The pre-song postcards are a series of short clips that introduce each participating country and artist. First introduced at the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 in Amsterdam, they were initially served as a continuity 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 disassembling props from the last act, stage cleaning, and assembling of props for the following act.
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 |
|---|---|
| 1975 | Each participant painted a self-portrait of themselves with their flag. |
| 1987 | The postcards featured short films depicting Belgian life and culture. At the end, each artist was superimposed into a comic panel drawn by a well-known Belgian cartoonist sending greetings back to their home country in their native language. |
| 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. |
| 2004 to 2007 | The postcards featured shots from the host countries (Turkey, Ukraine, Greece, and Finland) depicting tourist landmarks, local culture, everyday activities, or behind-the-scenes footage. These contests featured different postcards for each entry in both the semi-final and the grand final shows. Additionally, a woman appeared in the 2004 and the 2006 postcards, each appearing at the end showing the performing country (2004) and at the beginning as an introduction to the postcards (2006). |
| 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 in 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). This is the first contest in the semi-final era to feature the same postcards for each entry in the semi-finals or the grand final. |
| 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 (2003 and 2010 are also considered in this category), 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]
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| 2003 | The postcards feature stop-motion shots of each performer touring Latvian landmarks and tourist attractions (or sometimes behind-the-scenes shots of the performer) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | A trail of light would fly over the auditorium and create the shape of each country, then footage of each artist waiting backstage to perform would be shown. Back in the auditorium, the flag would change into a screen where a group of people in a major city of that particular country would be shown celebrating in their own way. The light trail would then rearrange itself into the country's flag before vanishing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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.
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| 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. 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.
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| 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.
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| 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Inspired by the "United by Music" theme, the postcards started with a scene in a location in Ukraine, followed by a similar location in the United Kingdom. It would then move to a location in the artist's home country, participating in an activity of their choosing.
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| 2024 | The postcards begin with a map projection of Europe, where a ray of light travels from Malmö to the respective countries. Two past entries are shown from the country in order of the year they competed. Next, the postcard transitions to the country where each participant introduce themselves through a "selfie mode", complimented with a video montage of the participant carrying out various activities, along with shots of daily life in the country. Finally, the participant strike poses at the end of the postcard, with their names displayed on the foreground. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Each artist reaches into a mailbox where a postcard is waiting for them with an image of a location in Switzerland. The action then focuses on the artist in the location depicted on their postcard participating in activity with a Swiss local before striking a pose in their own style. |
Postcard Examples[]
Postcard of Switzerland - Eurovision 2021
2021 - Switzerland
All 15 Postcards from the First Semi-Final - Eurovision 2024 - -UnitedByMusic 🇸🇪
2024 - Semifinal 1
All 16 Postcards from the Second Semi-Final - Eurovision 2024 - -UnitedByMusic 🇸🇪
2024 - Semifinal 2
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ Eurovision Song Contest 2013: The postcards. ESCToday (19 February 2013).