Justyna Steczkowska
Justyna Maria Steczkowska is a Polish singer and songwriter. She represented Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with the song "Sama", finishing in 18th place overall with 15 points, representing the country again in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 with the song "Gaja", finishing in 14th place overall with 156 points.
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Life and career
Early life and musical roots
She was born in Rzeszów, in the Subcarpathian region of southeastern Poland. She is the fourth of nine children of Danuta and Stanisław Steczkowski, a music teacher and conductor.When she was five years old, she moved with her family to Stalowa Wola, where she attended the Ignacy Jan Paderewski State Music School. In 1991, she graduated from a music high school belonging to the Music School Complex No. 1 in Rzeszów. Later she moved to Gdańsk to study at a musical academy but she dropped out to focus on singing. She played violin in a family band and was a singer in rock and jazz bands before embarking on a solo career.
Breakthrough with "Boskie Buenos"
In 1994, Steczkowska participated in auditions for a television talent show Szansa na sukces. Dissatisfied with her performance of a song "Nie przynoś mi kwiatów, dziewczyno" by Trubadurzy, she was given another chance to compete. She came to prominence in June 1994 when she eventually won the show with the performance of Maanam's hit "Boskie Buenos ". Afterwards, the same year, she performed her first non-album single “Moja intymność” at the 31st National Festival of Polish Song in Opole where she won the main "Karolinka" award and was notably praised by Irena Santor, one of the legends of the Polish music.Eurovision Song Contest debut
As a promising young artist, Steczkowska was selected to represent Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with the song “Sama”. With the track characterized by its introspective and melancholic tone, set in a minor key with folky, downbeat elements, she finished in 18th place overall with 15 points.Career-defining ''Dziewczyna Szamana''
After winning the final of the Baltic Countries Song Festival in July 1995, Steczkowska began preparations for her first record. She worked closely with Grzegorz Ciechowski, a well-known musician who specifically used a pen name Ewa Omernik and with whom she spent a few months recording in Kazimierz Dolny.In March 1996, Steczkowska's debut solo album was released. Combining esoteric themes and jazz-influenced production, Dziewczyna Szamana was both a critical and commercial success. The title track, along with singles like “Grawitacja” and “Oko za oko, słowo za słowo”, remain staples of her repertoire and are among her most iconic songs. In April 1997, Steczkowska was triumphant, having earned four Fryderyk awards for every category in which she was nominated.
Evolving sound and collaborations
After the debut, in October 1997, Steczkowska released the album, an optimistically melancholic follow-up to the previous record, most known for a single “Za karę”. In August 1999, she composed the soundtrack album produced by her brother for the film Na koniec świata promoted by the trip hop title track.A year later, she released marked by the single “Kosmiczna rewolucja”. This album saw her embrace new musical landscape leaning into electronic. On this record, she collaborated with other prominent Polish female artists, Katarzyna Nosowska and Edyta Bartosiewicz.
In November 2001, Steczkowska released a collaborative album with Paweł Deląg, where they used poems by William Shakespeare, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, Jonasz Kofta, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, or Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska.
Seeking to produce something enduring and beyond musical trends, Steczkowska collaborated with renowned producer Mateusz Pospieszalski and lyricist Roman Kołakowski, and in October 2002 released the album. Inspired by Ashkenazi Jewish culture, featuring songs sung in Hebrew, Aramaic, Ladino, and Yiddish, the album earned her a Fryderyk award for Ethno-Folk Album of the Year.
In 2004, she released ', an album of her interpretations of songs originally performed by famous Polish and international female singers, inspired by figures like Kalina Jędrusik, Anna German, Marilyn Monroe, Édith Piaf, Dalida, and Marlene Dietrich.
Afterwards, Steczkowska focused on more pop-leaning albums, ' with elements of smooth jazz and ' with a variety of styles; she also self-composed two collections of lullabies for children '. In 2012, she released, an album with Gothic rock, techno and trip-hop reinterpretations of her earlier songs with some new tracks, which ultimately saw her reembrace ambient, mystical and oriental fascinations, cemented by and . The latter was her first exclusively English-language record and was originally available for free, released under an alter ego pseudonym Maria Magdalena.
Her further discography includes ', and Steczkowska Demarczyk as well as other collaborative albums: cabaret-inspired ' with Maciej Maleńczuk and Balkan-influenced with Boban Marković.