“The Ride” this year’s Polish entry for Eurovision 2021 was originally written with the intention to compete in Melodifestivalen.
Songwriter Thomas Karlsson has revealed that “The Ride” was written with the intention to compete in Melodifestivalen 2021. In an interview with Dziennik Eurowizyjny, he explained that work began on the song in July and was created for Clara Rubensson to compete with.
However, the song was finished in October 2021 which meant it was unable to compete in Melodifestivalen as the song submission window had already closed. “The Ride” was written and composed by Joakim รvrenius, Thomas Karlsson, Clara Rubensson and Johan Mauritzson.
The song underwent a number of weeks of work to be adapted for Rafaล to perform at Eurovision with the key needing to be dropped, but the arrangement only underwent minor changes.
Who is Rafaล Brzozowski?
Rafaล Brzozowski was born on 8th June 1981 in Warsaw, Poland. His career took off after he participated in the 2011 edition of The Voice of Poland and was knocked out just before the final.
Fans of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will recognise Rafaล as one of the three presenters of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 which was hosted in Warsaw. In 2019, he was part of the Polish jury at Eurovision.
Image source: TVP | Source: Dziennik Eurowizyjny
Poland debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994 alongside a number of other Eastern European countries. Their debut year saw their best result to date, as Edyta Gorniak finished in 2nd place with her song โTo nie ja!โ. Following this, Poland failed to repeat this initial success, managing a top 10 placing on only one other occasion during their initial 1994-2011 run in the contest. In 2012, following a string of non-qualifications, Poland withdrew from the contest due to financial difficulties. Since their return in 2014, they have been considerably more successful in the contest, having qualified for the final for every year up to 2017.