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Poland POLAND 2020 - Alicja Szemplińska - Empires

How do you rate this entry?

  • 12

    14 11.8%
  • 10

    5 4.2%
  • 8

    8 6.7%
  • 7

    6 5.0%
  • 6

    19 16.0%
  • 5

    14 11.8%
  • 4

    19 16.0%
  • 3

    8 6.7%
  • 2

    13 10.9%
  • 1

    6 5.0%
  • 0

    7 5.9%

  • Total voters
    119

escYOUnited

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September 28, 2009
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Poland-scaled.jpg


 

mauve

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February 28, 2018
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Germany
This entry reached my heart long ago! She is in my top 10 and will remain there. Completely underrated whereas - in ym opinion - Bulgaria is rather overrated.
 

BorisBubbles

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January 21, 2019
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Tumblr, mostly.
Lol loving this insipid piece of shit. How does that even work? "Empires" is formulaic and very poorly written. "like moths to a flame, like a bird to a pane of glass" WHO WRITES TRIPE LIKE THIS??? ::looks up:: oh, of course, she did. :rolleyes:

Desperately tries to be woke, is in reality as shallow as a puddle, etc etc etc.

An absolutely shame a song this insignificant is wasted on an artist this talented.
 

pardoESC

Active member
Joined
February 7, 2020
Posts
211
The song comes with a ballad Eurovision, I guess if this year's Eurovision was different, it would feel more special, now it's a little tiring
 

Alaska49

Well-known member
Joined
April 18, 2013
Posts
2,895
downgraded from 5 to 4. so nondescript. should have been one of the other songs in the NF.
 

elanyvx

Well-known member
Joined
September 23, 2014
Posts
1,576
Location
Italy
Eurovision will take place on a new date, and we can only hope that we will meet in the same group of participants who were to participate in this year's edition. Everyone will be in good health and with even greater passion and willingness will present their songs to the world and it will be a real festival of music!
For now we stay at home and as soon as the virus gives us peace we come back with doubled strength
Love

 

tuorem

Well-known member
Joined
January 17, 2012
Posts
9,592
Location
GN-z11
My review:

POLAND 2020 - Alicja Szemplińska - Empires: "Meh with a capital M"

Polska really does not have it easy in the contest, since the re-introduction of juries it's like they're automatically marked down. Yes, I'd say they've sent some really weak stuff this decade ("I Don't Wanna Leave", "In The Name Of Love", "Light Me Up", to name a few), but when they do have decent songs they still struggle to reach the top ten with juries whereas - let's say - Malta gets away with more old-fashioned material. I still don't get why juries didn't support "Flashlight" more, for instance. My faves remain "Legenda" and "Color Of Your Life". I really liked "Jestem" but the performance was a total mess, sadly. Also "Pali się" should have been in the final imo. But anyway, to me the Poles' main weakness is they lack a strong identity in the contest: apart from Michal and Donatan & Cleo, they haven't really got any spotlight and that's partly due to the uninventive/safe choices they've made lately imho.

And unfortunately, the trend continued this year with "Empires", a ballad that smells of songwriting camp: not that nothing good might come from such events, but you get the idea. I might have liked it eleven years ago, now I need more to get interested. Composition-wise, it's perfectly decent: there is a melody there, a strong "pathos" feel through the arrangements, and eventually all the parts and developments expected in such tracks... but the magic isn't there at all to me. It sounds Eurovision-y, quite contrived, and far from unforgettable. We've had dozens of songs of that kind in the past, and this one does not add anything to what's been done already. Even the lyrics are standard wonky writing. As for the singer, Alicja can sing, yet I do not resonate much with the tone of her voice, so I could not even hope for the live performance to elevate the whole thing for me. In other words, I neither like nor dislike this effort, it's just there and while there does not seem to be anything particularly wrong with it, it does feel pedestrian and lifeless to me.

Prediction-wise, I could envision Poland miss out in the semi once again. Given their history of no jury support and the ballad-heavy semi they were competing in, I don't think they would have stood out among Moldova (musically), Albania (vocally), Switzerland and Bulgaria (with more distinct productions). 11th to 12th place like Georgia 2017 would have been my guess.

I'm not sure what TVP will do and if Alicja will return, but I pray that they stop sending such run-of-the-mill entries. Whoever called Laurell Barker to begin with probably should have gone swimming instead. Polska has so many talents that I can't believe they cannot find better songs. They have to up their game ASAP, otherwise history will just keep repeating itself. Break the pattern please!
 

Milos-BC

Well-known member
Joined
September 28, 2009
Posts
12,447
Location
Serbia
Still can't get over the fact that Europe never had the chance of hearing this masterpiece on stage :( In my top 5 from the very beginning and perhaps the best :pl: entry ever. Such a shame.

12 points.
 
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