- Dates – Grand Final: Thursday, 24 May 1956 – 21:00 CET
- Host – Venue & Location: Teatro Kursaal (Casinò Lugano), Lugano, 🇨🇭Switzerland
- Presenter (s): Lohengrin Filipello
- Musical Director: Fernando Paggi
- Director: Franco Marazzi
- Executive Producer: Rolf Liebermann
- Multicamera Director: Franco Marazzi
- Host Broadcaster: Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI) – Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR)
- Interval Act: Les Joyeux Rossignols & Les Trois Ménestrels
- Participants – Number of entries: 14 (Seven countries represented by two songs each)
- Debuting countries: All [🇧🇪 Belgium (1ª), 🇫🇷 France (1ª), 🇩🇪 Germany (1ª), 🇮🇹 Italy (1ª), 🇱🇺 Luxembourg (1ª), 🇳🇱 The Netherlands (1ª), 🇨🇭Switzerland (1ª)]
- Return: —
- Non-returning countries: —
- Vote – Voting system: Two-member juries from each country; each juror scored each song between 1 and 10. The scores of the voting have never been made public, leaving room for lots of speculation. Attempts to reconstruct the voting by interviewing jury members over the following five decades did not lead to any reliable outcome. The Italian newspaper La Stampa reported that Switzerland received 102 points, but this has not been confirmed and is not made official.
- Nil Points: —
- Winning song: 🏆 “Refrain” – Lys Assia –🇨🇭Switzerland (1ª)
About – Overview. The very first Eurovision Song Contest took place in the Swiss lakeside city of Lugano in May 1956, marking the beginning of what would become a beloved European tradition.
Inspired by Italy’s Festival di Sanremo, the idea for a continent-wide songwriting competition was born at a meeting of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in Monaco the previous year.
The first edition was very different from the spectacle we know today: groups were not permitted to enter; songs couldn’t be longer than three-and-a-half minutes; each performance was accompanied by a 24-piece orchestra; and each of the seven participating broadcasters were asked to submit two songs, performed by either the same or different artists.
Every country sent two jury members to Lugano to cast their votes in secret. When Luxembourg’s jurors were unable to attend, Swiss representatives voted on their behalf.
Unusually, juries were allowed to vote for their own entries, and as the final results were never made public, speculation about how close the scores could have been has continued for decades.
The winner, now known as the ‘grand dame of Eurovision’, Lys Assia, performed both of Switzerland’s songs – the German language Das Alte Karussell (‘The Old Carousel’) and her winning entry, the French-language ballad Refrain.
⭐ The Eurovision Song Contest 1956, originally titled the Gran premio Eurovisione 1956 della canzone europea (English: Grand Prix of the Eurovision song competition 1956; French: Grand prix Eurovision 1956 de la chanson européenne), was the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 24 May 1956 at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland, and presented by Lohengrin Filipello. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio svizzera italiana (RSI) on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR). It is the only time that the contest has been hosted by a solo male presenter.
Inspired principally by the Italian Sanremo Music Festival, held annually since 1951, the concept of a televised European song contest, initially proposed by Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), was formulated by an EBU committee led by Swiss broadcaster and executive Marcel Bezençon. Following approval at the EBU’s General Assembly in 1955, the rules and structure of the contest were agreed upon. Several of the rules utilised in this first contest would subsequently be altered for future editions, and it remains the only edition in which each country was represented by two songs, with a voting process which was held in secret and where juries could vote for the entries from their own country.
Broadcasters from seven countries participated in the inaugural edition of the contest, and the first winner was the host country Switzerland, with the song “Refrain” performed by Lys Assia. The result was determined by an assembled jury composed of two jurors from each country, with each juror giving each song a score between one and ten. Only the winning country and song were announced at the conclusion of the event, with the results of the remaining participants unknown. Even though it was broadcast on television via the Eurovision network and radio in more than ten countries, no video footage of the event is known to exist, with the only video available being of the reprise performance; the majority of the broadcast is, however, available in audio.
Missed participation:
• 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: “Ev’rybody falls in love with someone” (English) – Denis Lotis & The Keynotes / “Little Ship” (English) – Shirley Abicair. Three more countries, Austria, Denmark, and United Kingdom were also expected to take part in the contest, but they missed the submission deadline and therefore could not take part. The BBC’s Festival of British Popular Song, which had been intended to choose the United Kingdom entry, was in the end not held until after the Eurovision contest.
Participation map
Blue – Participating countries
ESC 1956 Scoreboard Ι Detailed voting results*:
* The scores of the voting have never been made public, leaving room for lots of speculation. Attempts to reconstruct the voting by interviewing jury members over the following five decades did not lead to any reliable outcome.
1.Origins. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was formed in 1950 among 23 organisations with the aim of facilitating creative cooperation and the exchange of television programmes.
The word “Eurovision” was first used as a telecommunications term in the United Kingdom in 1951, in reference to a programme by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) being relayed by Dutch television, and was subsequently used as the title for the union’s new transmission network upon its creation in 1954.
Following the formation of the EBU, a number of notable events were transmitted through its networks in several European countries, including Belgium, France, West Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A series of international exchange programmes were subsequently organised for 1954, with this “European Television Season” relayed live across Europe through the Eurovision network.
Following this series of transmissions, a “Programme Committee” was set up within the EBU to investigate new initiatives for cooperation between broadcasters each year, with Marcel Bezençon of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) serving as the committee’s first president. This committee agreed to study the concept for a new televised European song contest during a meeting in January 1955, a concept initially proposed by the Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) and inspired by its both the Sanremo Music Festival, held annually since 1951, and the Venice International Song Festival held in 1955. The new European contest was subsequently approved at the EBU’s annual General Assembly in October 1955, leading to the creation of the European Grand Prix.
Teatro Kursaal, Lugano – host venue of the 1956 contest
2.Location. The first Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, Switzerland, following an offer by the SRG SSR to stage the event at the EBU’s General Assembly in October 1955.
In addition, Switzerland was a logical choice from a technical perspective for the hosting of what was a live, simultaneous, cross-border transmission, as its geographically central location in Europe facilitated terrestrial broadcasts across the continent, as well as being the location of the EBU’s headquarters.
The selected venue for the contest was the Teatro Kursaal, a casino and former theatre situated on Lake Lugano. It had a capacity of 700 seats. 400 seats in the stalls were reserved for invited guests whereas tickets for the balcony were on sale from 17 May 1956 for CHF 20.
The theatre, used for theatrical and musical performances, ballroom dance and other shows, closed shortly after featuring its last performance in April 1997 before being demolished in 2001 to make room for the extension of the casino.
Marcel Bezençon (pictured in 1980) was instrumental in the creation of the contest as president of the EBU’s Programme Committee.
3.Participants – Participating countries. Broadcasters from seven countries participated in this first contest – Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and West Germany (identified simply as “Germany” in the contest). Those from Austria and Denmark are believed to have also been interested in participating; however, they reportedly missed the cut-off point for entry.[3][19] These two, as well as the BBC in the United Kingdom, would broadcast the contest along with those in the participating countries, with the BBC having chosen to not send an entry for this event in favour of organising its own contest, the Festival of British Popular Songs.
Two of the performers, Switzerland’s Lys Assia and Luxembourg’s Michèle Arnaud, performed both entries for their respective countries. Assia, as well as the Netherlands’ Corry Brokken and Belgium’s Fud Leclerc, would return to compete in the contest in future editions, with Assia returning in 1957 and 1958, Brokken also returning in 1957 and 1958, and Leclerc returning in 1958, 1960, and 1962.
| Country | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) | Conductor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Belgium |
INR | Fud Leclerc | “Messieurs les noyés de la Seine“ | French |
Jean Miret, Robert Montal, Jack Say |
Léo Souris |
| Mony Marc | “Le Plus Beau Jour de ma vie“ | French |
Claude Alix, David Bee |
|||
 France |
RTF | Mathé Altéry | “Le Temps perdu“ | French |
André Lodge, Rachèle Thoreau |
Franck Pourcel |
| Dany Dauberson | “Il est là“ | French | Simone Vallauris | |||
 Germany |
NWRV [b] | Freddy Quinn | “So geht das jede Nacht“ | German |
Peter Moesser, Lotar Olias |
Fernando Paggi |
| Walter Andreas Schwarz | “Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück“[c] | German | Walter Andreas Schwarz | |||
 Italy |
RAI | Franca Raimondi | “Aprite le finestre“ | Italian |
Virgilio Panzuti, Pino Perotti |
Gian Stellari |
| Tonina Torrielli | “Amami se vuoi“ | Italian |
Vittorio Mascheroni, Mario Panzeri |
|||
 Luxembourg |
CLT | Michèle Arnaud | “Les Amants de minuit“ | French |
Pierre Lambry, Simone Laurencin |
Jacques Lasry |
| “Ne crois pas“ | French | Christian Guittreau | ||||
 Netherlands |
NTS | Corry Brokken | “Voorgoed voorbij“ | Dutch | Jelle de Vries | Fernando Paggi [d] |
| Jetty Paerl | “De vogels van Holland“ | Dutch |
Cor Lemaire, Annie M.G. Schmidt |
|||
 Switzerland |
SRG SSR | Lys Assia | “Das alte Karussell“ | German | Georg Betz-Stahl | Fernando Paggi |
| “Refrain“ | French |
Émile Gardaz, Géo Voumard |
3.1.Eurovision Song Contest 1956 – Participation summaries by country. All the national selections for Eurovision Song Contest 1956:
• National Selections in 1956:
| COUNTRY | EVENT | WINNERS |
|---|---|---|
| 🇮🇹 Italy | Sanremo 1956 | Franca Raimondi – “Aprite le finestre“
Tonina Torielli – “Amami se vuoi“ |
| 🇳🇱 The Netherlands | Nationaal Songfestival 1956 | Jetty Paerl – “De vogels van Holland“
Corry Brokken – “Voorgoed voorbij“ |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | (Swiss Selection 1956) | Lys Assia – “Refrain“
Lys Assia – “Das alte Karussell“ |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | Fud Leclerc – “Messieurs les noyés de la Seine“
Mony Marc – “Le plus beau jour de ma vie“ |
| 🇫🇷 France | Mathé Altéry – “Le temps perdu“
Dany Dauberson – “Il est là“ |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | Walter Andreas Schwarz – “Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück“
Freddy Quinn – “So geht das jede Nacht“ |
| 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | Michèle Arnaud – “Ne crois pas“
Michèle Arnaud – “Les amants de minuit“ |
4.Production and Format. A planning sub-group, headed by Eduard Hass of SRG SSR, was subsequently formed following the sign-off on the organisation of the event to build out the rules of the competition. The group took inspiration from the Sanremo Music Festival and the Venice International Song Festival, a similar EBU-organised song contest held in 1955 and broadcast on radio. Using the Sanremo festival as a basis in planning the new contest, the group made several amendments and additions to these rules to suit its international nature. Ideas suggested but ultimately rejected during this planning phase included featuring each song a second time with a piano accompaniment instead of orchestral backing, as well as technical initiatives such as a separate producer from each participating country involved in the contest’s organisation. Prize money for the winners was also ruled out at this stage. The rules of the contest were finalised and distributed to EBU members in early 1956. The rules set out in detail the criteria for the participating songs and performers; production details and requirements; timelines for the submission of materials by the participating broadcasters; the method by which the winning song would be determined; details related to the financing of the event; and the responsibilities which lay with the host broadcaster and the participating broadcasters.
The inaugural Eurovision Song Contest was produced by the Italian-language radio broadcaster Radio svizzera italiana (RSI), in cooperation with the television service of SRG SSR, which brought a television production truck from Zurich to Lugano. [e] Three television cameras were used inside the auditorium to broadcast the event. Franco Marazzi served as director of the event on behalf of RSI, with Rolf Liebermann overseeing the production and the jury deliberations on behalf of the EBU as its executive supervisor and jury president.
Each participating broadcaster submitted into the contest a maximum of two songs not exceeding three to three-and-a-half minutes in duration, which must have been solely original compositions. They had sole discretion on how to select their entries for the contest but were strongly encouraged by the EBU to hold their own national contests to determine their representatives. Each song was accompanied by a 24-piece orchestra, with members of the Radiosa Orchestra supplemented by strings of the Italian Swiss Radio Symphony Orchestra, presided over by the contest’s musical director, Fernando Paggi; the contest’s musical director was also available to conduct the performances of the participating entries if a separate conductor was not otherwise appointed by that country.
Broadcasters were required to submit to the EBU by 10 May 1956 scores for their participating songs for use by the orchestra, audio recordings of each song, and copies of the songs lyrics in the original language, as well as translations into French or English to aid the jury members and commentators. The confirmed selection of each country’s musical director (if separate to that of the host) was required to be communicated between 21 and 24 May. According to the rules, the order in which the countries and songs were performed was to be determined artistically by the host broadcaster, with input and support by the musical directors from each country. However, a draw determining the order of countries seems to have taken place in Gardone a few days prior to the contest. [f] Rehearsals in the contest venue with the competing artists and the orchestra began on 21 May 1956.
Following the performance of all songs, the winner was determined by an assembled jury composed of two individuals from each country, with each individual member rating secretly each song between one and ten, including those representing their own country, with higher scores given to more appreciated songs. The jury followed the contest in the bridge room in the same venue in Lugano through a small television screen, replicating the conditions as close as possible to how viewers at home would watch the contest. The winning song was thus that which gained the highest score from the votes cast by all jury members. In the event of a tie between two or more entries all songs with the highest score would have been declared winners.
In news reports at the time, according to one Dutch juror, the jury members were removed from the jury room once they had cast their votes and were therefore unable to follow the tabulation of the final results. The jury members from Luxembourg were unable to attend the contest in Lugano, and subsequently the EBU allowed two Swiss nationals to vote in their place. This would remain the only contest in which many of these rules would be utilised, and several changes were made ahead of the 1957 contest. These included restricting each country to only one song, expanding the number of performers allowed to participate for each country, introducing a more visible voting system, and restricting each country from voting for their own entry.
5. Contest overview. The contest was held on 24 May 1956, beginning at 21:00 (CET) with an approximate duration of 1 hour 40 minutes. The event was hosted in Italian by Lohengrin Filipello. This remains the only time in which the contest was hosted by a solo male presenter, and one of only two contests not to feature a female presenter, alongside the 2017 contest held 61 years later. Additionally this would remain the only contest to feature a male presenter for 22 years, until the 1978 contest featured a male and female presenting duo.
During the interval between the final competing act and the announcement of the winner, performances by Les Joyeux Rossignols and Les Trois Ménestrels [fr] were featured to entertain the audience, with the latter performing “Guerre de Troie” and “Ma mie, ma caravelle” along with other works. Upon the announcement of the results, the winning artist returned to the stage for a reprise performance of the winning song to end the broadcast.
The winning song was “Refrain“, composed by Géo Voumard, written by Émile Gardaz, performed by Lys Assia and representing the host country Switzerland.[50] During the reprise performance of the winning song, Assia became emotional and suffered a lapse in memory of the song’s lyrics, subsequently requesting a restart by the orchestra. After the show, a reception for the participating delegations was held in the upper hall of Teatro Kursaal on behalf of the host city Lugano, the canton of Ticino, and SRG SSR.
The full results of the contest were not revealed, with only the winning song named at the end of the show by the jury president Rolf Liebermann; the full breakdown of the scores of each juror has not been retained by the EBU, and is presumed lost. Attempts to reconstruct the voting through interviews with jury members have also failed to reveal a reliable result. An article in Italian newspaper La Stampa published on 25 May 1956, the day after the contest, reported that Switzerland’s winning entry received a score of 102 in total, while in a post-contest interview with Stelio Molo, the director-general of SRG SSR, published in the Italian magazine Settimana Radio TV in the weeks following the contest, the gap between the first- and second-placed songs was revealed by Molo to be two points, and that the remaining entries also finished close to the winner. These claims have not been corroborated by the contest’s organisers in the years since.
| R/O | Country | participant (s) | song – Translate – Language | Votes | RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇳🇱 The Netherlands NTS | Jetty Paerl | De vogels van Holland (The birds of Holland) Dutch | — | 02 |
| 2 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland TSR | Lys Assia | Das alte Karussell (The old Carousel) German | — | 02 |
| 3 | 🇧🇪 Belgium INR/NIR | Fud Leclerc | Messieurs les noyés de la Seine (The drowned gentlemen of the Seine) French | — | 02 |
| 4 | 🇩🇪 Germany ARD | Walter Andreas Schwarz | Im wartesaal zum großen Glück [c] (In the good luck waiting room) German | — | 02 |
| 5 | 🇫🇷 France RTF | Mathé Altéry | Le temps perdu (Lost time) French | — | 02 |
| 6 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg CLT | Michèle Arnaud | Ne crois pas (Do not believe) French | — | 02 |
| 7 | 🇮🇹 Italy RAI | Franca Raimondi | Aprite le finestre (Open the windows) Italian | — | 02 |
| 8 | 🇳🇱 The Netherlands NTS | Corry Brokken | Voorgoed voorbij (Over forever) Dutch | — | 02 |
| 9 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland TSR | Lys Assia | Refrain (Chorus) French | — | 01 |
| 10 | 🇧🇪 Belgium INR/NIR | Mony Marc | Le plus beau jour de ma vie (The most beautiful day of my life) French | — | 02 |
| 11 | 🇩🇪 Germany ARD | Freddy Quinn | So geht das jede Nacht (That’s how it is every night) German | — | 02 |
| 12 | 🇫🇷 France RTF | Dany Dauberson | Il est là (He is here) German | — | 02 |
| 13 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg CLT | Michèle Arnaud | Les amants de minuit (The lovers of midnight) French | — | 02 |
| 14 | 🇮🇹 Italy RAI | Tonina Torrielli | Amami se vuoi (Love me if you want) Italian | — | 02 |
| Connections Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 | ||||
| # | Artist | Composers | Lyricists | Conductor |
| 01 | Jetty Paerl | Cor Lemaire | Annie M. G. Schmidt | Fernando Paggi: Switzerland 1964: I miei pensieri (conductor), Switzerland 1961: Nous aurons demain (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: De vogels van Holland (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Das alte Karussell (conductor), Germany 1956: Im Wartesaal zum grossen Glück (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: Voorgoed voorbij (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (conductor), Germany 1956: So geht das jede Nacht (conductor) |
| 02 | Lys Assia: Switzerland 1958: Giorgio (as Lys Assia, solo), Switzerland 1957: L’enfant que j’étais (as Lys Assia, solo), Switzerland 1956: Das alte Karussell (as Lys Assia, solo), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (as Lys Assia, solo) | Georg Benz Stahl | Georg Benz Stahl | Fernando Paggi: Switzerland 1964: I miei pensieri (conductor), Switzerland 1961: Nous aurons demain (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: De vogels van Holland (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Das alte Karussell (conductor), Germany 1956: Im Wartesaal zum grossen Glück (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: Voorgoed voorbij (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (conductor), Germany 1956: So geht das jede Nacht (conductor) |
| 03 | Fud Leclerc: Belgium 1962: Ton nom (as Fud Leclerc, solo), Belgium 1960: Mon amour pour toi (as Fud Leclerc, solo), Belgium 1958: Ma petite chatte (as Fud Leclerc, solo), Belgium 1956: Messieurs les noyés de la seine (as Fud Leclerc, solo) | .Jean Miret
.Jacques Say: Belgium 1982: Si tu aimes ma musique (conductor), Belgium 1970: Viens l’oublier (conductor), Belgium 1956: Messieurs les noyés de la seine (composer) |
Robert Montal: Belgium 1960: Mon amour pour toi (lyricist), Belgium 1956: Messieurs les noyés de la seine (lyricist) | Léo Souris: Belgium 1956: Le plus beau jour de ma vie (conductor), Belgium 1956: Messieurs les noyés de la seine (conductor) |
| 04 | Walter Andreas Schwarz | Walter Andreas Schwarz | Walter Andreas Schwarz | Fernando Paggi: Switzerland 1964: I miei pensieri (conductor), Switzerland 1961: Nous aurons demain (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: De vogels van Holland (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Das alte Karussell (conductor), Germany 1956: Im Wartesaal zum grossen Glück (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: Voorgoed voorbij (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (conductor), Germany 1956: So geht das jede Nacht (conductor) |
| 05 | Mathé Altéry | André Lodge | Rachèle Thoreau | Franck Pourcel: France 1972: Comé comédie (conductor), France 1971: Un jardin sur la terre (conductor), rance 1970: Marie-Blanche (conductor), France 1969: Un jour, un enfant (conductor), France 1967: Il doit faire beau là-bas (conductor), France 1966: Chez nous (conductor), France 1965: N’avoue jamais (conductor), France 1964: Le chant de Mallory (conductor), France 1963: Elle était si jolie (conductor), France 1962: Un premier amour (conductor), Austria 1961: Sehnsucht (conductor), Germany 1961: Einmal sehen wir uns wieder (conductor), France 1961: Printemps, avril carillonne (conductor), France 1960: Tom Pillibi (conductor), France 1959: Oui oui oui oui (conductor), Monaco 1959: Mon ami Pierrot (conductor), Germany 1959: Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh’n (conductor), Sweden 1959: Augustin (conductor), Switzerland 1959: Irgendwoher (conductor), Austria 1959: Der K. und K. Kalypso aus Wien (conductor), France 1958: Dors, mon amour (conductor), France 1956: Il est là (conductor), France 1956: Le temps perdu (conductor) |
| 06 | Michèle Arnaud: Luxembourg 1956: Les amants de minuit (as Michèle Arnaud, solo), Luxembourg 1956: Ne crois pas (as Michèle Arnaud, solo) | Christian Guitreau | Christian Guitreau | Jacques Lassry: Luxembourg 1956: Les amants de minuit (lyricist, conductor), Luxembourg 1956: Ne crois pas (conductor) |
| 07 | Franca Raimondi | Virgilio Panzuti | Pinchi (Pino Perotti): United Kingdom 1971: Pupazzo (as Pinchi, lyricist Italian version), Italy 1956: Aprite le finestre (as Pinchi, lyricist) | Gian Stellari: Italy 1956: Amami se vuoi (conductor), Italy 1956: Aprite le finestre (conductor) |
| 08 | Corry Brokken: The Netherlands 1958: Heel de wereld (solo), The Netherlands 1957: Net als toen (solo), The Netherlands 1956: Voorgoed voorbij (solo) | Jelle de Vries | Jelle de Vries | Fernando Paggi: Switzerland 1964: I miei pensieri (conductor), Switzerland 1961: Nous aurons demain (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: De vogels van Holland (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Das alte Karussell (conductor), Germany 1956: Im Wartesaal zum grossen Glück (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: Voorgoed voorbij (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (conductor), Germany 1956: So geht das jede Nacht (conductor) |
| 09 | Lys Assia: Switzerland 1958: Giorgio (as Lys Assia, solo), Switzerland 1957: L’enfant que j’étais (as Lys Assia, solo), Switzerland 1956: Das alte Karussell (as Lys Assia, solo), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (as Lys Assia, solo) | Géo Voumard: Switzerland 1963: T’en vas pas (composer), Switzerland 1962: Le retour (composer), Switzerland 1961: Nous aurons demain (composer), Switzerland 1957: L’enfant que j’étais (composer), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (composer) | Émile Gardaz: Switzerland 1963: T’en vas pas (lyricist), Switzerland 1962: Le retour (lyricist), Switzerland 1961: Nous aurons demain (lyricist), Switzerland 1957: L’enfant que j’étais (lyricist), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (lyricist) | Fernando Paggi: Switzerland 1964: I miei pensieri (conductor), Switzerland 1961: Nous aurons demain (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: De vogels van Holland (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Das alte Karussell (conductor), Germany 1956: Im Wartesaal zum grossen Glück (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: Voorgoed voorbij (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (conductor), Germany 1956: So geht das jede Nacht (conductor) |
| 10 | Mony Marc | Claude Alix | David Bee | Léo Souris: Belgium 1956: Le plus beau jour de ma vie (conductor), Belgium 1956: Messieurs les noyés de la seine (conductor |
| 11 | Freddy Quinn | Lothar Olias | Peter Mösser | Fernando Paggi: Switzerland 1964: I miei pensieri (conductor), Switzerland 1961: Nous aurons demain (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: De vogels van Holland (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Das alte Karussell (conductor), Germany 1956: Im Wartesaal zum grossen Glück (conductor), The Netherlands 1956: Voorgoed voorbij (conductor), Switzerland 1956: Refrain (conductor), Germany 1956: So geht das jede Nacht (conductor) |
| 12 | Dany Dauberson | Simone Vallauris | Simone Vallauris | Franck Pourcel: France 1972: Comé comédie (conductor), France 1971: Un jardin sur la terre (conductor), France 1970: Marie-Blanche (conductor), France 1969: Un jour, un enfant (conductor), France 1967: Il doit faire beau là-bas (conductor), France 1966: Chez nous (conductor), France 1965: N’avoue jamais (conductor), France 1964: Le chant de Mallory (conductor), France 1963: Elle était si jolie (conductor), France 1962: Un premier amour (conductor), Austria 1961: Sehnsucht (conductor), Germany 1961: Einmal sehen wir uns wieder (conductor), France 1961: Printemps, avril carillonne (conductor), France 1960: Tom Pillibi (conductor), France 1959: Oui oui oui oui (conductor), Monaco 1959: Mon ami Pierrot (conductor), Germany 1959: Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh’n (conductor), Sweden 1959: Augustin (conductor), Switzerland 1959: Irgendwoher (conductor), Austria 1959: Der K. und K. Kalypso aus Wien (conductor), France 1958: Dors, mon amour (conductor), France 1956: Le temps perdu (conductor), France 1956: Il est là (conductor) |
| 13 | Michèle Arnaud: Luxembourg 1956: Ne crois pas (as Michèle Arnaud, solo), Luxembourg 1956: Les amants de minuit (as Michèle Arnaud, solo) | Christian Guitreau | Christian Guitreau | Jacques Lassry: Luxembourg 1956: Les amants de minuit (lyricist, conductor), Luxembourg 1956: Ne crois pas (conductor) |
| 14 | Tonina Torrielli | Vittorio Mascheroni | Mario Panzeri: Italy 1974: Sì (composer, lyricist), Italy 1964: Non ho l’età (lyricist), Italy 1956: Amami se vuoi (lyricist) | Gian Stellari: Italy 1956: Aprite le finestre (conductor), Italy 1956: Amami se vuoi (conductor) |
7.Broadcasts. Broadcasters competing in the event were required to relay the contest via its networks; non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest. In addition to the television channels of the seven participating broadcasters and three non-participating passive broadcasters, the contest was also broadcast live on seven radio networks and recorded for later transmission by another 13. The United Kingdom’s BBC took only partial live transmission of the event, joining 45 minutes into the contest and only showing the second set of entries from each country. Due to a technical fault, the transmission of images was interrupted during Mathé Altéry’s performance for about three minutes on German, Danish, and French television.
No video footage of the whole contest is known to exist, with the only known footage being clips of the reprise performance of the winning song via newsreel and other recordings. As such, this is one of only two editions of the contest, along with the 1964 contest, to not have video recordings of the full event retained. Audio of most of the contest has, however, survived, with only the majority of the contest’s interval acts currently lost. Attempts to find audiovisual materials related to the contest have yielded some results in recent years, including a large cache of photographs and some video footage taken by Swiss photographer Vincenzo Vicari from inside the venue. In 2026, the EBU launched a call for help in order to find video recordings from both editions.
Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers. Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators, are shown in the tables below.
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium |
NIR/INR | INR | Raymond Colbert | |
| NIR | Piet te Nuyl Jr. | |||
| France |
RTF | RTF | Michelle Rebel | |
| Paris-Inter | ||||
| Germany |
ARD | Deutsches Fernsehen | Irene Koss | |
| BR | Radio München[g] | |||
| RB | Zweites Programm | |||
| SWF | SWF2[h] | |||
| Italy |
RAI | RAI Televisione | Franco Marazzi | |
| Secondo Programma | ||||
| Luxembourg |
CLT | Télé-Luxembourg | ||
| Netherlands |
NTS | NTS | Piet te Nuyl Jr. | |
| Switzerland |
SRG SSR | SRG | Fritz Schäuffele | |
| TSR | Raymond Colbert | |||
| Radio Beromünster | ||||
| Radio Sottens | ||||
| Radio Monte Ceneri |
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Austria |
ORF | ORF | ||
 Belgian Congo |
NIR/INR | RNB Congo[i] | ||
 Denmark |
Statsradiofonien | Statsradiofonien TV | Jens Frederik Lawaetz | |
 United Kingdom |
BBC | BBC Television Service | Wilfrid Thomas |
7.Notes.
- [a] Seven countries represented by two songs each
- [b] On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD
- [c] Credited as “Das Lied vom großen Glück”
- [d] Dolf van der Linden, who was originally selected to lead the orchestra for the Dutch entries, was unable to attend the contest and was replaced by the host musical director Paggi.
- [e] In 1956, SRG SSR had a single television service, which was the only one operating in the country. This service was directly managed by the corporation with a provisional license, and had two production centers, one in Zurich for German-speaking Switzerland and one in Geneva for French-speaking Switzerland.
- [f] A meeting of EBU’s working group GTV/2 (Eurovision) took place from 21 to 25 May in Gardone.
- [g] Delayed broadcast on 30 June 1956 at 20:15 (CET)
- [h] Delayed broadcast on 18 June 1956 at 23:00 (CET)
- [i] Delayed broadcast on 24 June 1956 at 21:30 (WAT)
8.Trivial / Fun facts.
- In the first ever Eurovision Song Contest (1956), Luxembourg asked Switzerland to vote on its behalf. And the winner was: Switzerland!.
- The scores of the voting from the 1956-contest have never been made public, leaving room for lots of speculation. Attempts to reconstruct the voting by interviewing jury members over the following five decades did not lead to any reliable outcome.
- In 1956, every participating country could enter with two songs. The Netherlands was the first country to sing a song in Eurovision with “De vogels van Holland”.
- Lys Assia has taken part 3 times in a row and has aimed for a fourth attempt just in the past years (in her 80s!).
- Lys Assia is the only Swiss national to have won. Switzerland’s other winner is Céline Dion, who is originally Canadian.
- Austria and Denmark missed the deadline for the first Eurovision Song Contest and only appeared one year later.
- Only solo artists were allowed to enter the contest. Groups were not – a rule which would be abolished in the 1970s.
9. The Class of 1956 – All the participants:
|
⦁ Eurovision Song Contest 1956 → Eurovision Song Contest 1957 |
|
|
Countries (in order of appearance) |
|
| Final | The Netherlands ⦁ Switzerland ⦁ Belgium ⦁ Germany ⦁ France ⦁ Luxembourg ⦁ Italy ⦁ The Netherlands ⦁ Switzerland (winner) ⦁ Belgium ⦁ Germany ⦁ France ⦁ Luxembourg ⦁ Italy |
|
Artists (in order of appearance) |
|
| Final | Jetty Paerl ⦁ Lys Assia ⦁ Fud Leclerc ⦁ Walter Andreas Schwarz ⦁ Mathé Altéry ⦁ Michèle Arnaud ⦁ Franca Raimondi ⦁ Corry Brokken ⦁ Lys Assia (Winner) ⦁ Mony Marc ⦁ Freddy Quinn ⦁ Dany Dauberson ⦁ Michèle Arnaud ⦁ Tonina Torrielli |
|
Songs (in order of appearance) |
|
| Final | “De vogels van Holland” ⦁ “Das alte Karussell” ⦁ “Messieurs les noyés de la Seine” ⦁ “Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück” ⦁ “Le temps perdu” ⦁ “Ne crois pas” ⦁ “Aprite le finestre” ⦁ “Voorgoed voorbij” • “Refrain” (Winner) ⦁ “Le plus beau jour de ma vie” ⦁ “So geht das jede Nacht” ⦁ “Il est là” ⦁ “Les amants de minuit” ⦁ “Amami se vuoi” |
| Non-participating entries: United Kingdom: Denis Lotis & The Keynotes – “Ev’rybody falls in love with someone” ⦁ United Kingdom: Shirley Abicair – “Little Ship” | |
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