On Saturday, the 19th of February 2022, Poland will hold its national selection for Eurovision 2022 under the long name “Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hity na Eurowizję 2022” (Eng: The heart of Europe beats here! We have selected hits for Eurovision 2022)
10 artists will participate in the national selection.
The results will be determined by 50% public vote and 50% national jury vote.
In this article, I will review the 10 songs.
#1. Ania Byrcyn – Dokąd [Eng: Where]
It’s a modern ballad, performed in the Polish language
The song starts with a piano playing. She sings dynamically: performing both high notes and low notes. In the pre-chorus, we can hear the violin playing as well. In this part, she decorates her vocal performance with some beautiful improvisations. The chorus is more energetic and powerful. The melody is based on percussion elements, piano, and violin.
The second verse is a little bit more sophisticated, melody wisely.
Towards the end, we get 2 occurrences of the chorus and it ends with an instrumental part.
For some reason, something in the chords and arrangement remindes me of “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone.
However, I find the song modern, contemporary and refreshing. The choice to perform it in the Polish language is brave. Ania has a wonderful voice and I’m satisfied with the final outcome.
#2. Daria – Paranoia
It’s a mid-tempo pop song with synth elements..
The first verse starts with an acoustic production, we can hear guitar playing accompanying Daria‘s voice. There’s a use of a light echo over her singing as well as backing vocals.
As the first verse progresses, the rhythmic beat builds up until it takes over the melody and leads us to the chorus. The chorus is upbeat and relies on the fast drum beat. The chorus includes some digital products as well. The beat continues to the second verse as well. There’s a use of auto-tune and pre-recorded backing vocals. The pre-chorus increase the rate of the song.
Thereafter, we get once again the chorus that is catchy thanks to its beat but also thanks to the “pa-pa-paranoia” parts. The bridge begins with some manners and it lead us to the chorus once again.
The song is catchy and can make you smile, even though its message isn’t the funniest thing.
The production is modern, and most of the time it sheds the song with the “right” light.
Nevertheless, sometimes it feels over-produced. I still think something is missing in the structure of the song, proably a more convincing bridge.
#3.Emilia D ębbska (Mila) – All I Need
It’s a love ballad.
The song starts with the piano playing. Emilia opens the song with her soft, gentle, and high voice. The pre-chorus include a drumbeat that makes it sound a little bit more modern.
Her song is pleasant and you can feel she is a good storyteller.
The chorus is based on piano playing, and we can hear some backing vocals.
The second verse’s melody is based on a sample of bass and the piano playing.
This time, there is something more right about the pre-chorus. Just after this, we get a short chorus with male backing singers. Thereafter, there’s a beautiful instrumental part composed of piano, guitar, and drums. The song ends with singing in a high voice and emotional singing.
It is an emotional ballad, but it is also effective and simple at the same time.
I must say that the production here is really good.
#4. Karolina Lizer – Czysta woda (Eng: Clean Water)
It’s a folklore ballad.
The song starts with acoustic guitar playing. After an instrumental part, the first verse arrives. The melody is based on percussion and accordion playing. There are some old Latin music elements as well as Polish ethnic music. The pre-chorus include trumpet playing as well. The chorus is festive and namely relies on the trumpet playing. The second verse is more rhythmic and she is braver vocal wisely. The bridge is silene and acoustic, and it replicates the introduction’s melody. Later on, we get some more elements in the melody, like wind instruments and piano. The last part of the song continues with guitar and trumpet playing, while Karolina is accompanied by backing vocalists.
The song in unique in the line-up, but it didn’t grab me at all.
I think that folklore music can shine or stand out at Eurovision if it is combined with some modern elements. For some reason (and not because of the language), I feel the song can be more successful as a local market product.
#5. Karolina Stanisławczyk & Chika Toro – Move
It’s an upbeat Latin pop song.
The song starts with a dance-pop beat that’s sampled with wind instrument playing.
The first singer to open the song is Chika Toro. She sings with self-confidence with a little bit of childish voice.
The following part is performed in faster singing, which can be classified more as hip-hop singing.
The chorus is energetic, it is performed mostly in Spanish and some words are in English.
In the chorus, we can hear the trumpet playing as well.
The second verse is upbeat and it is performed in the Polish language.
The Latin energetic chorus arrives again. The bridge is short and puts the focus on their voices.
I’m still surprised to see a song that is a majority in Spanish, competing in the Polish selection.
The song has good vibes and can make you dance. The combination of different languages is good enough most of the time. But still, the songs don’t sound authentic and I don’t think it will be right for Poland to go into the Latin direction.
#6.Kuba Szmaikowski – Lovesick
It’s an electro-pop song with synth elements.
The song starts with pre-recording section of backing vocalists singing.
Kuba opens the song with his thick and low voice. The first verse is based on a mid-tempo beat and keyboard playing. The pre-chorus is faster and builds up slowly to the electro beat that indicated the beginning of the chorus. The chorus heavily relies on electronic motives. The emphasis in the chorus isn’t on the lyrics or singing but on the wrapping of the song. The second verse is more rhythmic, as it includes another beat. The pre-chorus is identical to the previous one.
This time, the chorus starts ess aggressively, and we can hear more of Kuba‘s voice depth.
This time the chorus is longer, and we can hear electro keyboards playing as well.
The production is modern, Kuba‘s voice is noticeable. The combination between his voice and the electroproduction was supposed to sound like something that wouldn’t work, but actually, it worked.
I think the song could have been better if the song has some nonlinear changes in its progress.
#7.Lidia Kopania – Why Does It Hurt?
It’s a mid-tempo pop-R&B song.
She opens the song with her warm voice. We can hear backing vocalists in the background. The melody is based on keyboard playing. In the pre-chorus, Lidia holds longer notes and the rate is different. She uses some manners in the singing in this part.
The chorus is more catchy and yet simple. The backing singers continue to accompany her.
The second verse is a little bit more rhythmic, as a light beat builds it.
The song ends with additional occurences of the pre-chorus and the chorus.
The song is radio-friendly and doesn’t include any surprises.
#8.Ochman – River
It’s an emotional ballad.
The song starts with the piano playing. Ochman‘s voice is unique and the listener can’t ignore it.
The first verse is slow, and the focus is on his voice. The melody is based on piano and some violin elements. The pre-chorus is faster, it includes soft drumbeats. In the chorus, we can hear sings in the semi-Operatic high notes. The backing vocalists help in creating the dramatic atmosphre the song requires. The second chorus melody is based on piano and violin playing.
The violin stringing continues to the pre-chorus as well. The chorus is catchy and has a rich production.
The bridge is powerful and emotional. Ochman reveals more of his magnificanet vocal abilities. The violion plays the main role in the melody. Thereafter, we get the pre-chcorus and the chorus once again. The song elnds in the same way it started and it creates a cyclic frame.
Something in the melody or in the arrangement reminded me of “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak.
I think it is a really strong modern ballad, the singer does wonderful job in performing it. This isn’t only about the singing, but also about the interpatition. I can imagine it on the Eurovision stage already.
#9.Siostry Szlachta – Drogowskazy (Eng: Signposts)
It’s a mid-tempo pop song.
The melody is based on guitar playing and electro effects.
The song starts with singing by only one of them, but later on, it becomes a pure duet.
Their voices combine together convincingly.
The chorus is a direct continuation of the verse, but it is a little bit more rhythmic. The second verse is based on bass playing. It includes some more digital effects. Their voices create a heart-warning atmosphere. Towards the end, each of them has a solo section and they give us another color of their voice. My main problem is that the song is a little big forgettable. The structures isn’t dynamic enough.
#10.Unmute – Louder Than Decibels
It’s an electro pop instrumental song.
The group unmute includes deaf members that aim in accessing pop music culture to wide audience.
The song starts with a strong electro beat. The production is of the techno genre. Towards the middle, we can hear some more motives like sampling os string instrumensts.
The song ends with heavy drumbeat.
The idea is cool, but the song doesn’t do anything to me.
I don’t want to be rude, but for me it is really hard to get a song without any singing parts.
In fact, this is a track and not a song.
My Personal Ranking
- Ochman – River
- Ania Byrcyn – Dokąd
- Daria – Paranoia
- Emilia D ębbska (Mila) – All I Need
- Kuba Szmaikowski – Lovesick
- Siostry Szlachta – Drogowskazy
- Lidia Kopania – Why Does It Hurt
- Karolina Stanisławczyk & Chika Toro – Move
- Karolina Lizer – Czysta woda
- Unmute – Louder Than Decibels
My Prediction
It seems that there are 2 potential winners: Ochman or Daria
Poland will perform in the the second half of semi-final 2 of Eurovision 2022 which will be held on the 12th of May 2022.
If the country qualifies, Poland will participate in the grand final on the 14th of May 2022
