The pre-song postcards were introduced at the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 in Amsterdam to introduce each participating country and artist. They were introduced to "waste time" during the contest due to the low number of entrants. In later years, their purpose expanded to allow sufficient time for backstage crew to prepare for the next performance, such as stage cleaning or assembling of props.
The postcards showcased different aspects over the years: many featured scenes of local life or different points of interest around the host country, others featured the artists in various scenarios. Some even had a humorous tone at each country's expense as shown in the 1979 and 1984 postcards. The 1978 contest did not have the inter-song postcards (various shots of the artists backstage were used to introduce the performances), and in the 1980 contest, each country was introduced by a representative speaking in their native language.
| Year | Format |
|---|---|
| 1991 | The postcards featured each artist singing a portion of a well-known Italian song before their performance as landmarks and graphics that best fit each artist's personality are added behind. |
| 2008 | The postcards centered on ordinary individuals creating the flag of the participating countries, with some using paint as the base material. During the process, a short letter is scribbled on the foreground in the respective languages (with the exception of Serbia's, where it contained "Welcome to Belgrade" or "Welcome to Serbia" in several languages). |
| 2009 | Each postcard featured the appearance of Ksenia Sukhinova, a Russian model who was crowned Miss World 2008. It then transitioned to a display of landmarks of the participating country in the form of a pop-up book. Selected landmarks would finally be displayed on top of Sukhinova's head, who would appear with unique hairstyles and make-up, wearing a shirt bearing the colors of the national flag. |
| 2011 | The postcards displayed a notable location in Germany using tilt-shift photography. Each postcard showcased the life of ordinary citizens from the participating countries who are living in or visiting Germany (with the exception of Germany itself where it features the majority of the show's production crew). Each of these citizens would then announce the edition's slogan "Feel your heart beat" in their respective languages, or display it in written form. |
| 2012 | The postcards showcased various locations around Azerbaijan and its activities in which they are known for, complimented with traditional music. After the end of the postcard, the screen transitioned to a live view of the Baku Crystal Hall, displaying the national flag on its exterior. |
Artist Focus
Since 2013, the postcards increased their focus on the artists and shifted away from life in the host country, with the intention of "connecting the host city with Europe, and the viewers with the artists between each song".[1]
| Year | Format |
|---|---|
| 2013 | The postcards showcased the life of each artist in their own countries, as a butterfly adorning the colors of their national flag fly by. |
| 2014 | The postcards featured each performer in their home country using creative means to replicate their nation's flag. The ideas ranged from using ice (Finland), candy (Germany), clothes (Austria) and dominoes (Switzerland) to big ideas like creating the United Kingdom flag out of mail trucks, double-decker buses and actual people. The artist then takes a picture of their flag creation. |
| 2015 | The postcards consist of two parts: The first part consisting of each of the participants receiving a mystery package from Vienna in their own countries which contained a single object. The recipient then participated in an activity somewhere around Austria related to the object in the package (for example, Switzerland's Mélanie René received a hockey puck in her package, so her activity was playing hockey with a group of players in Weissensee). At the end, a still photo of the artist and the group they are with is superimposed onto billboards, bus shelters and posters around Vienna. |
| 2016 | The postcards told the stories of a day in the personal and professional lives of each artist in their own countries, as stylized names of their countries are displayed and dandelions in their national colors fly. |
| 2017 | The postcards start off with each artist doing the Mannequin Challenge in a tunnel followed by “flashbacks” of the singers being themselves and preparing for the contest in their host country, ending with the artists proceeding to walk on stage. |
| 2018 | The postcards featured the artist(s) going to various locales across Portugal and engaging in various local activities, ending with them posting a selfie with the edition's official hashtag "#allaboard" displayed onscreen, followed with a display of the name of the country, song and other data amidst a background of underwater plants displaying the colors of the competing nation. |
| 2019 | The postcards featured the artists walking around various locales in Israel, pressing an imaginary play button (a wireframe triangle made of light), leading them into a dance-off with local dancers, before casting another triangle onto the screen and into the arena, where it joins an array of triangles hovering over the stage forming the flag of the participating nation. Many acts posted from their postcard filming when recording. |
| 2021 | The postcards were filmed in the format of a "tiny house" located in various locations around the Netherlands. Each house contained items that personally connected to each of the artists. Owing to travel restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the artists appear in these tiny houses via chroma keying, filmed from their respective countries. A white light then hits the corner of the house, refracts and becomes the colors of each country's flag, which then travels to the venue and lights up around the stage prior to each performance. |
| 2022 | The postcards featured Leo the Drone flying in various locations around Italy. Similar to the 2021 postcards, artists are filmed from their respective countries, with their appearances projected onto natural or man-made structures. |
Postcard Examples
References
- ↑ Eurovision Song Contest 2013: The postcards. ESCToday (19 February 2013).
