Eurovision Song Contest 1957
Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox song contest
The Eurovision Song Contest 1957, originally known as the Template:Lang (Template:Langx<ref name="Radio Times" />), was the second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on Sunday 3 March 1957 at the Template:Lang in Frankfurt, West Germany, and presented by Anaid Iplicjian. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Template:Lang (HR) on behalf of ARDTemplate:Efn.
Broadcasters from ten countries participated in the contest, with Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, and the Template:Esccnty competing for the first time and joining the original seven participating countries from the first contest in Template:Escyr. A number of changes to the rules from the previous year's event were enacted, with each country now represented by only one song, which could be performed by up to two performers on stage. The voting system received an overhaul, with each country's jury now comprising ten individuals which awarded one vote each to their favourite song. The results of the voting were now conducted in public, with a scoreboard introduced to allow the process to be followed by viewers and listeners at home. Jurors were also for the first time not allowed to vote for the song from their own country.
The winner of the contest was the Template:Esccnty, with the song "Template:Lang" performed by Corry Brokken. This was Brokken's second appearance as a participant, after previously representing the Netherlands in 1956; her victory marked the first of five Dutch wins in the contest Template:As of.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Location
The 1957 contest took place in Frankfurt, West Germany.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref> The selected venue was the Template:Lang, a music hall and former broadcasting studio located in the Dornbusch district, and part of the wider Broadcasting House Dornbusch which serves as the headquarters and main broadcasting facility of the German public broadcaster for the state of Hesse, Template:Lang (HR).<ref name="ESC1957">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The contest was held in front of an audience of around 400 people.Template:Sfn<ref name="throwback">Template:Cite web</ref>
A new plan for staging the event was invoked ahead of the 1957 contest, with a different broadcaster organising the contest each year, after Switzerland's SRG SSR, which had both hosted the contest and provided the winning entry in Template:Escyr, declined to stage it for a second time.<ref name="throwback" /> Germany was subsequently selected to host the second edition, after Hans-Otto Grünefeldt, TV program director at HR, offered to organise it on behalf of ARD.Template:Efn<ref name="ESC1957" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Frankfurt was selected as host city as early as June 1956 during an EBU meeting in Italy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Participants
Template:Further Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1957 participants Ten countries participated in the 1957 contest, with the seven countries which took part in the first contest being joined by Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty and the Template:Esccnty in their first appearances.<ref name="ESC1957" /> Austria and Denmark had originally planned to compete in 1956, but missed the cut-off date for entry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Initially, Monaco also figured on the list of participants for 1957,<ref name=":1">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but disappeared from the list by 21 February 1957.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref>
Two of the participating artists, Switzerland's Lys Assia and the Netherlands' Corry Brokken, had previously competed at the 1956 contest. Brokken was one of the two Dutch participants in that year's contest, competing with the song "Template:Lang", while Assia had performed both of Switzerland's entries, "Template:Lang" and "Template:Lang", the latter of which had won the contest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Format
The contest was organised and broadcast by HR on behalf of ARD, with Michael Kehlmann serving as director and Willy Berking serving as musical director, leading the Template:Lang during the event.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="B+F" /> HR took charge of all financial costs, except costs regarding the individual participants (such as travel and accommodation) and costs regarding the international transmission via the Eurovision network.<ref name=":1" /> Each participating delegation was allowed to nominate its own musical director to lead the orchestra during the performance of its country's entry, with the host musical director also conducting for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor.<ref name=":1" />Template:Sfn
The stage built in the Template:Lang featured a wooden staircase for the artists and conductors to make their entrance, and a lyre-shaped background for the singers, which should symbolize the history of popular songs since the Middle Ages.<ref name="Frankfurter">Template:Cite news</ref> The centre of the background contained a removable background, allowing for a different graphic to be used for each nation's performance.<ref name="throwback" />Template:Sfn The background of the orchestra featured photographs from different European landmarks, such as the Brandenburg Gate, the Colosseum and the Arc de Triomphe.<ref name="Frankfurter" /> Curtains were used extensively as backgrounds and decorative elements.<ref name="Frankfurter" /> The entire contest, including the performances and voting, lasted around one hour in total.Template:Sfn<ref name="likeitwas">Template:Cite web</ref> Held just over nine months after the inaugural contest, the contest date of 3 March remains the earliest date in the calendar year in which the contest has been held.<ref name="throwback" />
A number of changes from the rules of the previous year's contest were enacted in 1957. Each country was now permitted to send only one song to compete, as opposed to the maximum of two in 1956.<ref name=":1" />Template:Sfn Up to two people were now allowed on stage during the performance, however no other vocal backing was allowed.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="ESC1957" /><ref name="throwback" />Template:Sfn
A new voting system was introduced, with ten individuals in each country giving one vote to their favourite song.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="throwback" /> In an additional change to the 1956 rules, jurors were not allowed to vote for the song from their own country.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="throwback" />Template:Sfn A scoreboard was introduced for the first time, and the voting process was now included as part of the broadcast, rather than conducted in secret as in 1956.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> The inclusion of a voting sequence allowed for more transparency and helped to create dramatic tension.<ref name=":0" /> This new aspect of the contest was inspired by the United Kingdom's Festival of British Popular Songs, which included voting by regional juries and the running total being shown on a scoreboard, a telerecording of which was viewed by EBU organisers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name="throwback" /> Each jury assembled in their own country to follow the contest on television and were then contacted by telephone by the contest's presenter in order to announce their votes, in a change from 1956 when the jurors were co-located to the contest venue.<ref name="throwback" />Template:Sfn The participating broadcasters had to make sure that the television sets of the national juries were switched off during the voting to prevent jury members being influenced by other countries' results.<ref name=":1" />
Entries were required to not have been commercially released before 10 February 1957.<ref name=":1" /> Each song, as in 1956, was strongly recommended to last no longer than three to three minutes and 30 seconds,<ref name=":1" /> however several of the competing entries went beyond this limit.<ref name=":4" /> Italy's song, which lasted for five minutes and nine seconds, remains the longest song in the contest's history and, despite heavy protest, was not disqualified.<ref name="throwback" />Template:Sfn Conversely, the United Kingdom's first entry lasted for one minute and 53 seconds in total, and remained the shortest song to compete in the contest until Template:Escyr.<ref name="throwback" /> Subsequently the restriction on song length was more strictly monitored from Template:Escyr onwards.<ref name="throwback" />Template:Sfn
Broadcasters were required to submit the lyrics, scores, and an audio recording of their entries by 17 February 1957.<ref name=":1" /> Copies of the lyrics as well as their translation into English or French were forwarded to the national juries and the commentators.<ref name=":1" /> The draw that determined the running order was held on 2 March 1957.<ref name="contestAV">Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Contest overview
The contest was held on 3 March 1957 at 21:00 (CET) and lasted 1 hour.<ref name="Radio Times" />Template:Sfn The event was hosted by German actress Anaid Iplicjian.<ref name="ESC1957" /><ref name="throwback" />
The winner was the Template:Esccnty represented by the song "Template:Lang", composed by Guus Jansen, written by Willy van Hemert and performed by Corry Brokken.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Notable among this year's participants were Denmark's Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler, the first duo to compete in the contest, who made an impact with a passionate on-screen kiss at the end of their performance; and Germany's Margot Hielscher, the first Eurovision act to use a prop during their performance, in this instance a telephone.<ref name="ESC1957" /><ref name="throwback" />
An award was presented to the winning composer for the first time, taking the form of a medallion, which was awarded at the end of the broadcast by Template:Ill, director of Template:Lang.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The medallion had been commissioned by Deutsches Fernsehen and designed by sculptor Template:Ill.<ref name="contestAV" />Template:Sfn It featured the Eurovision logo and the words "Grand Prix 1957" on one side, and the mythological figure Europa on a bull on the other side.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
| Template:Abbr | Country | Artist | Song | Votes | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "Template:Lang" | 5 | 8 |
| 2 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "Template:Lang" | 8 | 4 |
| 3 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "All" | 6 | 7 |
| 4 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "Template:Lang" | 7 | 6 |
| 5 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "Template:Lang" | 3 | 10 |
| 6 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "Template:Lang" | 31 | 1 |
| 7 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "Template:Lang" | 8 | 4 |
| 8 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "Template:Lang" | 17 | 2 |
| 9 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname and Gustav Winckler | "Template:Lang" | 10 | 3 |
| 10 | Template:Esc | Template:Sortname | "Template:Lang" | 5 | 8 |
Spokespersons
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for its respective country via telephone.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Known spokespersons at the 1957 contest are listed below.
Detailed voting results
The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in reverse order to the order in which each country performed.Template:Sfn
| scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | scope="col" Template:Vert header | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan=10 Template:Vert header | Belgium | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Luxembourg | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||
| United Kingdom | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Italy | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Austria | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Netherlands | 31 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Germany | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| France | 17 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||||
| Denmark | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | ||||||||
| Switzerland | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
Broadcasts
Broadcasters competing in the event were required to relay the contest via its networks; non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest.<ref name=":1" /> In total, the contest was broadcast in 12 countries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
The 1957 contest is the earliest edition to exist in full in the EBU's archives, as the 1956 edition has survived solely through audio recordings, with some missing segments, and limited video footage of the winning reprise performance through newsreel and other recordings.<ref name="throwback" /><ref name="likeitwas" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although the number of households which had access to a television in Europe continued to grow, this edition, as in the case of the 1956 contest, was still mainly accessed by spectators via radio.<ref name="ESC1957" />
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | Template:Refh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Flagu | Télé Monte-Carlo | Robert Beauvais | <ref name="RCT" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| Radio Monte-CarloTemplate:Efn | Template:N/A | <ref name="RadioJVT">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | ||
| Template:Flagu | SR | Template:Lang | Template:Ill | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Sfn |
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
Template:Eurovision Song Contest 1957 Template:Eurovision Song Contest Template:Portal bar Template:Coord