Introduction
Last year the singer Alicija Szemplińska has been chosen to represent Poland in Rotterdam. But the ESC has been cancelled and sadly Alicija does not have another chance this year. Therefore the Polish broadcaster TVP has made an internal selection, it is Rafał Brzozowski, a TV presenter, singer and a former wrestler.
Rafał Brzozowski was born in Warsaw in 1981 and grew up outside the capital. He started to play guitar and piano in the age of 10. Rafał was educated to become a sport teacher, he already receive a bronze medal in wrestling. Unfortunately, he could not continue his sport career due to an injury of his spine. In 2002 he started his music career, participating in several bands and at the Voice of Poland show. He released singles like “Tak Blisko” , “Za Maly Swiat” or “Jeden Tydzien”. Rafał took part in the national final with “Sky Over Europe” where he could achieve the second place, right after Kasia Mós. Beside of his music, Rafał is also a well-known face in the Polish TV, hosting several shows. He even hosted the Junior ESC 2020 and was part of the Polish jury in the 2019 ESC in Tel Aviv.
The Polish song for the 65th Eurovision Song Contest is called “The Ride”. It’s an up-tempo song in the style of the 80’s and 90’s. The image with his sun-glasses and the neon lights remind of a Miami Vice set, in the video-clip as well as in his live performances. The song is about the ride of life:
So baby hold on for the ride of your life
High above ground, livin’ it loud
I’m gonna take it to the end of the line,
Takin’ the fight, make it alright
It doesn’t matter if I stumble and fall
The song has no highs no lows and blurs into significance. Somehow it’s a missed opportunity, as Rafał has better songs.
History
Poland had its wonderful debut in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland. So this is going to be the 23rd time for Poland in the ESC already. Together with six other debutants, the year of 1994 was the year of new countries all from Eastern Europe. It’s a truly success that the Polish entry “To Nie Ja!” by Edyta Górniak made a great second place from the stand. This has opened a world career for Edyta and she is still one of the biggest stars in Poland. And it proofs that a good song with a good singer could change everything. This brought a lot of positive attention to Poland.
Unfortunately, this strong performance could not be maintained over all those years until today. Poland’s contributions in the first years were quite extraordinary and special in particular as they have tried to find their position with offbeat compositions. The effort of the Polish composers and performers to develop Poland as a new highlight in the ESC has paid off. But some of the songs might have been too complicated for the average European music taste. That’s why the Polish entries struggled and still do struggle with the qualification for the Grand Finals recently. Since 2004 Poland only made it six times into the Grand Final. And over all Poland made it in the Top 10 three times. This is statically chance of 13% for Poland. In Stockholm 2016 Michał Szpak could achieve a fabulous 8th place with “The Colour Of Your Life”, he was one of the last countries to be announced the fourth highest points from the public voting. Last time in Tel Aviv the folk group Tulia couldn’t make it to the Grand Final with their white singing in “Fire Of Love (Pali się)”.
After organizing the European Football Championship in 2012 together with the Ukraine, Poland could be a good host for the Eurovision Song Contest as well, in 2019 Poland hosted the Junior Eurovision in Gliwice, Silesia and the year after in Warsaw.
The Polish people have developed such a great enthusiasm and it would be well deserved if Poland will host the Eurovision Song Contest one day.
Biggest successes
Video Nostalgia
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