This year marks the fifth appearance of Poland at Junior Eurovision, although for fans who have only recently started watching the contest, it may feel like less. Their first appearance was in the debut year of the contest, and then they also participated in 2004 with both attempts resulting in a last place finish. The nation made their return in 2016 with more success, with their best result being 2017 with 8th place. This year it will be Roksana Węgiel to represent Poland with the song Anyone I Want to Be, but will she be the winner of this year’s contest?
In true Eurovision style, the Polish entry has had rave reviews and quite a bit of hype. Unlike the usual hyped entry, this entry has been backed mostly by the Poles themselves. Luckily for the sake of an objective review, I am not Polish myself, and I can safely say that some of the hype around this entry is unjustified.
Before I cop the outrage for that comment, I do think that this is a strong entry from Poland, and perhaps the best we have seen since their return. Although the two previous entries were good ballads, they didn’t stand out from the group whereas this song has the potential to stand out, especially being the closing song of the show, plus being an upbeat song in a year with a fair few ballads.
The song itself is contemporary and catchy, and the mix of languages is done quite well. The English chorus has been stuck in my head a few times now, but overall the song doesn’t grab me like some of the other entries this year. I think the thing that puts me off this song is the fact that to some degree, I don’t think her voice suits this style of song. She has a great voice, I can’t argue that, but there’s something about this rigid melody that doesn’t mix well, at least to my ears.
Despite that, I think this has enough appeal to be able to fit somewhere in the Top 10. Personally it doesn’t quite fit into my Top 10, but a strong vocal performance with a late running order position and a big fan following is a combination bound to succeed.
For me, it’s a 7/10.
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