Lugano 1956
The Eurovision Song Contest
Course 1 · Chapter 2 · The Beginnings: Lugano 1956
The first Eurovision Song Contest was a small affair compared with what it became: a handful of countries, a modest theatre in a Swiss town, and results that were never announced to the audience. This chapter looks at the idea behind the contest, the organisation that made it possible, the 1956 event in Lugano, its first winner, and how the early years developed. The 1956 details are better documented than many later ones, but a few points vary between sources and are flagged.
The Organisation Behind It
The contest was created by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an association of national broadcasters founded in 1950 to cooperate on programmes, rights and technical links. One result of that cooperation was the Eurovision network, the technical link that let broadcasters in different countries show the same live event at the same time. The same network later carried Jeux Sans Frontières (It's a Knockout): Europe's Game Show 3, and it is why the contest has "Eurovision" in its name.
The Idea
A song competition between countries was a way to give the new network something to show. Broadcasters wanted programmes that were popular, cheap enough to share and easy to watch across language barriers. A music contest met those aims, since the songs carried the content and the format was simple. The model most often named is the Italian Sanremo Music Festival, a national song competition that was already popular. The idea is generally credited to Marcel Bezençon, a Swiss broadcaster and EBU official, though accounts differ on how much the proposal was his alone and how much developed in committee.
Lugano, 1956
The first contest was held in 1956 in Lugano, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. The reasons usually given for the choice are that Switzerland was a neutral country and a founding member of the organising body. Seven countries took part, according to the usual record: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The event was a live radio and television broadcast of a single evening.
| Feature of 1956 | What happened |
|---|---|
| Host | Switzerland, in Lugano |
| Countries | Seven |
| Songs | Each country performed two songs (unlike later years, when each sent one) |
| Voting | Juries made the decision, and the full scores were not announced at the time |
| Winner | Switzerland, with the singer Lys Assia |
The winning song was Switzerland's "Refrain", sung by Lys Assia. Because the host was Switzerland, the first winner was also the first host's own entry. The detail of two songs per country and the closed voting are widely reported, but the exact scoring details of that first evening are not well documented, so this course does not quote them.
The Early Rules
- Songs in a national language. Early on, songs were generally sung in the country's own language, a rule that was later changed and changed back. Chapter 3 covers the format more fully.
- Short songs. Songs had a maximum length of a few minutes.
- Live performance. Songs were performed live with an orchestra.
- Jury voting. Decisions rested on juries, with no public vote.
Some of these rules have changed repeatedly over the decades, so this list describes the early pattern, not a permanent set of rules.
The Early Years
The contest was held again in 1957, and more countries joined. The United Kingdom is generally reported to have first taken part in 1957, along with Austria and Denmark, though check the year before quoting it. The winners of the early years came from several countries, which helped to establish the idea that any member could win. The pattern of the winner hosting the following year developed in the first years and then became the general practice, with exceptions when a winning country could not or would not host.
Why It Worked
The contest filled a need. Broadcasters had a shared network and few programmes to put on it. Audiences enjoyed music, national pride and a clear result. The contest was cheap to share and easy to follow without the language, since a song's appeal does not depend on dialogue. In that way it resembles the games show of Jeux Sans Frontières (It's a Knockout): Europe's Game Show 6, where the action carried the programme. These conditions explain why it survived when many early television experiments did not.
Exercises
Explain the difference between the Eurovision network and the Eurovision Song Contest, and say which organisation was behind both.
List four facts about the 1956 contest and say which one is the biggest difference from the contest as people know it today.
The chapter says the origin story is probably "tidier" than what happened. Name two claims about the origin that are safe to make and one that should be hedged.
Quick Reference
- Organiser: the European Broadcasting Union (founded 1950)
- Model: the Sanremo Music Festival, commonly named
- Credited with the idea: Marcel Bezençon, widely, though the full story is more complex
- First contest: 1956, Lugano, Switzerland, seven countries
- First winner: Switzerland, Lys Assia, "Refrain"
- 1956 quirks: two songs per country; scores not announced
- Early joiners: UK, Austria and Denmark, generally reported for 1957
Next chapter: How the Contest Works, which sets out the format, the rules and the "Big Five".