Empires

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Empires
Alicja Szemplińska
publication February 23, 2020
length 3:06
Genre (s) pop
text Patryk Kumor, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek, Laurell Barker, Frazer Mac
music Frazer Mac, Patryk Kumor, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek, Laurell Barker, Reece Pullinger, Maria Broberg
Producer (s) Patryk Kumor, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek
Label Universal Music Polska Sp. Z oo

Empires ( English for empires ) is an English-language pop song with which the singer Alicja Szemplińska won the show Szansa na Sukces Eurowizja 2020 . Poland would have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in Rotterdam with the title .

Background and production

Szemplińska took part in the second semi-final of the show Szansa na Sukces Eurowizja 2020 on February 9, 2020 , from which she was able to qualify for the final on February 23. She won this ahead of Albert Černý and Kasia Dereń with the highest number of points from the jury and the audience.

The text was written by a team consisting of Patryk Kumor, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek, Laurell Barker and Frazer Mac. They composed the music together with Reece Pullinger and Maria Broberg. Kumor and Buczkowski-Wojtaszek also produced the title. The mastering and mixing was done by Marcin Szwajcer.

The music video, directed by Dawid Ziemba, was released in March 2020.

Music and lyrics

The intro is orchestrated with piano accompaniment and a violin solo before the singer sings the first verse. This is underlaid with strings, which briefly change to a pizzicato in the third line and to a non legato in the pre-chorus . At the beginning of the chorus the drums come in , the use of which is again greatly reduced in the second verse. The second repetition of the refrain leads into the bridge, in which the instrumentation is significantly reduced after the first three lines and, as at the beginning, consists only of piano and string solo. The outro consists of two lines in which the dynamics increase sharply up to a short pause and are dissolved with the last word sung (see "Drop").

According to her own statements, the singer refers to the earth and how it is treated by people in the song . It is about destruction and obsession when people create empires, but they forget what is really important. She also speaks of an eternal cycle of construction and destruction and the question of why this is repeated over and over again. It is time to stop and learn.

At the Eurovision Song Contest

Poland should have performed with this song in the second semifinals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. However, due to the advancing COVID-19 pandemic , the competition was canceled.

reception

The song has been compared many times by critics to a James Bond theme song . According to Irving Wolther, the title corresponds "in structure and appearance to a typical James Bond title song". According to Wiwibloggs , the title is not the most unique, but the lyrics are very important these days. The interpreter's voice was rated positively, but there were slight weaknesses in the live performance. The fansite Eurovisionary came to a similar conclusion , which sees a connection to the COVID-19 pandemic with regard to the subject of the song. ESCXtra rated significantly worse. Not only the preliminary decision was criticized, but also the title, which is only mediocre without the expressive singer.

The music critic Elżbieta Zapendowska is generally positive about the song, but also noted that she thinks it is less unique. She is also of the opinion that the other two performers sang cleaner in the preliminary round.

publication

The title was released as a music stream on February 23, 2020.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b credits. In: TIDAL . Retrieved June 8, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Poland goes with Alicja Szemplińska for Eurovision 2020. In: eurovision.tv. February 23, 2020, accessed on May 28, 2020 .
  3. ↑ ALICJA: Alicja - Empires. In: YouTube . March 10, 2020, accessed June 8, 2020 (Polish).
  4. ^ Alicja - Poland. In: eurovision.tv. Retrieved June 8, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Which country performs in which Eurovision 2020 Semi-Final? In: eurovision.tv. January 28, 2020, accessed March 26, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Eurovision 2020 in Rotterdam is canceled. In: eurovision.tv. March 18, 2020, accessed on March 26, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Dr. Irving Wolther: Alicja Szemplińska would have started for Poland. In: eurovision.de. March 25, 2020, accessed June 9, 2020 .
  8. ^ Robyn Gallagher: Wiwi Jury: Poland's Alicja Szemplinska with “Empires”. In: Wiwibloggs. April 8, 2020, accessed June 9, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Gunec Gulun Yazıcıtunc: Eurovision 2020 entries: Poland - we are discussing Empires by Alicja Szemplińska. In: Eurovisionary. April 25, 2020, accessed on June 9, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Luke Malam: Xtra Insider 2020: We Review Poland! March 17, 2020, accessed June 9, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Bartosz Świderski: "Muszę być mocno krytyczna". Zapendowska oceniła naszą reprezentantkę na Eurowizję. In: naTemat.pl. February 25, 2020, accessed June 10, 2020 (Polish).
  12. ↑ Empires - Single. In: Apple Music . Retrieved June 8, 2020 .