Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956

Eurovision Song Contest 1956
Participating broadcaster	Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR)
Country	Switzerland
National selection
Selection process	Grand Prix Européen de la Chanson: Finale suisse
Selection date(s)	28 April 1956
Selected artist(s)	Lys Assia
Selected song	"Das alte Karussell" and "Refrain"
Selected songwriter(s)	"Das alte Karussell": Georg Betz-Stahl "Refrain": Géo Voumard Émile Gardaz
Finals performance
Final result	1st: "Refrain" N/A: "Das alte Karussell"
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
1956 • 1957►

Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 with two songs: "Das alte Karussell" written by Georg Betz-Stahl, and "Refrain" composed by Géo Voumard, with lyrics by Émile Gardaz. Both songs were performed by Lys Assia. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), selected its entries through a national final. In addition, Radio svizzera italiana (RSI), on behalf of SRG SSR, was the host broadcaster and staged the event at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano. "Das alte Karussell" was the first-ever entry from Switzerland performed in the Eurovision Song Contest, and the first-ever entry in German in the contest; while "Refrain", that eventually won the contest, was the first-ever winner in its history.

Before Eurovision

For their national selection, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) opened a public submission period between January and 20 February 1956 for interested songwriters to submit their compositions.^[1] Only songwriters with Swiss citizenship or having been residing in Switzerland for at least ten years were allowed to participate.^[1] 402 songs were submitted, with half of them with German lyrics, a third in French and the rest in Italian.^[2][3] A jury assembled in Lugano chose eleven of them for the national final.^[2][4]

Grand Prix Européen de la Chanson: Finale suisse

The national final called Grand Prix Européen de la Chanson: Finale suisse was held at the Radio Lausanne Studio de la Sallaz in Lausanne on 28 April 1956 at 20:45 CET (19:45 UTC).^[3][5][6] It was broadcast on TSR and SRG as well as on the radio stations Beromünster, Sottens and Monte Ceneri.^[5][6] Fritz Schäufele [de] commented the final for the German-speaking radio and TV.^[5][6] The final was directed by Jean-Jacques Lagrange [fr], and presented by Raymond Colbert [fr].^[6][7] The studio audience consisted of invited guests and journalists.^[8]

Eleven songs were sung by Jo Roland, Anita Traversi and Lys Assia.^[3][6] They were accompanied by the Orchestra Radiosa under the direction of Fernando Paggi.^[6] Seven songs were sung in French, three in German, one in Italian.^[9] Four entries had been written by Radio Lausanne's own Émile Gardaz and Géo Voumard.^[3] The accordeonist duo Les Frères Domergue and the harmonica group Trio Hill Billy's were interval acts.^[7][10] The puppet group Compagnie des marottes and André Robert seem also to have participated in the show.^[6][11]

A professional jury of nine members watched the songs from inside the studio, and then decided the winning songs in a secret vote, with three members each representing each of the languages German, French and Italian.^[3][12] One of the jury members was Father Kaelin.^[13]

One of the winning songs, "Refrains", was co-written by Émile Gardaz and Géo Voumard, and the other, "Das alte Karussell", was written and composed by Georg Betz-Stahl.^[7][14][15]

National final – 28 April 1956^[13]^[16]^[17]

R/O	Artist	Song	Composer	Lyricist
1	Jo Roland	"Vendredi"	Géo Voumard	Émile Gardaz
2	Lys Assia	"Sei doch nicht so eifersüchtig"	Ernst Lüthold [de]	Fredy Schulz
3	Lys Assia	"Das alte Karussell"	Georg Betz-Stahl	Georg Betz-Stahl
4	Jo Roland	"L'Allée aux ormeaux"	Géo Voumard	Émile Gardaz
5	Anita Traversi	"Bandella ticinese"	Guido Zanzi	Luciano Bonato
6	Jo Roland	"La Ballade des bonnes années"	Géo Voumard	Émile Gardaz
7	Lys Assia	"Le Bohémien"	Roger Pittet	Guy Loran [fr]
8	Jo Roland	"Les Deux Coquins"	René de Pascale	Gilby Caillet
9	Jo Roland	"J'ai triché"	Pierre Gisin	Jean Destoy
10	Lys Assia	"Addio Bella Napoli"	Georg Betz	Georg Betz
11	Lys Assia	"Refrains"[a]	Géo Voumard	Émile Gardaz

At Eurovision

"Das alte Karussell" was performed second in the contest, following the Netherlands and preceding Belgium. "Refrain" performed ninth at the second round with the same order of countries. Both of the Swiss entries were conducted at the contest by the musical director Fernando Paggi.

Each participating broadcaster appointed two jury members who voted by giving between one and ten points to each song, including those representing their own country.^[20] All jury members were colocated in a separate room in the venue in Lugano and followed the contest via a television set.^[18] The Swiss jury members were Father Pierre Kaelin and Rolf Liebermann who also acted as president of the jury.^[21][3][22]

After the jury had held its vote, "Refrain" was announced as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1956.^[19] The placements of all other participating entries are not known.^[19]

The final in Lugano was broadcast in Switzerland on TSR and SRG as well as on the radio stations Beromünster, Sottens and Monte Ceneri.^[23] Fritz Schäufele [de] commented the final on SRG, Raymond Colbert [fr] on TSR.^[24][25] Excerpts from the final were rebroadcast on Radio Monte Ceneri on 10 June 1956 at 21:45 CET.^[26]

Notes and references

Notes

1. Consistently spelled as "Refrains" in reports about the national final^[8][9][16] but as "Refrain" in the international Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano.^[18][19]

References

1. "Concours international de la chanson". Radio Je vois tout (in French). Vol. 34, no. 4. 26 January 1956. p. 152. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
2. "A travers le pays: Le grand prix Eurovision 1956 de la chanson européenne". La Sentinelle (in French). 29 March 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
3. Kaelin, Pierre (3 May 1956). "Grand-Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson européenne à Radio-Lausanne". La Liberté (in French). p. 13. OCLC 643528928. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
4. "Das schwarze Brett: Großer europäischer Preis für die beste Schlagerkomposition 1956". Schweizer Radio-Zeitung (in German). No. 14/1956. 8 April 1956. p. 24. OCLC 638310336.
5. "Die Woche im Bildschirm". Gong (in German). No. 17/1956. 22 April 1956. p. 21. OCLC 1183386385.
6. "Radio und Fernsehen". Der Bund (in German). 27 April 1956. p. 9. OCLC 183307477. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
7. "La finale suisse du concours international de la chanson". Feuille d'Avis de Neuchâtel (in French). 1 May 1956. p. 11. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
8. Monique (30 April 1956). "Deux refrains ont été choisis lors de la finale suisse du Concours international de la chanson". Nouvelle Revue de Lausanne (in French). p. 4. Retrieved 10 November 2023 – via Scriptorium.
9. "La finale suisse du Grand Prix Eurovision de la chanson européenne". Journal et feuille d'avis du Valais (in French). 7 May 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
10. "Fernsehen - näher besehen". Neue Zürcher Nachrichten (in German). 4 May 1956. p. 2 (Edition 2). Retrieved 7 November 2023.
11. "Samedi 28 avril: Sottens". Radio Je vois tout (in French). Vol. 34, no. 16. 19 April 1956. p. 750. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
12. "Tele-Kommentar". Die Tat (in German). 5 May 1956. p. 21. OCLC 183307479. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
13. "Le Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson européenne". Radio Je vois tout (in French). Vol. 34, no. 18. 3 May 1956. p. 805. Retrieved 10 November 2023 – via Scriptorium.
14. "Géo Voumard, a Founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Agence France-Presse. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
15. "Le Grand Prix de la Chanson européenne. Finale suisse". La Sentinelle (in French). 3 May 1956. p. 4. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
16. "Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson Européenne: Concours national". Radio Je vois tout (in French). Vol. 34, no. 13. 29 March 1956. p. 566. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
17. "En vue du Grand Prix de la Chanson européenne". Feuille d'Avis de Lausanne (in French). 30 April 1956. p. 31. OCLC 1366343860. Retrieved 10 November 2023 – via Scriptorium.
18. Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. pp. 95–100. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
19. O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (Updated ed.). London: Carlton. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1. OCLC 699877063.
20. "Reglement du Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson Européenne (version définitive)" [Rules of the Grand Prix of the Eurovision Song Competition 1956 (final version)] (PDF) (in French). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2016.
21. "60 milioni di persone guardovano a Lugano: A una romantica canzone della Svizzera francese il G. Premio Eurovisione 1956 della canzone europea" [60 million people watched Lugano: A romantic song from French-speaking Switzerland won the 1956 Eurovision Grand Prix for European song] (in Italian). Giornale del Popolo. p. 2. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
22. "Alla canzone svizzera 'Refrain' il 'Gran Premio Eurovisione 1956'" [The Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 to the Swiss song 'Refrain']. Corriere del Ticino (in Italian). 26 May 1956. p. 2. ISSN 1660-9646. OCLC 1284212173.
23. "Radio und Fernsehen". Der Bund (in German). 23 May 1956. p. 6 (Abendausgabe). Retrieved 8 November 2023.
24. "Do. 24. Mai". Bild+Funk [de] (in German). No. 21/1956. 20 May 1956. p. 43. OCLC 643528928.
25. "Avec la télévision romande". La Liberté (in French). 2 June 1956. p. 31. OCLC 632871126. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
26. "Pro Memoria delle manifestazioni: Radio". Gazzetta Ticinese (in Italian). Vol. 156, no. 131. 9 June 1956. p. 2. OCLC 1273525494. Retrieved 8 September 2024 – via Sistemo bibliotecario ticinese.

External links

• Lyrics of "Das alte Karusell" (Diggiloo Thrush)
• Lyrics of "Refrain" (Diggiloo Thrush)