The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union, the pan-European music competition was an inspiration of the Italian Sanremo Music Festival. Lohengrin Filipello hosted the first contest which lasted approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. Seven countries participated in the first edition, with each of them performing two songs in a bid to be crowned winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. Two jury members from all participating countries cast their votes in secret, based on which song was their favourite. Lys Assia won the contest for the host country Switzerland with the song "Refrain"
Read more about Eurovision Song Contest 1956: History, Location, Format, Participating Countries, Results, International Broadcasts
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“She sang a song that sounds like life; I mean it was sad. Délira knew no other types of songs. She didn’t sing loud, and the song had no words. It was sung with closed lips and it stayed down in one’s throat.... Life is what taught them, these Negresses, to sing as if they were choking back sobs. It is a song that always ends with a beginning anew because this song is the picture of misery, and tell me, does misery ever end?”
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