NPO, the Dutch  national broadcaster, has unveiled the concept behind the 2020 Eurovision postcards.

Every year, Eurovision fans look forward to the presentation postcards which precede each country’s performance during the live ESC shows. Throughout the years we have witnessed various different styles of presentation postcards showcasing artists in the host country or in their homeland, showcasing the host country’s hot spots and main attractions, depicting the host country’s culture and traditions etc…

As the Netherlands, the 2020 ESC Committe wants the artists of the Eurovision Song Contest to get to know the Dutch people and experience along with them their activities, traditions and hobbies that are characteristic of the Netherlands. Thus this will be the concept behind the 2020 Eurovision postcards!

For each of the 41 postcards the ESC 2020 Committee are looking for a group, street, club or association that wants to receive one of the artists and let them participate in their activity, hobby, sport or tradition. Whether that is a game of football, an afternoon skating in the skate park, building a carnival carriage, a bingo evening, a workshop baking pies or a sailing trip…

What will be the concept?

Artists and delegations from 41 countries will travel to the Netherlands in order to film their respective postcards. Each country will film its postcard in a different location in the Netherlands.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 Organizing Body calls on the people of the Netherlands to welcome one of the 41 participants in their street, sports club, group, community or association. This special call has everything to do with the postcards, the short introduction films with which the participants are traditionally introduced.

Sietse Bakker ( Eurovision 2020 Executive Producer Even)t says:

We consciously chose to show the best of the Netherlands during postcards: the people and their hospitality, in all their diversity.

Dutch people often meet each other through hobbies, activities, traditions and communities.

From the street barbecue, the carnival organizations, fraternities to to  football clubs, choirs to break dance groups  – we do it together.

During the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 we want to show that to 180 million viewers. With the theme of Open Up as a common thread, we want show the positive, connecting force that suits our country.

Each artist will experience his/her own unique piece of the Netherlands prior to the Eurovision Song Contest, by partaking in a Dutch activity, tradition or hobby. This will form the concept of the videos – the so-called postcards – which, entirely in the tradition of the Contest, introduce the performances of the artists during the Semi-Finals and the Grand Final.

The exact look and feel of the postcards will be kept under wraps until further notice. Bakker gives us a hint:

This time we opt for a different interpretation than the often more tourist impressions presented by the Host Country during the Eurovision Song Contest.

The 2020 Eurovision postcards will be filmed in the Netherlands next March and April, and will be IDTV.

Dutch people wishing to take part in the postcards can apply here.

 

 

 

 

A window to the world

Hosting the Eurovision Song Contest is an extraordinary window for the host city and country to showcase themselves globally. Next May all eyes will be set on Rotterdam and the Netherlands during the 2 Eurovision weeks when  41 delegations will land in the port city along with the whole Eurovision bandwagon.

The presentation postcards serve as a massive platform for the host country to promote its tourism and showcase itself on a global scale as millions of viewers tune in to watch Europe’s favorite television show. The Eurovision Song Contest reaches households beyond Europe, from Australia to Argentina, from China to New Zealand, from USA to India etc.

The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 12, 14 and 16 May at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.