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Happy Birthday Eurovision Song Contest

24 May 2012 at 16:27 CEST

Each of seven nations which participated, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Italy had two songs in the contest.

The contest was won by Lys Assia with the song Refrain for Switzerland. The song was composed by Géo Voumard and Émile Gardaz and conducted by Fernando Paggi.

No details of the voting have ever been made public. Each country was represented by two jurors, who could also vote for their own entry, and the winner was simply revealed by an announcement. The contest was presented by Lohengrin Filipello.

The first contest is not known to exist in any archive, although there is newsreel footage that includes part of the winning reprise by Lys Assia. 

Lys Assia interview

Watch the interview we conducted with Lys Assia in 2011.

The contest has changed a lot over the past 56 years, and embraced more and more countries, and has been at the forefront on technical development within the television industry.

 Throughout the decades it has remained Europe's Favourite TV Show.

Happy Birthday Eurovision Song Contest.