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!