🇵🇱 TES Reviews: Rafał, the Warsaw Tourist Board

The sixth act rehearsing today is Poland, who will be represented by Rafał in this year’s competition with his entry ‘The Ride’.

What did we think of the rehearsal?

Rafał, dressed in a black suit with his trademark sunglasses, opens with four male backing dancers in white suits with lights on the palms of their hands. He grabs the camera and rotates with it as if taking a selfie. The LED background alternates between pink and blue neon grid lines and clips from the music video. At one point, the screen shows “RAFAŁ, THE RIDE” and at another, “WARSZAWA”. Most of the energy comes from the dancers, who Rafał moves with throughout the song, but with less strenuous choreography.

As of the second rehearsal, there seems to be some technical issues with the sound balance and mixing. This may well be fixed, as it didn’t give the best impression of Rafał’s vocals.

Now what did our team think of Poland’s rehearsal?

Rosie: This song is very much a guilty pleasure of mine this year, and this rehearsal seems to have confirmed that. It’s definitely fun, and there’s an energy to it that the song very much needs. I love the use of the lights on the dancers, and the use of the clips from the music video work for me. However, some of it again feels a bit too much, like they had too many ideas and decided just to use all of them. I’m reserving judgement on Rafał’s vocals given the sound issues, but there were some issues there as well. It’s a fun three minutes, but I’m not sure we’ll be seeing it any more than once as part of Eurovision this year.

Rory: For a song with a heavy 80s vibe, I was dead certain this was going to carry onto the live staging. I was proven right. The stage show feels incredibly similar to a version of Space Invaders, but also in a Sweden 2017 stage show. I liked the backdrop, although the constant visual of “RAFAL – THE RIDE” might be a little off-putting.

What do you think of Rafał’s first rehearsal? Let us know in the comments below or at social media. Don’t forget to follow ‘THAT Eurovision Site’ over at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

News Source Credit: EBU/That Eurovision Site

Photo Credit: TVP