Pre-Eurovision Song Contests
Why Neon?
When Neon was first used in the beginning of the 20th century, it became a great attraction in the world of show business and advertising. Thin pipes filled with Helium, which could be bent after heating. They could be used to create Shapes, letters, stars, flowers etc. It was also possible to fill them up with other gas illuminating of different colors to create a rich and colorful outcome.
These features opened up many opportunities for designers working in the arts, signage and advertising fields. The neon light has an addition upside which enriches its use options – its ability to be seen from afar, especially at night.
As a designer in the Israeli Television, I first used neon for the stage design of the pre-Eurovision music contest which took place at the Jerusalem Theater in 1982: I designed 4 columns carrying flowers made of colorful neon, each flower in a different color. The columns moved on stage inside tunnels (to hide the joints) from two opposite directions – from the right and from the left.
I used the same technique with neon when I designed another pre-Eurovision music contest which took place at the “National Building” (Binyaney Ha’uma)
in Jerusalem in 1991.