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Eurovision Song Contest 1958
Eurovision Song Contest 1958
Participating broadcaster	Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF)
Country	France
National selection
Selection process	Artist: Internal selection; Song: National final
Selection date(s)	7 February 1958
Selected artist(s)	André Claveau
Selected song	"Dors, mon amour"
Selected songwriter(s)	Pierre Delanoë; Hubert Giraud;
Finals performance
Final result	1st, 27 points
France in the Eurovision Song Contest

France was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1958 with the song "Dors, mon amour", composed by Pierre Delanoë, with lyrics by Hubert Giraud, and performed by André Claveau. The French participating broadcaster, Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), held a national final to select its entry, after having previously selected the performer internally. The song would go on to win the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision

The 1958 contest marked France's third appearance in the Eurovision Song Contest, having participated yearly since the first contest in 1956.^[1] Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) internally selected André Claveau to sing for France, with the song being selected in a national final. A few weeks prior to the national final, RTF asked 20 record labels to send their best songs. 15 songs were submitted, and RTF chose five of them for the national final.^[2]

Et voici quelques airs

The music show Et voici quelques airs was used as the national final. It took place on 7 February 1958 at 20:25 CET and lasted 33 minutes.^[3]^[4] It was produced by Claude Dagues and hosted by Marianne Lecène [fr].^[2] Five songs were presented. They were sung by one of their songwriters, with the exception of "Musique magique", sung by singer Jocelyne Jocya.^[2]

The interval acts included Francis Lemarque [fr] and Christiane Legrand performing "Marjolaine", Maria Candido [fr] performing "Buenas noches, mi amor", André Claveau performing "Toi l'amour" and Daniele George performing "Mandoline amoureuse".^[2]

A jury consisting of 13 music and television professionals decided the winner: Jean Marsac (jury president), Emmanuel Robert, Paul Peyre, Jean-Vincent Bréchignac [fr], Arno-Charles Brun [fr], Armand Lanoux, Ariane Ségal [fr], Agathe Mella [fr]^[a], André Salvet [fr], Denis Bourgeois [fr], Jacques Seignette, Paul Durand and Eddie Barclay.^[2] Only the winning song and the runner-up were announced by jury president Jean Marsac.^[2]

André Claveau then performed the winning song, holding a large sheet of paper with the notes and lyrics in front of him as he didn't know the song by heart.^[2]

Participants and results^[2]^[5]^[6]
R/O	Performers	Song	Songwriter(s)	Place
1	Charles Dumont	"Parigi Roma"	Charles Dumont	—
2	René Denoncin	"Helena"	René Denoncin, Roger Desbois	2
3	Jocelyne Jocya	"Musique magique"	André Popp, Henri Contet	—
4	Hubert Giraud	"Dors, mon amour"	Hubert Giraud, Pierre Delanoë	1
5	André Richin	"Tape dans tes mains"	André Richin	—

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 1958 took place at AVRO Studios in Hilversum, Netherlands on 12 March 1958.^[7] Claveau sang third on the night of the contest, following the Netherlands and preceding Luxembourg. At the close of the voting he received 27 points, placing first of 10 countries, and giving France their first victory at the contest.

Voting

Each participating broadcaster assembled a ten-member jury panel. Every jury member could give one point to their favourite song.

The members of the French jury were: Armand Lanoux (jury president), Henri Torrès, Jean Marsac, Renée Faure, Jean Delannoy, André Salvet [fr], Jo Bouillon, Line Renaud, Jean Sablon and Henri Jeanson.^[8] The French jury's voting was supervised by Paul Peyre, RTF director of television programming.^[8]

Points awarded to France^[9]
Score	Country
9 points	Denmark
7 points	Austria
6 points	Italy
1 point	Belgium Germany Luxembourg Sweden Switzerland

Points awarded by France^[9]
Score	Country
3 points	Austria Switzerland
2 points	Germany
1 point	Denmark Italy

Notes

^ When reading out the list of jury members, presenter Marianne Lecène did not name her despite TV cameras showing her sitting with the other jury members.

References

^ "Countries – France". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Et voici quelques airs (Television programme) (in French). Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française. 7 February 1958.
^ "Radiodiffusion et télévision". Le Monde. 8 February 1958. p. 8. ProQuest 2504158005. Retrieved 5 July 2023 – via ProQuest.
^ "Et voici quelques airs : émission du 7 février 1958". INAthèque (in French). Institut national de l'audiovisuel. CPF86614049. Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
^ Claveau, André. Dors, mon amour (Vinyl) (in French). Pathé. 45 EG 365.
^ André Popp et Son Orchestre. Musique magique (Vinyl) (in French). Fontana. 680.006 TL.
^ "Eurovision Song Contest–Hilversum 1958". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Retrieved 22 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b 3ème Concours Eurovision de la chanson 1958 (Television production) (in French). Hilversum and Paris: NTS ; RTF. 12 March 1958 – via Institut national de l'audiovisuel.
^ ^a ^b "Results of the Final of Hilversum 1958". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.