This first contest was mainly a radio program, though there were cameras in the studio for the benefit of the few Europeans who had television. The backdrops behind the singers were, perhaps understandably, not very lavish.
It had been strongly recommended that each participating country have a preliminary national song contest. Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom were disqualified from the final contest, however, as all of them registered after the official deadline.
All participating countries sent two jury members to Lugano, except for Luxembourg who allowed the Swiss jury to vote on their behalf. This, combined with the fact that juries were allowed to vote for any song including those of their own country, perhaps explains the success of the Swiss entry. Among the many rumors which followed the contest was one suggesting Lys Assia's other entry did not get a high placing, explaining why it was never released. Another rumours said that German, Walter Andreas Schwarz came second, because Germany organized the contest one year later.
| Country (Language) |
Artist | Song (Translation) |
Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium (French) |
Fud Leclerc | Messieurs les Noyés de la Seine (The Drowned Gentlemen of the Seine) |
2 | - |
| Belgium (French) |
Mony Marc | Le plus beau jour de ma vie (The Most Beautiful Day of my Life) |
2 | - |
| France (French) |
Mathé Altéry | Le temps perdu (The Lost Time) |
2 | - |
| France (French) |
Dany Dauberson | Il est là (He is Here) |
2 | - |
| Germany (German) |
Walter Andreas Schwarz | Das Lied vom großen Glück* (The Song of Good Luck) |
2 | - |
| Germany (German) |
Freddy Quinn | So geht das jede Nacht (That's how it is Every Night) |
2 | - |
| Italy (Italian) |
Franca Raimondi | Aprite le Finestre (Open the Windows) |
2 | - |
| Italy (Italian) |
Tonina Torrielli | Amami se Vuoi (Love me if you Want) |
2 | - |
| Luxembourg (French) |
Michèle Arnaud | Les Amants de Minuit (The Lovers of Midnight) |
2 | - |
| Luxembourg (French) |
Michèle Arnaud | Ne Crois Pas (Do Not Believe) |
2 | - |
| Netherlands (Dutch) |
Jetty Paerl | De Vogels Van Holland (The Birds of Holland) |
2 | - |
| Netherlands (Dutch) |
Corry Brokken | Voorgoed Voorbij (Over Forever) |
2 | - |
| Switzerland (German) |
Lys Assia | Das alte Karussell (The Old Carousel) |
2 | - |
| Switzerland (French) |
Lys Assia | Refrain (Refrain) |
1 | - |
| Venue: Teatro Kursall - Lugano, Switzerland | ||||
| The table is ordered by the countries names. | ||||
| *Known on the album recording as "Im Wartesaal zum Großen Glück" (Good Luck in the Waiting Room). | ||||
First Appearances
Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, SwitzerlandVoting Structure
Each Country had 2 Jury Members who each awarded 1-10 points for each song.
| Juries | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | There was no scoreboard for this contest, as the voting was not made public. Some Eurovision fans have tried to get it released to the public, but have failed to do so. | ||||||||
| Switzerland | |||||||||
| Belgium | |||||||||
| Germany | |||||||||
| France | |||||||||
| Luxembourg | |||||||||
| Italy | |||||||||
| Netherlands | |||||||||
| Switzerland | |||||||||
| Belgium | |||||||||
| Germany | |||||||||
| France | |||||||||
| Luxembourg | |||||||||
| Italy | |||||||||
| The table is ordered by appearance. | |||||||||