Blue Café

Blue Café are a Polish pop group with jazz, soul and latin influences. The band was formed in Łódź in 1998 and had three consecutive chart-topping singles in Poland in 2002-03. They were nominated in the category Best Polish Act at the 2003 MTV Europe Awards, and are also known internationally for their participation in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest. The original line-up of the band was leader, composer, arranger and keyboardist Paweł Rurak-Sokal, singer Tatiana Okupnik, Viola Danel (guitar), Sebastian Kasprowicz (guitar), Marcin Markuszewski (bass), Łukasz Moszczyński (drums), Piotr Sławiński (trumpet) and Michał Niewiadomski (trombone). Their first single "Español" was released in 2001, with album Fanaberia following in late 2002. Blue Café submitted "You May Be In Love", a track from Fanaberia, to the 2003 Polish Eurovision Song Contest selection, where it made the final, finishing in third place. It subsequently topped the Polish chart when released as a single. The following year, the band took part in the Eurovision selection again with "Love Song", a Latin-flavoured track from their second album Demi-sec. In a close televoting and SMS result, "Love Song" emerged the winner, earning Blue Café the Polish ticket for the 49th Eurovision Song Contest. 2004 was the year in which a pre-qualifying semi-final was introduced to Eurovision; however, Ich Troje's top 10 finish for Poland the previous year meant that Blue Café gained automatic entry to the final, which was held in Istanbul on 15 May. Five members - Okupnik, Rurak-Sokal, Sławiński, Niewiadomski and newcomer Piotr Grąbkowski - appeared on stage on the night of the contest, when "Love Song" finished in a rather disappointing 17th place of 24 entries. Okupnik decided to leave the band in 2005, she was replaced as lead singer by Dominika Gawęda. The band's fourth and most recent album, Four Seasons, was released in 2008.