Introduction

Before I get down to reviewing Eurovision 2024, the most recent edition of the contest as of this writing and the most controversial in a long time, I’d like to do something silly for a change. I’m going rank every Eurovision year solely by how good their postcards are. In case you didn’t know, the postcards are the little short films that play before each song starts. They’re meant to introduce the next country and contestant, or just show some nice scenery for the viewer to watch, as the commentator tells us about the next song. Some of them succeed in this purpose, some are really dull, and some are just baffling. They were introduced in 1970 because the show needed to fill time due to so many countries skipping, and they’ve been done most years since. If a year post-1970 has no postcards, it automatically goes into the bottom of this list, or I guess the top since I’ll list them worst to best.

I will include every Eurovision contest starting from 1970 in this list, even if it had only haphazard substitutes for postcards. The only year I won’t include is 2020 because it was canceled of course. Now let’s begin!

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No Postcards

Luxembourg 1973: No postcards to be found here; the closest thing is shots of each contestant amidst a rehearsal of their song looking all weird and awkward.

Edinburgh 1972: Sort of like 1973, we have pictures of each contestant projected onto the screen at the start. But at least here, the contestants actually posed for pictures and are amidst singing their songs, so that’s quite a bit better.

Alternatives to Postcards

Paris 1978: Here we have the contestants riding an elevator instead of postcards, which should logically be a better substitute for postcards than the audience shots of 1977, but it’s so boring to watch.

London 1977: This contest has shots of the audience instead of postcards, which is a really boring substitute. At least it gives commentators time to introduce each song, which is obligatory in this era.

Munich 1983: This year wasn’t originally going to have postcards because Marlene Charrell was going to take her sweet time introducing each song in drei Sprachen, three languages, trois langues. But then for the commentators’ sake, we got to read each country’s name in three languages set to 1980’s TV show pause music. I so badly wish the year had actual German postcards, but 2011 made up for it. I’ll make do with jamming to cheesy groovy music, it’s more fun than the two postcard alternatives listed above.

The Hauge 1980: This contest has a presenter introduce each song in the participating country’s own language, which is actually really cool. On the bottom right we have pictures of the contestant, which are a very lazy substitute for postcards.

Awful Postcards

Jerusalem 1999: These are my least favorite Eurovision postcards of all time. Just read the start of Erica’s review, I feel exactly the same way as she does. They’re weird baffling stories that try to put a humorous spin on the Bible but are incredibly unfunny. They also have no consistent style, but rather a weird haphazard mix of live action and animation. These postcards actively weigh down my opinion on the year they’re in, as do all the others in the two lowest categories.

Baku 2012: These postcards aren’t as dismal as those Bible postcards, but they’re irritatingly self-indulgent tourist ads so I can’t rank them any higher. They’re solely “look how great Azerbaijan is” or “here’s all the cool things you can do in Baku”, no care for what’s cool about the other countries or the contestants. They technically tie into the participant countries by having the Baku Crystal Hall flash with each flag’s colors, but even that is just Azerbaijan flaunting its technology.

Bad Postcards

Luxembourg 1984: These are even worse postcards than 1979 because they don’t have anything resembling a consistent theme. They’re these weird baffling half-animated video skits that make no sense. Half of them feel more like acid trips than postcards.

Jerusalem 1979: These postcards have always gotten on my nerves. Apparently Israel when hosting decided it wasn’t important to feature the contestants; instead, they’re these weird mime skits based on stereotypes of the contest. Portuguese people love wine, Finland is cold, Italy has the Leaning Tower of Pisa… I find these postcards really childish.

Underwhelming Postcards

Istanbul 2004: Turkey’s postcards are unfortunately really disappointing. They’re just touristy footage of Turkey, not exciting at all. It’s also worth noting that in the first few Eurovision years to have semifinals (2004 to 2007), we didn’t have specific postcards to each country, so the same entry would get different postcards between the semifinal and final.

Belgrade 2008: These postcards frustrate me because conceptually they’re great—actors in a room form each country’s flag in some way, set to a letter in the country’s language sending greetings from Belgrade. But they manage to flub both parts of these. The flag parts of the postcards are mostly just weird and cryptic, and they shamelessly cheat using visual effects for nearly all of them. And I really wish the letters from Belgrade were typed instead of handwritten, because the handwriting is near unreadable in most of these.

Credit where it’s due, it’s nice that this was the first contest to feature the same postcards between the semifinal and the final. Every contest from this year onwards has postcards tie into the participating countries, even Baku 2012 technically. Still, Eurovision 2008 is more of an acid trip than a song contest, and that includes the postcards. It’s also nice that the host postcard does something different from the rest.

Zagreb 1990: The usual run-of-the-mill showcases of each participant country set to a flag in the background, plus a Eurocat animation at the start. I still don’t like these animations based on national stereotypes, but at least effort went into making them. Weighed down because the flag in the background distracts me.

Dublin 1971: These postcards showcase each participating country like 1970, and don’t deceive you about Monaco and Luxembourg, but they don’t show the contestants which makes them worse. At least they make an effort to showcase what makes each country different.

Malmö 1992: Same old footage of each participant country, nothing special at all. They’re a tad better filmed than those of 1971, and at least the animated character in the intro gives them some life. Still, boring-ass postcards for a boring-ass year.

Copenhagen 2001: These try to be like the storytelling postcards of 2000 by telling stories of daily life in Copenhagen, but without the helpful English text they’re way worse. They try to tie into each participating country and in many such cases it’s unclear how they do, or if they even do. At least Denmark’s postcard at the end is nice because it features everyone from the prior postcards uniting. I like when the host country does something unique for its postcard.

Middling Postcards

The Hague 1976: These feature footage of each contestant exploring their own country, which is good I suppose, but I find it distracting that they’re all surrounded by a circle of flags. They don’t seem to have quite as much effort put into filming as those of 1970 either.

Also, I get an uncanny feeling rewatching the BBC commentary of this contest, because the commentator’s voice sounds almost like Terry Wogan, except he’s British instead of Irish. It’s the classic definition of uncanny valley: something looking (or sounding) almost familiar, but not quite.

Athens 2006: Plain old tourist footage of Greece with no frills, aside from a Greek woman appearing at the start. These have no tie-in to the participating countries whatsoever, so I can’t rate them very high.

Brussels 1987: The bulk of these postcards are unfocused video clips of Belgium that don’t feature the contestants. The part that actually matters is after the songs’ title info, where we get a cute little image of a Belgian comic character greeting each country, and the participant is green screened in. I would’ve liked if the postcards were perhaps comic-themed all the way through.

Lausanne 1989: I want to like these postcards because they show some really cool scenery of Switzerland, but they’re not very well-filmed and the blue border onscreen annoys me. The postcards just don’t do a good job showcasing the contestants, and in some of them you barely even notice that they’re there. They also don’t sync the music with the scenery at all.

Turin 2022: These postcards are unfortunately a bit disappointing. Nicely filmed scenery of Italy, but too much focus on the host country and not enough on the contestants. I wish they showed the contestants more than just projecting a few pictures and videos of them onto buildings.

Dublin 1997: Unfortunately I’m not a big fan of Ireland’s final postcards: they’re just too dark and esoteric. They feature all this weird cryptic technology and don’t feature the contestants until the end, where they explore a room with a bunch of TV sets. I think the industrial theme of this year’s hosting is pretty cool actually, it just doesn’t make for the best postcards.

Kyiv 2005: These are as good as you can get with pure tourist footage postcards, because they really are fun to watch. Great camera angles, a fun variety of background music, and overall a diverse showcase of what all Ukraine has to offer. If Ukraine’s broadcaster had chosen to feature contestants in their postcards, then I’m sure this year would’ve been even more amazing.

Malmö 2024: The most recent postcards as of this writing are as blatantly low-budget as you can get. It’s too bad Sweden didn’t complete the trio of their three biggest cities each getting postcards that tour it—Gothenburg did in 1985, and Stockholm in 2000. But I can see why they wanted to save some money this year.

I’ll save my whole thoughts on this year’s hosting for my review of 2024, so for now, just know that these postcards are… fine enough. I like that they start by showing you where each country is and two notable songs from their Eurovision history, very good for newcomer viewers. Then comes a mosaic of footage of each contestant in their country filmed on cell phones, which is fine enough but the “aww how wholesome” aesthetic can get a bit tiring. And finally, a dramatized shot of each contestant with their name which is also fine enough.

Vienna 2015: I get what these postcards are going for, with each contestant receiving a box in the mail inviting them to Austria at the start, but the first half taking place in the participant country doesn’t work in these postcards’ favor. There’s just not enough time to enjoy the scenery in Austria and the shots feel rushed. And again, these don’t put nearly enough emphasis on the contestants.

Decent Postcards

Stockholm 1975: These postcards are very cute, if a bit unimpressive. They feature the contestants painting themselves and their country’s flag which is a fun gimmick and enjoyable to watch. But they’re also clearly low-budget and one of several ways Sweden’s first hosting feels restrained. I’m perfectly OK with this year’s postcards, but when ranking them I’m afraid they won’t be that high.

Dublin 1995: I get that RTÉ wanted to twist up the postcards for their third year in a row hosting, but these are really just the usual “contestants doing Irish things” but made of small clips that appear side by side on a white background, which I’m not so big a fan of. I prefer when postcards show one video clip at a time. Still, these feature the contestants exploring the host country which is an automatic plus.

Riga 2003: It’s a shame these postcards had to be stop-motion, because I love that they feature the contestants exploring a country that had never hosted before, and they really do show off Latvia well. These are the only postcards to feature the contestants at all from 1999 to 2012. My favorite of the postcards is Alf Poier from Austria exploring a zoo, because it ties in with the song’s theme. I also like the one with Urban Trad from Belgium showing us their instruments.

Malmö 2013: Sweden said NO to self-indulgent postcards this year and instead brought Eurovision postcards back to what they were at the start: the contestants doing things they enjoy in their own countries. These fit the Scandinavian aversion to bragging, I suppose. They’re a little cryptic and murky and don’t always emphasize the contestants well, but I do love that they start and end with a flag-themed butterfly. I will give props to SVT for reminding all other broadcasters from here on out that postcards should always feature the contestants!

Also, skimming this year to rewatch the postcards has reminded me of how many fucking atrocious songs this year has. I did not like being reminded that “Birds” by Dutch J.K. Rowling exists. As I said back when I reviewed 2013, in my heart Greece is the real winner. The only other entry worth listening to is Bulgaria and it didn’t even qualify. “Samo shampioni” is underrated, you guys!

Kyiv 2017: Basically ungimmicky postcards like 2013, but a little better because they start and end with focused shots of each artist. This post has made me realize that I like postcards way more when they have a clever gimmick.

Oslo 2010: Norway went for minimalist postcards this year: shots of the arena set to light effects that form the shape of each country, then a projection of fans cheering for each country’s entry, and finally the flag. They’re not the most exciting postcards, but I’m defendant of them because they do look cool and elegantly flow into the show. That’s what NRK did right when hosting 2010, they made sure the show flowed naturally.

Stockholm 2016: These are similar to the postcards for 2013, but do a better job highlighting the contestants. They do this by all opening with a full body shot of the contestant and featuring plenty of other shots of them. Still very ungimmicky as postcards go. I do love each country’s name getting its own customized logo.

Harrogate 1982: As usual the BBC went ambitious with their postcards, which makes it strange that they eschewed postcards in 1977. The postcards feature clips blatantly recognizable as the participant country, then clips of each contestant in Harrogate. It’s always three clips per postcard, and I like how they’re always tied together by zooming in and out from the flag. I also like the touch of each postcard opening with the country’s national anthem.

Gothenburg 1985: Lovely postcards showcasing lovely Gothenburg, and I quite like the twist that these feature the songwriters instead of the singers. The only thing preventing them from entering the good category is that the exact same 80’s-sounding music plays in every single postcard and it really grates.

Bergen 1986: Norway has the unfair advantage of being an insanely goddamn beautiful country. They can stick whatever footage of their country they want onto their postcards and it’ll look stunning. Then comes a literal postcard with greetings to the participating country, then the participants green-screened onto a scene in Norway.

Birmingham 1998: I’m in two minds about these postcards, because on the one hand, they are thoroughly British and have a clever theme of comparing the past and present of the United Kingdom. It’s also nice that each postcard has a clear theme such as airplanes, fashion, or retail stores. They’re a good showcase of British life and I like that they feature British pop hits in the background.

But on the other hand… while the concept of transitioning into flags is great, in practice most of the transitions are rather forced. Like the Swiss flag appearing in some dude’s eye or Slovenia’s flag appearing in a slot machine. I think the creators of the postcards wanted each flag to occur naturally, but that obviously isn’t possible with the more complex flags, so some of those are handmade instead. 2014 would do the gimmick of flag postcards so much better.

Also, these postcards feature the contestants only as a grayscale picture at the start, which is better than nothing.

Good Postcards

Rome 1991: Even though the hosting of this year is a perfect example of cringe comedy, I’m actually a defendant of this year’s postcards. These are the type of unusual postcards I absolutely like, because they do succeed in introducing the competitors. It’s actually fun to see each contestant singing an Italian song and the animations writing out each contestant’s name and flag are cool. I love how every contestant gets a customized logo of their name. What I’m not so fond of is the Italian landmarks in the background of each song; I feel like the Italian songs should’ve been balanced with a little something from the participant country, beyond just its flag.

The best postcard of 1991 is France’s Amina, because she absolutely nails her Italian song. It foreshadows her amazing singing of “C’est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison”. Agh, why did Sweden have to win the tiebreaker?! France’s song is so much better!!!

Helsinki 2007: Props to Yle (the Finnish broadcaster) for having it in them to film 52 of these things—different ones each for the semifinal and grand final. I love the quirky stories of life in Finland they tell, they feel so incredibly Finnish. But I really wish they either tied into the participating countries, or had an explicitly stated theme like Estonia’s postcards from 2002.

Amsterdam 1970: I have a soft spot for the first ever Eurovision postcards. They’re rough around the edges, but they’re everything postcards should be: the contestants each exploring their own countries and doing something fun. Technically Luxembourg, Monaco, and Switzerland’s contestants were in Paris, but does it really matter? I especially like Yugoslavia’s Eva Sršen throwing snowballs—she looks so full of joy! Even though her song is crap and her voice drives me crazy. The postcards are perhaps a bit too short, but that’s early installment weirdness for you.

(Also, one of few copies of the contest available online is commentated by female Terry Wogan, and I fucking love her.)

Dublin 1981: Ireland led the charge in making the postcards showcase the host country, which I think should be a defining feature of postcards. They feature the contestants exploring Dublin and doing Irish things—not just the singers, but also the composers and songwriters. Props to the postcards for featuring traditional music from each country. They’re exactly what postcards should be, I have no complaints.

Dublin 1988: Exactly like Dublin 1981, but better filmed. It might not seem like a big difference, but quality of filming greatly affects how much I like a year’s postcards. Eurovision 1988 frustrates me because it has such great presenters and a solid presentation style, but the song lineup is godawful.

This is unrelated to postcards, but a friend recently showed me this rehearsal clip where the songwriter stood in for Tommy Körberg singing “Stad i ljus”. And the way Pat Kenny introduced the substitute singer is absolute genius, you have to see it. He clarified the issue while maintaining his sense of humor. That’s how you know this year’s hosts knew what they were doing.

Moscow 2009: The visual pop-out effects on these postcards are so incredibly 2009, it almost feels as though I walked into a time machine. The postcards are intended to showcase a stylized rendition of each country’s landmarks, but honestly I’m too distracted by the crazy visual effects to think “oh, that’s Ireland!” or “that couldn’t be any country but France”. Still, these are fun snappy postcards, ambitious in a distinctly Russian way, and it’s subtly humorous to end with these effects atop a Russian woman. Oh, then we learn a bit of Russian at the end which is also cool.

Knowing Russia, it makes sense that these postcards aren’t a full-blown tour of the country—Moscow and St. Petersburg are the only two cities that foreigners are supposed to care about. But I do wonder how postcards with the contestants touring Moscow would have looked like.

Great Postcards

Tallinn 2002: This is the most I’ll ever like postcards that do not tie into the contestants or countries. They’re incredibly silly stories that combine fairy tales with daily life in Estonia, and do a surprisingly good job showing us what the country is like. I find the few animated postcards to be out of place among the rest, but they still have a great quirky sense of humor.

Stockholm 2000: Contrasting against 1999, SVT made every effort to put on an efficient show that would wow Europe. And one way they did that was with the postcards. They have a clear and consistent theme: a short, easy to understand story of daily life in Stockholm that ends with a tie-in to the participating country. The postcards tell us that you can find a little bit of every European country in Stockholm, which is a great way to tie into the contest’s theme of European unity. Some of these are even quite funny, like the man in his apartment getting annoyed by the Estonian choir, or Sweden admitting they rely on Norway for all their oil.

These postcards are also the first ones to show text in English explaining what they’re about, which is really helpful. There’s plenty of other helpful text like this throughout the show—the text is short and simple, thus easy for the commentators to translate. They’re not necessarily the most wowing postcards, but they’re clever and serve their purpose perfectly. Plus, they end with an elegant flag animation, different for each country.

Lisbon 2018: As someone with an affection for anything Portuguese, this is exactly what I hoped Portugal would do for postcards. The contestants exploring Portugal and doing something Portuguese, nothing more and nothing less. And I don’t mind them all having the same music because the music is so soothing and pleasant. Oh, and there are captions to describe each location! This is the case in every contest from 2018 to 2023.

Excellent Postcards

Brighton 1974: After the last two years didn’t have postcards, I’m glad the BBC decided this year that postcards were essential to Eurovision. The postcards start with footage from each participant country, then feature the contestant being interviewed in Brighton (no audio), then a rehearsal of their song. Sometimes the postcards don’t feature an interview, but rather feature the contestants doing something outdoors in I assume Brighton. I have fond memories of seeing Mouth and MacNeal be total goofballs in their postcard. See, you know a Eurovision year has good postcards when I have something to say about specific ones.

These postcards are a great way to showcase each contestant, which is exactly what postcards should do. The one part I’m not fond of is the rehearsal footage. The postcards are also set to folk songs from each country, like “Hava Nagila” for Israel, that’s really cool! Good on the BBC for making all these innovations this year.

Dublin 1994: Similar to the 1993 postcards, these are a splendid showcase of what all there is to do in Ireland, but they get slight points down for waiting till the end to feature each contestant.

Millstreet 1993: You see, Ireland knows how to do postcards. Same general theme as the last few Irish postcards, but they gradually get better filmed. These really do a good job showing what the Irish like to do, and they put the contestants front and center. Lovely Irish music in the background too. These are the type of postcards that stick in my head even a year after I’ve watched the contest. I still remember Niamh Kavanagh walking across a beach, whatsername from Portugal learning a bit of Irish, and Greece’s Katy Garbi and friends going fishing.

Tel Aviv 2019: Considering I hated the postcards the last two times Israel hosted, this year’s postcards are a real pleasant surprise. The contestants tour every corner of Israel and showcase their dance moves, set to a wide variety of music. They’re some of the ambitious postcards Eurovision has yet seen and I’m surprised Kan was able to afford doing them, since the contest was short on money in so many other respects.

Outstanding Postcards

Oslo 1996: My favorite Eurovision year of the 20th century! The presentation of this year is quirky and innovative, and aims to be as different as possible from Ireland’s hosting the past few years. These postcards come in three parts: the contestant shows off their daily life in their home country, then the usual scenery of Norway which ends once again with the contestant, then a politician wishes the contestant luck. The first portions have a trippy gimmick where the video keeps changing perspective, but I actually find the gimmick fun, I can’t explain why.

What I love about these postcards is that they do a splendid job showcasing the contestants’ interests. They show us that Norway’s Elisabeth Andreassen isn’t just a singer, she’s also a mom who likes to cook. And some of the postcards show what instruments they play, which is also fun. They pack items important to them into a backpack branded after Eurovision 1996. As with 1986, Norway has the advantage of being ridiculously beautiful, but this time they actually show the contestant in Norway, which is great even if it’s just a few seconds. And most of the politician messages are short, but some are quite long and really make me smile.

These postcards aren’t quite as well-filmed as 1993 which I ranked lower, but they’re so fun and innovative that I end up loving them. They scream 1990’s in the most endearing, forward-thinking way.

Düsseldorf 2011: Germany totally redeemed themselves this year after not doing postcards in 1983. These are everything I wanted German postcards to be: a tour of every corner of the country that tells a bunch of different stories, plus a gimmick to tie in to each country. They feature someone each country doing something in Germany that leads to the slogan “Feel Your Heart Beat” in each country’s language, either written or spoken. We have some nice surprises like the car racer seeing the slogan in Swiss German, then Switzerland’s other three languages, or the slogan appearing on sheet music in Finnish.

I also love that the host country’s postcard is essentially a behind-the-scenes look at the contest that ends with a whole crowd shouting the slogan in German. That is the perfect host country postcard.

Rotterdam 2021: My favorite Eurovision year of all time! Yes, this is something I’ve decided now. I still can’t get over how cleverly these postcards work with COVID-19 restrictions. They feature a cute little house digitally projected onto scenery in the Netherlands. In the house, we see items that describe the artist’s interests and biography in a language-neutral way, so that even those watching without commentary can learn a bit about the artist. Then we see a holographic projection of the artist, and I don’t mind that it’s so short. The trio of Dutch broadcasters decided that showcasing the contestant and showcasing the host country are both essential to postcards, and I completely agree.

One of my favorite postcards in 2021 is Italy’s because it’s quite different from the rest. While other postcards feature the contestants’ side hobbies, this one has nothing but musical equipment, which shows us there’s nothing else Måneskin love even half as much as making rock music. I also like Switzerland’s postcard which tells the story of how Gjon’s Tears got his stage name.

Absolute Peak Postcards

Copenhagen 2014: Now this year is very close to having my favorite postcards of all time! This year’s postcards feature the contestants doing something they like in their host countries like 2013, but with a twist that makes them ten times better: their end goal is to create their countries’ flags and take a picture. These are flag postcards done to perfection: every single one of them has something interesting to talk about, as Erica’s review of the year proves. Not just that, they’re also exceptionally well-filmed and do a spectacular job highlighting the contestants’ interests. Some of my favorites include:

• The guy and girl from Estonia building their flag out of shipping containers using cranes; it’s over-the-top in the best way.
• Cristina Scarlet assembling the Moldovan flag out of pottery—incredibly creative and I love that she carves the coat of arms into the yellow pot! Great way to handle postcards with coats of arms.
• Teo from Belarus assembling his flag out of hundreds of hockey pucks. The absolute dedication!
• Carl Espen polishing and painting a window frame into the Norwegian flag—great way to work with the flag’s shape. He really does work as a craftsman, according to Graham Norton.
• Aram Mp3’s handmade Armenian flag, each stripe made out of a different material.
• Tinkara Kovač building the Slovenian flag out of books from a university library. Now I want to go to a library and build a flag out of books, it seems like a fun therapeutic thing to do. I also like that she sticks one of the blue books out a bit to make way for the coat of arms.
• The guys from Softengine making the Finnish flag out of ice. I still wonder where they got the blue from!
• The guys from Denmark painting the ground red and white so that their flag looks like a rectangle from the correct angle, then adding painted furniture on top of that. How exactly did they get it just right, I wonder? Did they use 3D modeling software? Or perhaps did they use shadows of buildings as reference?
• The Common Linnets making their flag out of tulips while riding a canal, it’s so perfectly Dutch. Though I’m biased because I am obsessed with “Calm After the Storm”.
• And of course, Molly from the UK directing a bunch of double decker buses and people in blue raincoats to form the Union Jack. Graham Norton was right to hype this one up!

These postcards are absolute delight and I love that they all squeeze the formation of a flag into 40 seconds. I also love that every single contestant plays their own part into making the flag one way or another. The short films invite viewers to ask questions about how exactly each one was possible. The postcards are also clever with when to include sound and when not; for instance, they include Cleo from Poland singing to make a waveform, or the girls from Ireland laughing when they get a balloon in the wrong spot. And the fact that these postcards also show us a location in each country on top of that… god, I fucking love these postcards.

Liverpool 2023: Now these are my favorite Eurovision postcards of all time! I may be a bit biased because this is the first Eurovision year I ever watched live, but I really do think these are the perfect postcards. I finished reviewing the year just a few days ago, so I’ll copy the thoughts from my review:

And the postcards, oh my god, the amazing fucking postcards. Those are the absolute perfect Eurovision postcards. Each postcard showcases three countries at once by pointing out something they have in common, then show us each contestant’s personality and interests. Some contestants look like loads of fun to be around, while others are more of the “yeah… dude…” type. And they all look like they’re having fun in their postcards! These little films tie in perfectly to the slogan “United by Music”, which is such a good Eurovision slogan that I perfectly understand its permanent adoption. They show us that the United Kingdom and Ukraine, two countries from opposing halves of Europe, have a lot more in common than you might think, and they all have something in common with each participating country. The British portions showcase every corner of the country—five in Wales, three each in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the rest in England—whereas the Ukrainian parts focus mainly on Kyiv and Lviv and avoid the eastern portions due to the war.

These postcards do a marvelous job fitting three countries into 40 seconds and I love the camera work plus the spherical effects that start and end each one. These postcards show us that Alessandra from Norway loves to laugh and smile, Voyager from Australia like to go on crazy outdoor adventures, Joker Out from Slovenia are a bunch of guys who like to party, Loreen is introverted and takes pleasure out of meditation, and so much more. These are the type of postcards that stick in your head long after you watch the contest, or at least they did for me.

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Conclusion

This was a very silly and pointless post, but I hope you had fun reading it anyway. Writing this post made me realize that more often than not, I have a gripe or two with Eurovision postcards, but that may be because those of 2023 were so damn great.