Eurovision Song Contest 1959

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.

Eurovision Song Contest 1959
Dates
Final	11 March 1959 (1959-03-11)
Host
Venue	Palais des Festivals et des Congrès Cannes, France
Presenter(s)	Jacqueline Joubert
Musical director	Franck Pourcel
Director	Marcel Cravenne
Host broadcaster	Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF)
Website	eurovision.tv/event/cannes-1959
Participants
Number of entries	11
Debuting countries	Monaco
Returning countries	United Kingdom
Non-returning countries	Luxembourg
Participation map      Competing countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1959
Vote
Voting system	Ten-member juries in each country; each member gave one vote to their favourite song
Winning song	Netherlands "Een beetje"
1958 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1960

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 1,500 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

Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1959 – Participation summaries by country
Austria Belgium Denmark France Germany Italy Monaco Netherlands Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom

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 2024^[update].^[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]

Eurovision Song Contest 1959 participants^[16][17]

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	Carl Andersen Otto Lington	Kai Mortensen
France	RTF	Jean Philippe	"Oui oui oui oui"	French	Pierre Cour Hubert Giraud	Franck Pourcel
Germany	HR[a]	Alice and Ellen Kessler	"Heut' woll'n wir tanzen geh'n"	German	Astrid Voltmann Helmut Zander	Franck Pourcel
Italy	RAI	Domenico Modugno	"Piove"	Italian	Domenico Modugno Dino Verde	William Galassini
Monaco	TMC	Jacques Pills	"Mon ami Pierrot"	French	Raymond Bravard Florence Véran	Franck Pourcel
Netherlands	NTS	Teddy Scholten	"Een beetje"	Dutch	Willy van Hemert Dick Schallies	Dolf van der Linden
Sweden	SR	Brita Borg	"Augustin"	Swedish	Åke Gerhard Harry Sandin	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	Stan Butcher Syd Cordell	Eric Robinson

Production and format

The contest was organised and broadcast by the French public broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), with Marcel Cravenne [fr] serving as director and Franck Pourcel serving as musical director.^[8][19][20] 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]

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][21] 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]

The stage constructed for the event was designed by Gérard Dubois, and was inspired by the era of Louis XIV.^[22][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]

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 at 21:00 (CET) and lasted 1 hour and 12 minutes.^[1][17] 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.^[27]

The winner was the Netherlands represented by the song "Een beetje", composed by Dick Schallies [nl], written by Willy van Hemert and performed by Teddy Scholten.^[28] 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^[update].^[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][21]

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 [fr].^[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 [fr] to Teddy Scholten at the end of the show.^[23][26]

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959^[17][29]

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.^[30] Known spokespersons at the 1959 contest are listed below.

•  Netherlands – Siebe van der Zee [nl]^[31]
•  Sweden – Roland Eiworth [sv]^[25]

Detailed voting results

The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in reverse order to that which each country performed.^[21]

Detailed voting results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959^[21][32][33]

		Total score	Belgium	United Kingdom	Austria	Switzerland	Sweden	Germany	Netherlands	Monaco	Italy	Denmark	France
Contestants	France	15	2		1	1		4		2	1	4
	Denmark	12		2	2	1	4		1	1	1
	Italy	9	1			3	1			1			3
	Monaco	1			1
	Netherlands	21	3	1	3			2		1	7		4
	Germany	5	1			1					1		2
	Sweden	4							3			1
	Switzerland	14	1	5	1		3	1		1		2
	Austria	4				1	2			1
	United Kingdom	16	2		2	3			5	2		1	1
	Belgium	9		2				3	1	1		2

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.
Austria	ORF	ORF		[34]
Belgium	NIR	NIR		[35]
	INR	INR	Paule Herreman	[36][37]
Denmark	DR	Danmarks Radio TV, Program 2	Sejr Volmer-Sørensen	[13]
France	RTF	RTF	Claude Darget [fr]	[27][38]
		France II		[39]
Germany	ARD	Deutsches Fernsehen		[40]
Italy	RAI	Programma Nazionale, Secondo Programma	Renato Tagliani [it]	[41][42]
Monaco	Radio Monte-Carlo[b]			[43]
Netherlands	NTS	NTS	Piet te Nuyl Jr.	[44]
	NRU	Hilversum 1	Aad Bos	[45][46]
	RNW[c]			[47]
Sweden	SR	Sveriges TV, SR P1	Jan Gabrielsson [sv]	[48]
Switzerland	SRG SSR	TV DRS, Radio Bern		[49]
		TSR, Radio Genève		[50][43]
		TSI, Radio Monte Ceneri		[51]
United Kingdom	BBC	BBC Television Service	Tom Sloan	[1]

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref.
Luxembourg	CLT	Télé-Luxembourg		[52]

Notes and references

Notes

1. On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD^[18]
2. Deferred broadcast at 22:06 (CET)^[43]
3. Delayed broadcast in a shortened format on 14 March 1959 at 14:55 (CET)^[47]

References

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2. Roxburgh 2012, p. 184.
3. "The Palais Croisette : 33 years of service". Cannes. 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.
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6. Nosari, Jacques (12 March 1959). "Pluie de chansons" [Rain of songs]. Le Figaro (in French). Paris, France. p. 15. ISSN 0182-5852. OCLC 1367314267.
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9. O'Connor 2010, pp. 12–13.
10. Roxburgh 2012, p. 166.
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19. Roxburgh 2012, p. 191.
20. O'Connor 2010, p. 217.
21. Roxburgh 2012, pp. 188–191.
22. Montaigne, Pierre (11 March 1959). "Le Grand Prix 1959 de la chanson européenne" [The 1959 Grand Prix for European song]. Nice-Matin (in French). Nice, France. p. 2. ISSN 0224-5477.
23. Montaigne, Pierre (12 March 1959). "Les Pays-Bas remportent le Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson européenne" [The Netherlands wins the Eurovision Grand Prix for European Song]. L'Espoir de Nice et du Sud-Est (in French). Nice, France. p. 4. ISSN 1166-9012.
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25. Thorsson & Verhage 2006, pp. 20–21.
26. Médecin, Jacques (8 March 1959). "Les hôteliers cannois à la T. V. : 'Faites-donc de la publicité !'" [Cannes hoteliers on TV: 'Let's advertise!']. Télé Magazine (in French). Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. pp. 38–39. ISSN 0040-2443.
27. 4ème Grand prix Eurovision 1959 de la chanson européenne [4th Eurovision Grand Prix of European song 1959] (Television broadcast) (in French). Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF). 11 March 1959. Retrieved 27 June 2023 – via Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA).
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29. "Cannes 1959 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
30. "How it works". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
31. "Succes van Teddy Scholten in Cannes met 'Een beetje'" [Teddy Scholten's success in Cannes with 'Een beetje']. Nieuwe Leidsche Courant (in Dutch). Leiden, Netherlands. 12 March 1959. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
32. "Cannes 1959 – Detailed voting results". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
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34. "Fernsehprogramm – Vom 8. bis 14. März 1959 – Mittwoch, den 11. März" [Television program – From 8 to 14 March 1959 – Wednesday, 11 March]. Burgenländische Freiheit [de] (in German). Wiener Neustadt, Austria. 7–8 March 1959. p. 9. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via Austrian National Library.
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36. "Das Fernsehprogramm – Mittwoch, den 11. März 1959" [The television programme – Wednesday, March 11, 1959.] (PDF). St. Vither Zeitung [de] (in German). St. Vith, Belgium. 7 March 1959. p. 8. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via State Archives of Belgium.
37. "Jean-François évoque le parcours remarquable de Paule Herreman, pionnière du petit écran" [Jean-François discusses the remarkable journey of Paule Herreman, pioneer of the small screen]. RTBF. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
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39. "La radio du dimanche 8 au samedi 14 mars 1959 – Mercredi 11 mars" [Radio from Sunday 8 March to Saturday 11 March 1959 – Wednesday 11 March]. Le Réveil du Vivarais [fr] (in French). Annonay, France. 7 March 1959. p. 6. Retrieved 18 September 2024 – via Departmental Archives of Ardèche [fr].
40. "Deutsches Fernsehen – Mittwoch, den 11. März 1959" [German television – Wednesday 11 March 1959]. Neckar-Bote (in German). Heidelberg, West Germany. 7 March 1959. p. 38. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek.
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42. "⁎ Radio ⁎ mercoledì 11 marzo | Secondo Programma" [⁎ Radio ⁎ Wednesday 11 March | Second Programme]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 36, no. 10. 8–14 March 1959. p. 36. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
43. "Programmes des émissions suisses et étrangères" [Swiss and foreign broadcast programmes]. Radio Je vois tout – télévision (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland. 11 March 1959. pp. 38–40. Retrieved 11 June 2022 – via Scriptorium.
44. "Televisie – Woensdag 11 maart 1959" [Television – Wednesday, 11 March 1959]. Vrije geluiden (in Dutch). Vol. 29, no. 10. Hilversum, Netherlands. 7 March 1959. p. 35. OCLC 72761986. Retrieved 19 September 2024 – via Delpher.
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46. Reconstructie Eurovisie Songfestival 1959 met Nederlands commentaar van Aad Bos [Reconstruction of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 with Dutch commentary by Aad Bos] (in Dutch). Nederlandse Radio Unie (NRU) and Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTU). 11 March 1959. Retrieved 12 December 2023 – via Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.
47. "Avondprogramma – Zaterdag 14 maart 1959 – Radio Nederland – Wereldomroep" [Evening programme – Saturday 14 March 1959 – Radio Netherlands – Worldwide]. Vrije geluiden (in Dutch). Vol. 29, no. 10. Hilversum, Netherlands. 7 March 1959. p. 52. OCLC 72761986. Retrieved 19 September 2024 – via Delpher.
48. "Radio och TV" [Radio and TV]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden. 11 March 1959. p. 34.
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50. "Les programmes de la Télévision suisse" [Swiss Television programmes]. Radio Je vois tout – télévision (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland. 5 March 1959. p. 20. Retrieved 11 June 2022 – via Scriptorium.
51. "Spettacoli" [Shows]. Gazzetta Ticinese [it] (in Italian). Lugano, Switzerland. 11 March 1959. p. 2. Retrieved 3 July 2024 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese [it].
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Bibliography

• O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London, United Kingdom: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
• 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. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
• Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna [Melodifestivalen through the ages: the Swedish selections and international finals] (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden: Premium Publishing. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.

External links

• Official website

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