Switzerland was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1956 The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RSI) on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR). The contest, origi ...

with two songs: "" written by Georg Betz-Stahl, and "" composed by

Géo Voumard Géo Voumard (2 December 1920 – 3 September 2008) was a Swiss jazz pianist and composer. He was a co-founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival and composer of the song "''Refrain''" which won the first Eurovision Song Contest. Life and career V ...

, with lyrics by

Émile Gardaz Émile Gardaz (29 August 1931, Échallens, Vaud - 19 December 2007) was a Swiss radio moderator and author, working for Radio suisse romande since 1955. He was the father of comedian Sophie Gardaz. Ten years before his death, in 1997, he was, ...

. Both songs were performed by

Lys Assia Rosa Mina Schärer (3 March 1924 – 24 March 2018), known by her stage name Lys Assia, was a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in . Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed ...

. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the

Swiss Broadcasting Corporation The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...

(SRG SSR), selected its entries through a national final. In addition, (RSI), on behalf of SRG SSR, was the host broadcaster and staged the event at the in

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

. "" was the first-ever entry from Switzerland performed in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, and the first-ever entry in German in the contest; while "", that eventually won the contest, was the first-ever winner in its history.

Before Eurovision

For their national selection, the

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

The national final called was held at the Radio Lausanne Studio de la Sallaz in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

on 28 April 1956 at 20:45

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

(19:45

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

). It was broadcast on TSR and SRG as well as on the radio stations

Beromünster Beromünster is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. On 1 January 2004 the former municipality of Schwarzenbach merged into the municipality of Beromünster.Sottens and

Monte Ceneri Monte Ceneri is a mountain pass in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It connects the Magadino Plain and the Vedeggio Valley across the Lugano Prealps at an elevation of above sea level. It provides the most direct route between the citie ...

. commented the final for the German-speaking radio and television. The final was directed by , and presented by . The studio audience consisted of invited guests and journalists. Eleven songs were sung by Jo Roland,

Anita Traversi Anita Traversi (25 July 1937 – 25 September 1991) was a Swiss singer, best known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contests of 1960 and 1964. Early career Born in Giubiasco, Traversi was encouraged by her father, a musician, and st ...

and

. They were accompanied by the Orchestra Radiosa under the direction of Fernando Paggi. Seven songs were sung in French, three in German, one in Italian. Four entries had been written by Radio Lausanne's own

and

. The accordionist duo Les Frères Domergue and the harmonica group Trio Hill Billy's were interval acts. The puppet group Compagnie des marottes and André Robert seem to have also participated in the show. 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. One of the jury members was Father Kaelin. The winners were the songs " Refrains", composed by

and written by

, and, "", written and composed by Georg Betz-Stahl. Both songs were performed by

At Eurovision

"" was performed second in the contest, following the and preceding . "" 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. All jury members were colocated in a separate room in the venue in Lugano and followed the contest via a television set. The Swiss jury members were Father Pierre Kaelin and

Rolf Liebermann Rolf Liebermann (14 September 1910 – 2 January 1999), was a Swiss composer and music administrator. He served as the artistic director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1959 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1988. He was also the artistic director ...

who also acted as president of the jury. After the jury had held its vote, "Refrain" was announced as the winner of the

. The placements of all other participating entries are not known. The final in Lugano was broadcast in Switzerland on TSR (with commentary by ) and SRG (with commentary by ) as well as on the radio stations

. Excerpts from the final were rebroadcast on Radio Monte Ceneri on 10 June 1956 at 21:45 CET.

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1956

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Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...