Some songs grow on me as the Eurovision season goes on, and that has certainly been the case with Poland’s entry this year. Their entry last year was actually one of my favourites, yet failed to qualify at the contest itself. Can Tulia get Poland back on track this year?
Poland reverted to an internal selection this year after a short series of national finals. Tulia were selected, a four piece Polish folk music pop band, and the only all girl group in the contest. Their song was released last year and was a viral success in Poland so they decided to use this as their song, though altered to include English as well as Polish lyrics.
The song is both folk pop (as you might expect) but also has indie/grunge rock elements as well. The chorus is both insistent and insidious – whether you like it or not. it’s an earworm for sure and their harmonies are impressive – both in the studio version and in the live performances they have done. As mentioned before, this wasn’t a song I initially liked very much but it has grown and grown on me and consequently risen much higher in my rankings
The music video that accompanies this song is worthy of note as well – it’s quite an arty affair with the main influence coming from the Oscar-nominated 2018 Polish film Cold War as well as cameo appearances from a number of well-known Polish actors.
Assessing how this will do is tricky – a key will be if the Polish diaspora get behind this (which doesn’t always happen). On the minus side, they have been placed in one of the worst slots in the semi-final running order for qualifying and they are without the usual reliable televotes they would get from the UK and Ireland as they are voting in the other semi-final. On the other hand, this was a huge hit within Poland so there is a good chance it will pick up a strong diaspora vote from across Europe.
Come what may, and whether you like this song or not, it’s a welcome addition to the Eurovision pantheon of songs, and after all, where else but Eurovision would you get to experience a song like this?!
Official music video:
Live performance at Eurovision in Concert:
My preview video:
Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest
First entered: 1994
Appearances (excluding this year): 21
Best result: 2nd in 1994
Last year’s result: 14th in semi-final (did not qualify)