The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was the first edition of the annual event, held at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland on Thursday 24 May.
It included several procedures that would not be repeated in any subsequent edition: two songs were performed by the seven participating countries, voting was done in secret, each country received double votes from another country, optional inclusion of the jury members' own represented country in their voting, only "Grand Prix" title reception for the winner, and a single male presenter to host the show.
It was won by Lys Assia who represented her home country Switzerland with her song "Refrain". This is the only time in the Contest's history that only the winner was announced, leaving the result for the other countries unknown.
Location[]
The chosen venue for the contest was the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, a city in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy. The event was also inspired by the Italian music festival, as well as that the Contest was hosted in Italian.
Participants[]
Results[]
Except for the winning song, the results have never been published. Simon Barclay's book The Complete and Independent Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 includes a table with what appears to be the rankings, but the author does not give a source. Under the chart he writes that "the votes awarded have never been disclosed". According to writer Jan Feddersen, "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück" was probably voted runner-up behind Lys Assia.
| Draw | Country | Performer(s) | Song | Language | Translation | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  The Netherlands
|
Jetty Paerl | "De vogels van Holland" | Dutch | The birds of Holland | 2 | N/A |
| 02 |  Switzerland
|
Lys Assia | "Das alte Karussell" | German | The old carousel | 2 | |
| 03 |  Belgium
|
Fud Leclerc | "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" | French | The drowned men of the Seine | 2 | |
| 04 |  Germany
|
Walter Andreas Schwarz | "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück" | German | In the Waiting Room for Great Happiness | 2 | |
| 05 |  France
|
Mathé Altéry | "Le temps perdu" | French | Lost time | 2 | |
| 06 |  Luxembourg
|
Michèle Arnaud | "Ne crois pas" | French | Don't believe | 2 | |
| 07 |  Italy
|
Franca Raimondi | "Aprite le finestre" | Italian | Open the windows | 2 | |
| 08 | The Netherlands
|
Corry Brokken | "Voorgoed voorbij" | Dutch | Over forever | 2 | |
| 09 | Switzerland
|
Lys Assia | "Refrain" | French | - | 1 | |
| 10 | Belgium
|
Mony Marc | "Le plus beau jour de ma vie" | French | The most beautiful day of my life | 2 | |
| 11 | Germany
|
Freddy Quinn | "So geht das jede Nacht" | German | That's How It Is Every Night | 2 | |
| 12 | France
|
Dany Dauberson | "Il est là" | French | He's There | 2 | |
| 13 | Luxembourg
|
Michèle Arnaud | "Les amants de minuit" | French | The Midnight Lovers | 2 | |
| 14 | Italy
|
Tonina Torrielli | "Amami se vuoi" | Italian | Love me if you want to | 2 |
Incidents[]
Voting controversy[]
Two jury members from each participating country travelled to Lugano to cast their vote on the songs, except for Luxembourg which was unable to send juries. The EBU conducted a secret voting system allowing the juries to also vote for the two songs representing their own country, as well as allowing the Swiss jury to vote on behalf of Luxembourg. Claims were raised that the Swiss entry won as a result of these procedures. This system was never repeated, as from the following year onward the voting has been made visible, excludes the juries' own competing country from their voting and includes individual jury members for each country.
Lost tapes[]
While the Contest aired on television in certain European countries (although this was uncommon at the time), no copies have survived, with the exception of Lys Assia's winning performance. It is one of only two Contests to not have survived completely, along with the 1964 Contest (of which the tapes were destroyed in a fire).
Gallery[]
