Eurovision Song Contest 1959


The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Cannes, France, following André Claveau's win at the 1958 contest in Hilversum, Netherlands with the song "Dors, mon amour". It was the first time France hosted the event. The contest was held at Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on Wednesday 11 March 1959, and was hosted by Jacqueline Joubert. It was the first Eurovision Song Contest held in a coastal town and in the Mediterranean Basin.
Eleven countries participated in the contest. Monaco made its debut this year, the United Kingdom returned after a year of absence, and Luxembourg decided not to participate.
The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Een beetje", performed by Teddy Scholten, written by Willy van Hemert and composed by Dick Schallies. This was the Netherlands' second victory in the contest, following their win in 1957 - marking the first time a country had won more than once. Willy van Hemert also wrote the first Dutch winner that year.

Location

The event took place in Cannes, France, with the venue being the original building of Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, after France got the right to host this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest for winning its previous 1958 edition with the song "Dors, mon amour" performed by André Claveau. Cannes, a city located on the French Riviera, is a busy tourist destination and known worldwide for hosting the annual Cannes Film Festival, with the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès also hosting the Film Festival. The original building was built in 1949 and was located on the boulevard of Promenade de la Croisette, on the present site of the JW Marriott Cannes.

Format

A new rule was created for this Eurovision, ensuring that no professional publishers or composers were allowed in the national juries. During the voting, Italy gave one point to France, no points to the UK and seven points to the Netherlands placing them just three points ahead of the UK. Later on, France gave only three points to Italy and four points to the Netherlands thus giving them a five-point lead over the UK, who were only one point ahead of France, leaving Italy behind in sixth position, behind Denmark, on nine points. Something that occurred this year, but never again, was that more than the winning entry was performed once again. The third- and second-placed songs, France and United Kingdom respectively, were allowed to sing again at the end of the show, together with the eventual winner, the Netherlands.

Participating countries

did not return to the competition after its 1958 participation. The United Kingdom returned after missing the previous contest and finished second for the first time. The UK would have 15 second-place finishes in the country's history in the contest. Monaco made its debut in the contest, but came last.

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who conducted the orchestra.
The contest saw the return of two artists who had participated in previous editions of the contest: Birthe Wilke for Denmark and Domenico Modugno for Italy.

Results

Scoreboard

Broadcasters, commentators and spokespersons

Spokespersons

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1959 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country.
  1. –
  2. – Pete Murray
  3. – Karl Bruck
  4. –
  5. –
  6. –
  7. –
  8. – TBC
  9. – Enzo Tortora
  10. – Svend Pedersen
  11. –

    Broadcasters and commentators

Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.