop music, pop group formed in Cologne in 1984. The group performed many international hits including "You're a Woman", "Pretty Young Girl (Bad Boys Blue song), Pretty Young Girl", "I Wanna Hear Your Heartbeat (Sunday Girl) ...

, Technotronic.

Kajagoogoo Kajagoogoo ( ) were an English Pop music, pop band. They are best known for their 1983 hit single "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 in numerous other countries. History Beginnings (1978–1982) Formed ...

, Limahl, Goran Bregovic, Norah Jones, Anastacia, Maryla Rodowicz,

, In-Grid, Alla Pugacheva and many others.

Competition overview and winners

This list includes only winners of the most prestigious contests within the Sopot Music Festival. Sometimes one contest has overshadowed another with time. ''Grand Prix de disque'' was the most prestigious award between 1974 and 1976 and the Intervision Song Contest during 1977–80. Since the 1980s, the main prize of the festival is the ''Amber Nightingale'' award. The festival has also given prizes for ''Best Interpretation'' in the 1960s, and ''Winner Of The Polish Day'' on and off from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Winners by country

:*''More than one winner at that year''.

References

External links

Sopot Festival website

The complete list of all participants and places till 2009
{{Authority control Sopot Music festivals in Poland Music competitions in Poland Song contests Music festivals established in 1961 1961 establishments in Poland Tourist attractions in Pomeranian Voivodeship Polish television shows Annual events in Poland Culture of Pomeranian Voivodeship