LUkman Andi Uleng from Australia is taking us on a journey about Eurovision postcards and highlights the 10 years he likes most.
Oh Postcards, such an important part that make up the show of Eurovision but not talked about so much. For those unsure of what postcards are, they are the short videoclips played before a song is performed, you know during that messy time when artists get off the stage and the next ones come on and set up. The first video postcards were introduced in 1970 and before that the hosts usually did the job of presenting the next act. Throughout the years each edition had their own take on how to creatively tackle it. Some used it as a chance to promote the local tourism industry of the host country, while others focused on the artists themselves. Since watching my first Eurovision Song Contest on tv in 2001 I always keep an eye out on the postcards to see what they are like and below is a top ten list of my favourite postcards throughout the whole editions. I’m taking into consideration of the common theme, and of course my personal tastes.
#10. Jerusalem, Israel (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez3cHLz0jaM
In the 1979 contest they decided to go for humour in the postcards. They consisted of illustrations as backdrops but the characters were live motion. The characters represented stereotypical aspects of the participating country, for example a moving Greek statue to represent Greece, tourists posing in front of the leaning tower of Pisa to represent Italy and Vikings to represent Norway. They were fun, entertaining with a bit of a cringe factor.
#9. Belgrade, Serbia (2008)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJGMS1plL2o
Serbia finally got the chance to host the song contest in 2008 and their postcards were literally postcards. Before each country the postcards featured people who created the contestant’s national flag in creative ways. Rhythmic dancers made the Czech flag with their ribbons and body movements, Finland’s flag was created by ice hockey player’s skating marks and Turkey’s flag was created by fruit kabobs. The postcards were overlaid by written text in their respective nation’s language finished off by a stamp with the contest logo.
#8. Rome, Italy (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cXxHtbdX2Y
In 1991, the Italians had a chance to host the event again and in their postcards they made the contestants sing a song in Italian. I thought this was a great way to connect the contestants with the host nation’s culture and also showed off their singing skills. They also featured a photo of a Rome attraction, other pictures (e.g. flowers, cats, statues) and of course the national flag in waving motion.
#7. Stockholm, Sweden (1975)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lMhHcsWy64
Contestants of the 1975 edition in Stockholm made the singers paint a picture of themselves and also the national flag. It was a fun and creative approach when their artistic abilities and a bit of their personalities were shown. I’m still deciding if this was a fun experience for the contestants, or if it was torture for the less artistic ones, either way I’m entertained.
#6. Düsseldorf, Germany (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_N6zk4wxT0
Organisers decided to take viewers around to the different places around Germany featuring locals residing there who come from a competing country. They made them say the slogan: “Feel you heartbeat” in their native language but some postcards were a bit more creative such as the stars spelling out the slogan in the Bulgarian postcard. This style was not only a tourism advert but connected Germany with the competing nations.
#5. Tallinn, Estonia (2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRDUnlXmLls
The theme was “A Modern Fairytale” and they extended that theme to the postcards. Each country was introduced by a “short film” rather than the typical Eurovision postcard which took on a creative twist on a fairytale or folk tale and applied it to a fact about Estonia. Most of them were live action but some were animations which made them interesting and unique. These postcards showed the creativity and sense of humour of the Estonian people as well as promoting the nation’s greatest and some of the quirkiest qualities.
#4. Jerusalem, Israel (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os84IS9XH00
Jerusalem had another chance to host Eurovision and are similar to the postcards at the 2002 Eurovision discussed above it showed stories but this time they were from Abrahamic religious texts. The postcards started off with a framed still image of the animation, the animation itself representing the tale then by live action scenes which related to modern Israel. Stories include Adam & Eve, Jacob’s Ladder and the Basket of Moses.
#3. Copehagen, Denmark (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR5_yCtdujk
I’m a huge fan of flags, and in 2014 the postcards consisted of the artists recreating their national flag in various creative ways. Estonia made their flag by putting shipping containers on top of each other, Romania used fireworks to get the flag in the reflection of the water and Switzerland used dominoes. It was great to see the contestants show pride in their work and their national flags.
#2. Vienna, Austria (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDnMvkE0rWE
For many editions postcards were usually made up of tourism clips. I’m all for promotion of the country, but if no thought was put into the concept and it’s just a mishmash collection of city views, beaches or whatever it seems like a lost opportunity to do something creative. In general I think the most effective postcards are ones that take into account the competing nation and perhaps the host nation too, an insight to the singer’s personality, and of course be aesthetically pleasing and entertaining. When Vienna hosted in 2015, they included all those aspects. At the beginning of the postcard the participant in their country receiving a parcel and inviting them to do an Austrian tourism activity, which they do later (having tonnes of Austria-tastic fun!
#1. Moscow, Russia (2009)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlYHvXa8qrQ
As someone who appreciates graphic design and landmarks, Moscow’s Eurovision postcards from 2009 are my favourite. Ksenyia Sukhinova (former Miss Russia and Miss World) became the face of the Eurovision event in Moscow, appearing in the postcards. Kseniya wore different makeup styles, various wigs, singlet graphic designs to represent a country’s style. Dynamic images of the different country landmarks, patterns and hipsters doing cool things on top of her head seemed pretty innovative and oozing with a lot of style.
So there you go, these were a list of my favourite postcards from Eurovision history. I was originally going to give a dishonourable mention, but I thought I’d be nice and just make this a purely positive list. Please keep in mind these are all my own personal choices and feel free to make a list of your own. I can’t wait to see what Kyiv decides to come up with, I really hope for something that reflects Ukrainian heritage but at the same time somehow connects with the participants and something out of the box!