Rafał will represent Poland with the synth-pop number “The Ride”. And on Saturday, the singer and television presenter performed his number live for the first time during the final of The Voice Kids Poland.
Rafał, who himself was a semifinalist in the first season of the adult version of The Voice, was a guest performer, delivering some of the 80s synth-pop and neon aesthetic that we saw in his music video.
He kept his look cool and minimalist, wearing a black suit and his trademark sunglasses. But around him was an explosion of distinctive synth-styled colour, with blue and pink LED graphics, and plenty dancers in pink and white suits with black accents. Rafał delivered a competent vocal performance, offering a hint of what he might bring to Rotterdam.
The winner of the edition was 12-year-old Sara Egwu-James. Notably, one of her performances in the finale was of “Husavik (My Hometown)” — the Oscar-nominated song from the film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. She gave a classy and vocally flawless live.
Poland’s Eurovision journey
Poland was one of the last countries to reveal their artist. On March 12, the country revealed they had internally selected Rafal to represent them with “The Ride”. Rafał is on his way to Eurovision fresh from hosting the most recent edition of Junior Eurovision last November. He also has attempted to represent the country before, placing second in the Polish national final of 2017.
Rafał will sing “The Ride” on the first half of the second semi-final in Eurovision 2021 in Rotterdam, this upcoming May 20.
What do you think? Does the live performance bring a new perspective to “The Ride”? Let us know in the comments below!
I’ve been listening to the song ever since it was released. I really like it.
After reading plenty of negative comments I gotta say I’m pleasantly surprised by this performance!
Yes, his vocals are a bit flat and monotonous but he still has some time to improve! 🙂
Not bad live..
Disagree. This is a good song. Not a winner but could qualify in SF2. Aren’t you the one that refuses to predict placement or qualification before the semis? Now you are predicting NQ?
I don’t mind the song buy WHAT’S WITH THE SUNGLASSES?!
You don’t have to worry about the sunglasses staying on for the entirety of the actual performance (it will be quite different to this one), you have to wait and see!
It’s not as bad many people say, it’s absolutely decent. And he is a competent singer, definitely not as ‘ehm’ as people expected it to be. It will do okay.
I think this actually will do a whole lot better than most seem to expect!
It’s even funnier that some people are 100% that he will WIN ESC2021 after seeing this performance xd Not even kidding. That’s how TVP’s brainwash work
This gives me too many Eurovision vibes, not in a good way. Could be in the next Eurovision movie.
And, talking about the movie, “Husavik” is miles above the movie.
poland is underrated (dont @ me). the chorus is so catchy and the 80s synth gives me a really good vibe
Agree
Not as bad as I expected. He kept up. The vocal is just so monotone and flat it gets boring fast.
yuck
Rafal was um…there was much left to be desired after that performance. HOWEVER, SARA EGWU JAMES my god that was beautiful!!!! Her voice is amazing, and when she changed it to Polish I was so excited and happy. It recreated the affect in the movie where they switch to Icelandic, in Polish it meant something, and that was clear. She is the star of this show and article.
Yes, it’s the first time I have actually warmed to this entry but sadly I don’t think there is enough to take it through. And for sure there is a lot worse out there.
This has “drunk uncle at a wedding hitting the dance floor” vibe to it crossed with “drunk office jerk doing karaoke at office holiday party” vibe. Good luck Poland—hope your diaspora comes through.
I hope our diaspora recognises that there are songs more worthy voting for.
How many years in a row we have to miss final so that people would stop this diaspora talk? Poland hasn’t qualified since 2017 and even then ended up 22nd
Everything here is so boring and uninspired… it’s definitely my number 39.
I hope they use the same LED background it really conveys the sense of the video clip. This performance would have won ESC in 2002.
2002 was a very weak year so perhaps 😀
Poland – fire that choreographer ASAP…sooo 2002. The song itself isn’t the worst one in the competiotion, but the choreo really sucks
I thought his vocals were worst…But at eurovision he cannot use so many dancers and clearly he cannot dance. Use some back vocals and lets see what will happen
I dont mind the song that much, but his voice is just so lifeless.
Totally agree! The demo version features vocals from one of the original songwriters and it’s SO much better.
I like it 🙂
eh..quite a weak live performance I must say, not even mentionning the vocals. I guess this will be approximately the same in May.
Well, in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest he didn’t wear sunglasses at all so I guess he thinks he looks cOoL
This performance was not so cringe as some here say… it was a decent performance and his vocals are okay.. But to qualify for the final their’s a lot more to do for the Polish team…
Gotta say, it was a guilty pleasure when I first listened to it but next time you show a performance of Rafal please put in the subtitle “Cringe alert”
we see in may
Alright.. i think this song would be not qualified for the final.
I love this song but the live version is terrible! If Poland wan to qualify for the final Rafa? needs to sort his vocals out
See, this song would be okay if he didn’t have the charm and charisma of piece of wet cardboard.
(I liked the dancers, though. They were alright.)
The songs not awful but for some reason it feels like he makes it a novelty record
It’s a guilty pleasure and, believe it or not, my borderline qualifier from the second semi. Yes, it’s stale and generic. It still manages to be enjoyable for how (unintentionally?) funny it is.
I like this song. I hope it makes the final.
His voice is clearly a bit edited.
Well The Voice Poland is known for their use of autotune on contestants so maybe they sprinkled some on Rafal too.
I still find it a bit of a beige song, but the performance and staging were decent.
A great live performance. I think it’s safe to say that Poland will be in the final. It reminds me of the Buggles, which is a good thing.
It was ok though i am not sure this was live. I want him in the final though.
The robot-dad dance was enough for me. This guy is the ultimate cringe.
I dont care what people say it, I really enjoy this
Same, I’m loving this awkward midlife crisis realness.
Benny Cristo’s live is actually much worse than Rafal’s. You can watch it on the instagram stories of eurovision official account. It’s a pity his vocals are bad 🙁
His vocals were okay racist
If this was the swedish product bought by Malta this would be the number in the odds. And if Rafal was singing je me casse then it would be like now at the end of the odds.
…because his act is creepy and unappealing, and in the way he is he’d be low in the odds with any song. it’s like katy perry gave “firework” to lana del rey, it would’ve never been a hit lmao
SOOOOO true. Malta is so overhyped
I thought people said he couldn’t sing? This was a great live performance, really bright and engaging. Here’s my prediction – Poland makes it to the final.
There’s nothing to sing though.
Live??
It didn’t sound like the studio cut so i can only assume that it was live.
Artists often use partially or completely pre-recorded vocals that aren’t studio version for their performances. Slightly more sophisticated than basic lip-sync. This didn’t look or sounds like an actual live performance to me
Don’t get me wrong, I really like Rafal, but if Tulia didn’t make it with more voting allies, Rafal isn’t going to the final, too
I loved Tulia and was gutted that it didn’t get through. Rafal’s effort is more accessible to most viewers than Tulia so I expect it to do better with the televote.
Also , until Rafal shouted Let’s go , the lack of breathing made me think he was lip-synching.
Poland’s young stars are really talented.