This year Poland has chosen Ochman as its representative on Eurovision 2022 that will take place in Turin this month with the song “River”. But who is Ochman? In this article you will have the opportunity to know more about Poland’s singer for Eurovision 2022.
About Ochman
Krystian Ochman was born in Melrose (Massachusetts) on 19 July 1999. His Polish parents emigrated to the United States when they were young, and from an early age he had a passion for sports, as his dream was to become a football player. However, he adopted a passion for music thanks to his father, who is a member of the band Róże Europy and his grandfather who is an opera singer.
In 2020 he decided to take part in the eleventh edition of The Voice of Poland, joined the team of fellow Eurovisionist Michał Szpak and advanced through all stages of the TV show with ease thanks to his incredible melodic voice with operatic touches. In the end, the Polish public named him the winner of this edition, succeeding the previous winner Alicja Szemplińska who would have been the representative in Eurovision 2020.
In 2021 Ochman participated in the most important festival in Poland, the National Polish Song Festival in Opole with the song Prometheusz and managed to win its 58th edition. In the same year, Ochman released his first album of the same name and continues to enjoy great success.
River is the song Krystian Ochman submitted to ‘Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizje’ and since its release it became one of the favourites to win. He finally got the support of the jury and the televote and won the pre-selection, beating Daria and Unmute in the final round.
River is a midtempo song that follows the essence of the Polish singer who mixes his passion for opera with modern sounds. It is composed entirely in English by Adam Wisniewski, Ashley Hicklin, Mikolaj Trybulec and Ochman himself.
Lyrics
Gonna take my body down
Right down, down, down to the river
Gonna take my body down
Let the water carry me away
Just float away
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Bury all of my things
Bury me in my skin
All that I’ve done
Oh Lord, I’m done
Who’d wanna be a king
Pulling too many strings?
All that I’ve done
Oh Lord, I’m done
(Oh) Carry me away
I’ll float away (Oh)
In the river
Gonna lay my head right down
Right now, now, now and forever
Gonna lay my head right down
Let the water carry me away
Just float away
Bury all of my things
Bury me in my skin
All that I’ve done
Oh Lord, I’m done
Who’d wanna be a king
Pulling too many strings?
All that I’ve done
Oh Lord, I’m done
(Oh) Carry me away
I’ll float away (Oh)
In the river, oh-oh
In the river, oh-oh
In the river, oh, yеah
Bury all of my things
Bury me in my skin
All that I’ve done
Oh Lord, I’m donе
Who’d wanna be a king
Pulling too many strings?
All that I’ve done
Oh Lord, I’m done
(Oh)
Gonna take my body down
Right down, down, down to the river
Poland in Eurovision
Poland joined the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. Poland finished second in its debut year, which to date, remains the best placing for the country with Edyta Górniak finishing second.
The country reached the top ten for the second time with Ich Troje finishing seventh in 2003. Poland then failed to qualify from the semi-finals in six out of seven years between 2005 and 2011, before withdrawing from the contest in 2012 and 2013 and returning in 2014.
The Eurovision Song Contest remains a popular event in Poland and, in 2016, the country won Eurovision Young Musicians. In 2017 Poland won Eurovision Young Dancers for the second time in a row. In 2018 and 2019, the country also won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.