Poland POLAND 2021 - RAFAŁ - The Ride

[escYOUnited]

Lights, beaming down the rainy street
All the faces that I meet tell me I'm wrong
Ride, staring at the neon signs
Making up a storyline, gotta hold on
Not lost, even in the death of night
I can make it out alright
Just let me go
Yeah, I, I will make it through somehow
Let me figure out what is in and out

So baby, hold on for the ride of your life
High above ground, living it now
I'm gonna take you to the end of the line
Taking that fight, make it alright
It doesn't matter if I stumble and fall
I'll make it through, I'll never touch the ground
So baby, hold on for the ride of your life
Hold on real tight, make it alright

Hard, I won't give my heart and soul
I am going for the glow, no looking back
I'm gonna rise high up in the atmosphere
I ain't got no time to fear
Follow my tracks

Not lost, following the neon lights
Shooting through the summer skies
Just let me go
Yeah I, I will make it through somehow
Let me figure out what is in and out

So baby, hold on for the ride of your life
High above ground, living it now
I'm gonna take you to the end of the line
Taking that fight, make it alright
It doesn't matter if I stumble and fall
I'll make it through, I'll never touch the ground
So baby, hold on for the ride of your life
Hold on real tight, make it alright

I'm gonna take all the world tonight (Oh-woah-oh-oh)
Not gonna ask, gonna take what's mine (Oh-woah-oh-oh)
So hold on tight, baby, let's get high (Oh-woah-oh-oh)
High above the ground
Ride, staring at the neon signs
Let me figure out what is in and out

So baby, hold on for the ride of your life
High above ground, living it now
I'm gonna take you to the end of the line
Taking that fight, make it alright
It doesn't matter if I stumble and fall
I'll make it through, I'll never touch the ground
So baby, hold on for the ride of your life
Hold on real tight, make it alright​

 

[BorisBubbles]

Nah, they'll downvote it because it's generic synthwave fronted by a lithpy, doughy bloke with zero onstage charisma. It being Polish won't matter a fig.

 

[I bims]

Well, it is not bad. So much better than last year. But I am afraid that juries will give low points, since Poland is not very popular in Europe recently.

I don't think eurovision is that much of a popularity contest as some people seem to believe. I mean Russia is usually in the Top 5 but they aren't liked as well. Israel is really controversial as a country but they won 2018. Germany isn't really loved either but once we send something good we were Top 4. The song and presentation matter the most. Always.

The reason Poland will fail this year is their awful singer. He has no charisma and can't sing live.

 

[empo21]

This is one of those songs that is just going to be a bore live. Alicia must've submitted the bore of the century if she lost to this.

Something about that guy just makes me angry and I can't explain it.

 

[Mrm]

It used to be a phonetic representation of the "dark l" sound which you can find in the English language as well (for example in words such as circle) . However, the sound of the dark l has basically completely been expunged in the Polish langauge (at least, I have never heard my (great-) grandparents produce that sound...however, over time, the sound has vanished but the phonetic representation (ł) continued to exist.

I actually think that replacing ł simply with l in Germanic languages is misleading because the produced sounds are very different. Actually, you have to pronounce it more like an English [w] like in warm or water.

Thank you for the explanation..
Where are you originally from in Poland, which part/town/village?
I see you kept the Polish flag in the profiley so you prefer Polish entry to German one..

 

[Mainshow]

Thank you for the explanation..
Where are you originally from in Poland, which part/town/village?
I see you kept the Polish flag in the profiley so you prefer Polish entry to German one..

You're welcome!

Actually, I was born in Germany but one of my parents was born in Poland. That part of the family is from Zabrze and Gliwice (Silesia) and Kraków (Małopolska).

Indeed, I think the Polish entry is superior to the German one this year. However, Jendrik is charming and will have fun on stage whereas I don't think Rafał will reach anyone with his performance.

 

[rasmuslights]

This is one of those songs that is just going to be a bore live. Alicia must've submitted the bore of the century if she lost to this.

Something about that guy just makes me angry and I can't explain it.

nah I believe he got it because he had ties + he hosted jesc and was familiar with the new HoD..

 

[Geborgenheit]

I don't think eurovision is that much of a popularity contest as some people seem to believe. I mean Russia is usually in the Top 5 but they aren't liked as well. Israel is really controversial as a country but they won 2018. Germany isn't really loved either but once we send something good we were Top 4. The song and presentation matter the most. Always.

The reason Poland will fail this year is their awful singer. He has no charisma and can't sing live.

Russia gets votes because of Russians living in other European countries. The song and presentation matter, but politics matter as well.

 

[kayak]

Please boycott that song and don't vote for it. We need to show TVP that this is not the way they should choose our song ...

 

[Franzilein]

Can someone fill me in why this is so badly received? It's not (purely) because of the song, is it? Seems like the hate is mainly directed towards the singer and the broadcaster. But why?

 

[Mimmon]

Can someone fill me in why this is so badly received? It's not (purely) because of the song, is it? Seems like the hate is mainly directed towards the singer and the broadcaster. But why?

Better let explain by pole rather me...
I got enough hate by saying about it...

 

[rasmuslights]

Can someone fill me in why this is so badly received? It's not (purely) because of the song, is it? Seems like the hate is mainly directed towards the singer and the broadcaster. But why?

mainly because Polish people don't like him, because the song is bland and does not represent Poland in any way. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it could be much better and also many people love Alicja so yeah.

 

[GianlucaTomoe]

Disgusting entry by Poland.

I can't believe that TVP has deprived its 2020 singer of her chance to participate at a real Eurovision, only to give a Swedish reject with no connections whatsoever to the Polish music scene, to a random guy who was chosen only because of his political connections inside the national broadcaster.

As I said, I think it's really time EBU reconsiders the participation of certain countries in the contest.

 

[blue00eyes]

I accepted a bland entry as it is. I don't feel any emotional connection even if it's my own country. Non-qualification won't cause any sadness at this point.

 

[midnightsun]

Okay. The chorus stuck with me since I've been listening to this the first time. It's so cheap but on the other side so catchy-good, I guess the song is the perfect definition of guilty pleasure!
Rafal seems a bit stiff, almost robotic-like (not only because he's wearing sunglasses) so he doesn't do the song a favor but let's see how it will work out live. Since I don't know him I can't relate to the hate, so I have to put aside that he's maybe a sucker.

 

[Citelis]

Of course the song is not that terrible at all and normally could have some chances for qualification but it's obvious that the main reason of the so negative reactions is Rafal himself and he will be the reason for the NQ.

 

[Franzilein]

mainly because Polish people don't like him, because the song is bland and does not represent Poland in any way. It's not that it's bad, it's just that it could be much better and also many people love Alicja so yeah.

But why do they not like him? What did he do? And why does it not represent Poland?
And yes, I get the point about Alicja.

 

[simonPL]

I have a goooood drugs for you, guys!
"Wiadomości" (News TVP1) today
https://streamable.com/469n30

"Riddicolous hatered of Polish representative"
Presenter: Many international viewers are positive about the song / When it comes to Poles: hate, as usually...

Reportage:
- Energectic sound and inimitable 80's style by Rafał will fight for a win (!) in May
- "The Ride" is well-recived by many Poles (jounralist is asking people on the streets: we can see few random people who are talking about Rafał himself, nothing particular, but not about the song e.g. two ladies are like "he is a nice guy", young man noticed "he was popular a few years back, so he will be a good representative for sure", a girl says "I'm going to watch Eurovision" etc., nothing about 'The Ride").
- The song was enthusiastically-received by many fans of the ESC and it is a candidate to win - they show YT reactions
- Hate? Of course only from Poland!
- Next, they are showing articles from media they don't like, because they are "not-real-Polish" (pudelek.pl, interia.pl)
- Full-time columnist (from TVP, of course, he is an expert about EVERYTHING) is giving an interview "This is a very strong singer with a very good song. Whole Poland should unite now to support him and ask their friends abroad to vote for Rafał" XD
- According to TVP, Alicja is victim of a hate and Ala from JESC as well, because some people described their songs as "outdated" , they put some words out of the context to make headlines like "they didn't want vote for Poland!!!" or "Poland dindn't win JESC" (but its true, lol)
- Another full-time columnist is calling it barbarism (supposed hate for Ala from JESC)
- Summary: luckily, this is only a small part of all reactions!

So guys? If you don't want a be in next reportage of TVP, please change your votes to 12 in a short order! Otherwise, the next news will be about YOU.

PS: This may be funny, but this is what our "national broadcaster" looks like nowadays and their "news". They did similiar reportage when they didn't win any lowly award by tv-guide magazine last week. Of course the results were "fake", so those ones from Eurovision will be probably fake as well.

But this is a really sad brain-wash for older generations that believe in everything they can see on the TV. People on the Internet make fun of it all the time, somethimes it is hard to believe if those "breaking news" aren't photoshopped, but it's great for policital propaganda.

 

[pardoESC]

7 from me
Pleasant surprise, I did not expect such a song from Poland. Better than last year, that's for sure. On the other hand, not "Eurovision" enough for me. It kind of falls into the banal places

 

[empo21]

The song keeps getting worse the more I try to listen to it god bless

btw I had no idea who Rafal was and all the drama around him I learned after I listened to the song and had already made an opinion on it, so whatever is this guy's and TVP's deal isn't really affecting my views on the song (which are bad anyway).




Also puh-leaase you can smell the douchebaggery on this guy from a mile away

 

[Fluke]

The thumbnail looked really silly, so i'm positively surprised here. This is well written, catchy synth-pop with a strong chorus, if slightly flat vocals and structure. Definitely a likely qualifier, 15-20th place is possible if not even better.