Editing Eurovision Song Contest 1956 (section)

== Contest overview<span class="anchor" id="Results"></span><span class="anchor" id="Contest overview"></span> ==

[[File:Lys Assia (1957).jpg|thumb|200px|right|Switzerland's [[Lys Assia]] ''(pictured in 1957)'' was the first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, and would represent her country in the contest again in {{escyr|1957}} and {{escyr|1958}}.|alt=Black-and-white photograph of Lys Assia in 1957]]

The contest was held on 24 May 1956, beginning at 21:00 ([[Central European Time|CET]]) with an approximate duration of 1 hour 40 minutes.<ref name="ESC1956"/>{{sfn|Roxburgh|2012|pp=93–96}} The event was hosted in Italian by [[Lohengrin Filipello]].<ref name="ESC1956"/> This remains the only time in which the contest was hosted by a solo male presenter, and one of only two contests not to feature a female presenter, alongside the {{escyr|2017||2017 contest}} held 61 years later.<ref name="diamond" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Jordan |first1=Paul |title=Let's hear it for the boys! Meet the hosts of Eurovision 2017 |url=https://eurovision.tv/story/let-s-hear-it-for-the-boys-meet-the-hosts-of-eurovision-2017 |publisher=[[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU) |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424001032/https://eurovision.tv/story/let-s-hear-it-for-the-boys-meet-the-hosts-of-eurovision-2017 |archive-date=24 April 2017 |date=27 February 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally this would remain the only contest to feature a male presenter for 22 years, until the {{escyr|1978||1978 contest}} featured a male and female presenting duo.{{sfn|O'Connor|2010|p=72}}

During the [[Intermission|interval]] between the final competing act and the announcement of the winner, performances by {{lang|fr|Les Joyeux Rossignols|i=unset}} and {{lang|fr|{{ill|Les Trois Ménestrels|fr}}|i=unset}} were featured to entertain the audience, with the latter performing "Guerre de Troie" and "Ma mie, ma caravelle" along with other works.{{sfn|O'Connor|2010|p=216}}<ref name="popolo" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Kodaliste for fjernsyn – Torsdag den 24. maj 1956 – 21.00: Eurovision |trans-title=Coda list for television – Thursday 24 May 1956 – 21:00: Eurovision |url=https://www.dr.dk/alletidersprogramoversigter/?from=1956-05-24&to=1956-05-25&date=1956-05-24&fileIndex=8 |publisher=[[DR (broadcaster)|Danmarks Radio]] |access-date=14 March 2024 |language=da}}</ref><ref name="caravelle">{{cite news |title=Chronique de la Télévision |url=https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=d&d=TDG19560531-01.2.20.5 |access-date=7 April 2025 |work=[[Tribune de Genève]] |date=31 May 1956 |location= |volume=78 |issue=126 |page=9 |language=fr |via=[[E-newspaperarchives.ch]]}}</ref><!--[...]performances by {{lang|fr|Les Joyeux Rossignols|i=unset}}, who whistled "Valse Savoyarde", "Rhytme d'Asie", and "[[Sabre Dance]]", and {{lang|fr|{{ill|Les Trois Ménestrels|fr}}|i=unset}}, who performed "Guerre de Troie", "Ma mie, ma caravelle", "Ballade de Davy Crockett", "Les coupeurs de bois", and "La Ballade des baladins"[...]--> Upon the announcement of the results, the winning artist returned to the stage for a [[Reprise#Winner reprise|reprise performance]] of the winning song to end the broadcast.{{sfn|EBU|1956}}{{sfn|Roxburgh|2012|pp=96–100}}

The winning song was "{{lang|fr|[[Refrain (Lys Assia song)|Refrain]]|i=unset}}", composed by [[Géo Voumard]], written by [[Émile Gardaz]], performed by [[Lys Assia]] and representing the host country {{esccnty|Switzerland|y=1956}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lugano 1956 – Lys Assia |url=https://eurovision.tv/participant/lys-assia-3 |publisher=[[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU) |access-date=18 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408000304/https://eurovision.tv/participant/lys-assia-3 |archive-date=8 April 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> During the reprise performance of the winning song, Assia became emotional and suffered a lapse in memory of the song's lyrics, subsequently requesting a restart by the orchestra.{{sfn|Roxburgh|2012|pp=96–100}} After the show, a reception for the participating delegations was held in the upper hall of [[Casinò Lugano|Teatro Kursaal]] on behalf of the host city Lugano, the canton [[Ticino]], and SRG SSR.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fasolis |first=Ugo |date=26 May 1956 |title=Il premio Eurovisione 1956 |trans-title=The Eurovision prize of 1956 |language=it |page=7 |work=Libera Stampa |location=[[Lugano]], Switzerland |url=https://www.sbt.ti.ch/quotidiani-public-pdf/main_part.php?fullscreen=true&paper=ls&day=26&month=5&year=1956&page=7&allpages=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8&papername=Libera%20Stampa |access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=March–April 1956 |title=Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson européenne |trans-title=Eurovision Grand Prix 1956 for European Song |journal=Bulletin de l'U.E.R. |publisher=[[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU) |location=[[Geneva]], Switzerland |language=fr |volume=7 |issue=36 |page=323 |issn=0770-7487 |oclc=473721192}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=July–August 1956 |title=Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson européenne |trans-title=Eurovision Grand Prix 1956 for European Song |journal=Bulletin de l'U.E.R. |publisher=[[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU) |location=[[Geneva]], Switzerland |language=fr |volume=7 |issue=38 |pages=641 |issn=0770-7487 |oclc=473721192}}</ref>

The full results of the contest were not revealed at the time, with only the winning song named at the end of the show by the jury president [[Rolf Liebermann]]; the full breakdown of the scores of each juror has not been retained by the EBU, and is presumed lost.<ref name="ESC1956" /><ref name="contestAV">{{cite AV media |date=24 May 1956 |title=Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1956 |trans-title=Eurovision Grand Prix of European Song 1956 |type=Television programme |language=fr, it |location=[[Lugano]], Switzerland |publisher={{lang|it|[[Radiotelevisione svizzera|Radio svizzera italiana]]|i=unset}} (RSI)}}</ref> Attempts to reconstruct the voting through interviews with jury members have also failed to reveal a reliable result.<ref name="ESC1956" /> An article in Italian newspaper {{lang|it|[[La Stampa]]}} published on 25 May 1956, the day after the contest, reported that Switzerland's winning entry received a score of 102 in total, while in a post-contest interview with {{ill|Stelio Molo|de|i=unset}}, the Director General of SRG SSR, published in the Italian magazine {{lang|it|Settimana Radio TV}} in the weeks following the contest, the gap between the first- and second-placed songs was revealed by Molo to be two points, and that the remaining entries also finished close to the winner.<ref>{{cite news |title=Canzoni tristi al concorso di Lugano |trans-title=Sad songs at the Lugano contest |url=http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,3/articleid,0059_01_1956_0121_0003_14018800/ |access-date=1 June 2022 |work=[[La Stampa]] |date=25 May 1956 |page=3 |language=it |location=[[Turin]], Italy |archive-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601183940/http://www.archiviolastampa.it/component/option,com_lastampa/task,search/mod,libera/action,viewer/Itemid,3/page,3/articleid,0059_01_1956_0121_0003_14018800/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Il premio Eurovisione 1956 per la canzone europea a Lugano: ha vinto il Refrain di marca elvetica |magazine=Settimana Radio TV |trans-title=The 1956 Eurovision prize for European song in Lugano: the Refrain of the Helvetic brand won |language=it |issue=23 |date=3–9 June 1956}}</ref> These claims have however failed to be corroborated by the contest organisers in the years since.<ref name="ESC1956" />

{{Legend|gold|Winner}}
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
|+ Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1956<ref name="1956results">{{cite web |title=Lugano 1956 – Scoreboard |url=https://eurovision.tv/event/lugano-1956/final |publisher=[[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU) |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019013426/https://eurovision.tv/event/lugano-1956/final |archive-date=19 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Roxburgh|2012|pp=96–100}}
|-
! scope="col" | {{abbr|R/O|Running order}}
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" | Artist
! scope="col" | Song
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1
| {{Esc|Netherlands|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Jetty|Paerl}}
| "{{lang|nl|De vogels van Holland|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2
| {{Esc|Switzerland|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Lys|Assia}}
| "{{lang|de|Das alte Karussell|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3
| {{Esc|Belgium|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Fud|Leclerc}}
| "{{lang|fr|Messieurs les noyés de la Seine|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4
| {{Esc|Germany|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Walter Andreas|Schwarz}}
| "{{lang|de|Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück|i=unset}}"{{efn|name=de}}
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5
| {{Esc|France|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Mathé|Altéry}}
| "{{lang|fr|Le Temps perdu|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6
| {{Esc|Luxembourg}}
| {{sortname|Michèle|Arnaud}}
| "{{lang|fr|Ne crois pas|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7
| {{Esc|Italy|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Franca|Raimondi}}
| "{{lang|it|[[Aprite le finestre]]|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8
| {{Esc|Netherlands|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Corry|Brokken}}
| "{{lang|nl|Voorgoed voorbij|i=unset}}"
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:bold; background:gold" | 9
| {{Esc|Switzerland|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Lys|Assia|nolink=y}}
| "{{lang|fr|[[Refrain (Lys Assia song)|Refrain]]|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 10
| {{Esc|Belgium|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Mony|Marc|nolink=y}}
| "{{lang|fr|Le Plus Beau Jour de ma vie|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 11
| {{Esc|Germany|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Freddy|Quinn}}
| "{{lang|de|So geht das jede Nacht|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 12
| {{Esc|France|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Dany|Dauberson}}
| "{{lang|fr|Il est là|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 13
| {{Esc|Luxembourg}}
| {{sortname|Michèle|Arnaud|nolink=y}}
| "{{lang|fr|Les Amants de minuit|i=unset}}"
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 14
| {{Esc|Italy|y=1956}}
| {{sortname|Tonina|Torrielli}}
| "{{lang|it|Amami se vuoi|i=unset}}"
|}