Eurovision Song Contest 1959
Dates
Final11 March 1959
Host
VenuePalais des Festivals et des Congrès
Cannes, France
Presenter(s)Jacqueline Joubert
Musical directorFranck Pourcel
Directed byMarcel Cravenne
Host broadcasterRadiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/cannes-1959
Participants
Number of entries11
Debuting countries Monaco
Returning countries United Kingdom
Non-returning countries Luxembourg
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1959
Vote
Voting systemTen-member juries in each country; each member gave one vote to their favourite song
Winning song Netherlands
"Een beetje"

The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France, and hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the contest, originally known as the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1959 (English: Grand Prix of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959[1]), was held in France following the country's victory at the 1958 contest with the song "Dors, mon amour", performed by André Claveau.

In total eleven countries participated in the contest, with Monaco making its first appearance and the United Kingdom returning after their absence the previous year. Luxembourg, however, decided not to participate after competing in all former editions.

The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Een beetje", performed by Teddy Scholten, composed by Dick Schallies and written by Willy van Hemert. This was the Netherlands' second victory in the contest, having also won in 1957, and also marked the first time a country had won the contest more than once. Van Hemert also became the first individual to win twice, having also written the first Dutch winning song from 1957, "Net als toen". The United Kingdom placed second, marking the first of a record sixteen times that the country would go on to finish as contest runners-up, while France placed third.

Location

Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes – host venue of the 1959 contest

The event took place in Cannes, France, following the nation's victory at the 1958 edition in Hilversum, Netherlands, with the song "Dors, mon amour", performed by André Claveau. The selected venue was the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, built in 1949 to host the Cannes Film Festival and located on the Promenade de la Croisette along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.[2][3] Due to the growth in the film festival a new building bearing the same name was opened in 1982, with the original building renamed as the Palais Croisette.[4]

A garden space with plants from Southern France was installed in front of the building for the contest, and the flags of the participating nations were raised on the roof.[5] The audience comprised 1500 invited guests.[6]

This marked the second occasion in which the previous year's winning country organised the event, and the first time in which the winning country was given first choice at hosting the following year's event, as the rights to host the 1958 contest were only awarded to the Netherlands after all other countries declined.[7]

Participating countries

A total of eleven countries competed in the contest, with Monaco making its first appearance and the United Kingdom returning after a one year absence.[8] The United Kingdom's absence from the 1958 contest is generally reported to have been due to the country's poor result in 1957, but their return coincided with the international success of "Nel blu, dipinto di blu", the Italian entry from the previous year's contest, and the appointment of Eric Maschwitz as Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC.[9][10] Beginning with this event the United Kingdom holds the record for the longest string of consecutive appearances in the Eurovision Song Contest, appearing in every subsequent contest final as of 2023.[11][12] Luxembourg was absent from the event, having participated in all previous contests, and appears to have decided against participating late in the preparations for the contest as the country was listed among the participants in several radio and television listings.[1][2][13]

Among this year's participants, two artists had previously competed in the contest. Birthe Wilke had placed third for Denmark in the 1957 contest, performing "Skibet skal sejle i nat" alongside Gustav Winckler, and Domenico Modugno had placed third for Italy in the 1958 contest with "Nel blu, dipinto di blu".[14][15]

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959[16][17][18]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) Conductor
 Austria ORF Ferry Graf "Der K. und K. Kalypso aus Wien" German
  • Günther Leopold
  • Norbert Pawlicki
 Franck Pourcel
 Belgium NIR Bob Benny "Hou toch van mij" Dutch
  • Hans Flower
  • Ke Riema
 Francis Bay
 Denmark DR Birthe Wilke "Uh, jeg ville ønske, jeg var dig" Danish
Kai Mortensen
 France RTF Jean Philippe "Oui oui oui oui" French Franck Pourcel
 Germany HR[lower-alpha 1] Alice and Ellen Kessler "Heut' woll'n wir tanzen geh'n" German
  • Astrid Voltmann
  • Helmut Zander
 Franck Pourcel
 Italy RAI Domenico Modugno "Piove" Italian William Galassini
 Monaco TMC Jacques Pills "Mon ami Pierrot" French
  • Raymond Bravard
  • Florence Véran
 Franck Pourcel
 Netherlands NTS Teddy Scholten "Een beetje" Dutch
Dolf van der Linden
 Sweden SR Brita Borg "Augustin" Swedish
Franck Pourcel
  Switzerland SRG SSR Christa Williams "Irgendwoher" German Lothar Löffler Franck Pourcel
 United Kingdom BBC Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson "Sing Little Birdie" English
Eric Robinson

Production

The contest was organised and broadcast by the French public broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), with Marcel Cravenne serving as director and Franck Pourcel serving as musical director.[8][20][21] Each country was allowed to nominate their own musical director to lead the orchestra during the performance of their country's entry, with the host musical director also conducting for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor.[17]

The stage constructed for the event was designed by Gérard Dubois.[22] Its design was inspired by the era of Louis XIV.[23] The stage featured three revolving platforms, each of which was segmented into four, similar to a revolving door, to include various backdrops.[24] These backdrops were specific to each of the participating countries and featured scenery or objects associated with that country.[22][25]

A few days prior to the contest, hotel and shop owners in Cannes complained that the contest was covered and advertised too sparsely by RTF and subsequently feared that too few tourists would come to Cannes.[6][26] In contrast, the Cannes Comité des Fêtes, which was involved in the organisation of the contest, believed that the broadcast of images from Cannes to many European households would have a significant impact on tourism in the weeks to follow.[26]

Format

As in the 1957 and 1958 contests, each country, participating through a single EBU member broadcaster, was represented by one song performed by up to two people on stage. The results of the event were determined through jury voting, with each country's jury containing ten individuals who each gave one vote to their favourite song, with no abstentions allowed and with jurors unable to vote for their own country.[8][27] One rule change implemented for this contest specified that individuals employed in the music industry were no longer allowed to be included among the national juries.[8]

The draw to determine the running order took place on 9 March 1959.[22]

Contest overview

Teddy Scholten upon returning to the Netherlands following her contest win
Assembled crowd at Schipol Airport for Scholten's homecoming

The contest was held on 11 March 1959, beginning at 21:00 CET (20:00 UTC) and lasted 1 hour and 12 minutes.[17][28] The event was hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert.[8][17]

The prelude of Charpentier's "Te Deum", the theme music of Eurovision broadcasts, was played as opening act by the orchestra under the direction of Franck Pourcel.[29]

The winner was the Netherlands represented by the song "Een beetje", composed by Dick Schallies, written by Willy van Hemert and performed by Teddy Scholten.[30] The Netherlands became the first country to achieve two victories in the event, and Van Hemert became the first individual to win the contest twice, after previously providing lyrics for the Netherlands' winner in 1957, "Net als toen".[8][24] The United Kingdom's result was the first of sixteen British entries to finish in second place, a contest record as of 2023.[11][24]

Alongside the traditional reprise performance of the winning song, the second- and third-placed songs were also performed again, for the first and only time at the contest.[8][27]

After the show, a supper for the participating delegations was held on behalf of the city of Cannes at the Salon des Ambassadeurs of the Casino municipal.[5] Initially, the prize of the contest taking the form of an engraved medallion was to be handed over solemnly during that supper but instead was presented by RTF's director of programming Jean d'Arcy to Teddy Scholten at the end of the show.[23][26]

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959[17][31]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1  France Jean Philippe "Oui oui oui oui" 15 3
2  Denmark Birthe Wilke "Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig" 12 5
3  Italy Domenico Modugno "Piove" 9 6
4  Monaco Jacques Pills "Mon ami Pierrot" 1 11
5  Netherlands Teddy Scholten "Een beetje" 21 1
6  Germany Alice and Ellen Kessler "Heut' woll'n wir tanzen geh'n" 5 8
7  Sweden Brita Borg "Augustin" 4 9
8   Switzerland Christa Williams "Irgendwoher" 14 4
9  Austria Ferry Graf "Der K. und K. Kalypso aus Wien" 4 9
10  United Kingdom Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson "Sing Little Birdie" 16 2
11  Belgium Bob Benny "Hou toch van mij" 9 6

Spokespersons

Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone.[32] Known spokespersons at the 1959 contest are listed below.

  •  Netherlands – Siebe van der Zee[33]
  •  Sweden – Roland Eiworth[25]

Detailed voting results

The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in reverse order to that which each country performed.[27]

Detailed voting results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959[27][34][35]
Total score
Belgium
United Kingdom
Austria
Switzerland
Sweden
Germany
Netherlands
Monaco
Italy
Denmark
France
Contestants
 France 152114214
Denmark 122214111
Italy 913113
Monaco 11
Netherlands 213132174
Germany 51112
Sweden 431
Switzerland 141513112
Austria 4121
United Kingdom 162235211
Belgium 923112

Broadcasts

Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its television network. No official accounts of the viewing figures are known to exist. An estimate given in the press was at least 20 million viewers.[6]

Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers. Twelve commentator boxes were installed on the balconies of the auditorium.[5] Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the table below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria ORF ORF [36]
 Belgium NIR NIR [37]
INR INR [37]
 Denmark DR Danmarks Radio TV, Program 2 Sejr Volmer-Sørensen [13]
 France RTF RTF Claude Darget [28][38][29]
France II
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen [28][37]
 Italy RAI Programma Nazionale, Secondo Programma Renato Tagliani [38][39]
 Monaco Télé Monte-Carlo [40]
Radio Monte-Carlo [38]
 Netherlands NTS NTS Piet te Nuyl Jr. [37][41]
NRU Hilversum 1 Aad Bos [37][42]
 Sweden SR Sveriges TV, SR P1 Jan Gabrielsson [25]
  Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS [28][38]
TSR
TSI
DRS 2
RSR 2
RSI
 United Kingdom BBC BBC Television Service Tom Sloan [1][17]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Luxembourg CLT Télé-Luxembourg [43]

Notes

  1. ↑ On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Television Programmes – Wednesday Evening". Radio Times. 6 March 1959. p. 19. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  2. 1 2 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. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  3. ↑ "The Palais Croisette : 33 years of service". cannes.com. 4 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "The 1983 festival inaugurates the Palais des Festivals". cannes.com. 4 October 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Montaigne, Pierre (11 March 1959). "Onze vedettes, onze refrains, onze nations sont engagés dans le Grand Prix Eurovision 1959 de la chanson européenne". L'Espoir de Nice et du Sud-Est. p. 4. ISSN 1166-9012.
  6. 1 2 3 Nosari, Jacques (12 March 1959). "Pluie de chansons". Le Figaro (in French). p. 15. ISSN 0182-5852. OCLC 1367314267.
  7. ↑ Escudero, Victor M. (26 October 2017). "#ThrowbackThursday to 60 years ago: Eurovision 1957". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 January 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Cannes 1959 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  9. ↑ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: Carlton Books. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
  10. ↑ 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. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  11. 1 2 "United Kingdom – Country Profile". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  12. ↑ Jordan, Paul; Roxburgh, Gordon (11 January 2017). "Shining a light on the United Kingdom: 60 Years at Eurovision". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  13. 1 2 "Programoversigt – Program 2 / Fjernsyn – 11-03-1959" (in Danish). Dansk Kulturarv. 11 March 1959. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  14. ↑ "Participants of Frankfurt 1957 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  15. ↑ "Participants of Hilversum 1958 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  16. ↑ "Participants of Cannes 1959". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 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. 184–188. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  18. ↑ "1959 – 4th edition". diggiloo.net. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  19. ↑ "Alle deutschen ESC-Acts und ihre Titel". www.eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  20. ↑ 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. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  21. ↑ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: Carlton Books. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
  22. 1 2 3 Montaigne, Pierre (11 March 1959). "Le Grand Prix 1959 de la chanson européenne". Nice-Matin. p. 2. ISSN 0224-5477.
  23. 1 2 Montaigne, Pierre (12 March 1959). "Les Pays-Bas remportent le Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson européenne". L'Espoir de Nice et du Sud-Est. p. 4. ISSN 1166-9012.
  24. 1 2 3 O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: Carlton Books. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
  25. 1 2 3 Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden: Premium Publishing. pp. 20–21. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
  26. 1 2 3 Médecin, Jacques (8 March 1959). "Les hôteliers cannois à la T. V. : 'Faites-donc de la publicité !'". Télé Magazine. pp. 38–39. ISSN 0040-2443.
  27. 1 2 3 4 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. 188–191. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  28. 1 2 3 4 "Les programmes de la Télévision". Radio Je vois tout – télévision (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 5 March 1959. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 11 June 2022 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
  29. 1 2 4ème Grand prix Eurovision 1959 de la chanson européenne [4th Eurovision Grand Prix of European song 1959] (Television broadcast) (in French). Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française. 11 March 1959. Retrieved 27 June 2023 – via Institut national de l'audiovisuel.
  30. ↑ "Teddy Scholten – Netherlands – Cannes 1959". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  31. ↑ "Final of Cannes 1959 – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  32. ↑ "How it works – Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  33. ↑ "Succes van Teddy Scholten in Cannes met 'Een beetje'". Nieuwe Leidsche Courant. 12 March 1959. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  34. ↑ "Results of the Final of Cannes 1959". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  35. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1959 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  36. ↑ "Austria – Cannes 1959". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  37. 1 2 3 4 5 "Programma's binnen- en buitenlandse zenders". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 10 March 1959. p. 17. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  38. 1 2 3 4 "Programmes des Émissions Suisses et Étrangères". Radio Je vois tout – télévision (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 11 March 1959. pp. 38–40. Retrieved 11 June 2022 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
  39. ↑ "Oggi e domani alla Radio". La Stampa (in Italian). 11 March 1959. p. 8. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  40. ↑ "Monaco – Cannes 1959". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  41. ↑ Pasterkamp, Bert (11 March 1959). "Modugno in Cannes en... het regent". Het Vrije Volk (in Dutch). p. 1. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  42. ↑ Reconstructie Eurovisie Songfestival 1959 met Nederlands commentaar van Aad Bos. Dutch Radio Union and Nederlandse Televisie Stichting. 11 March 1959. Retrieved 12 December 2023 – via Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.
  43. ↑ "Télé-Luxembourg". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). 10 March 1959. p. 4. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
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