First Eurovision Song Contest winner

The first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) – initially known as the Gran Premio Eurovisione 1956 della Canzone Europea – was held at the Teatro Kursaal (now Casinò Lugano) in Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Hosted by Lohengrin Filipello for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), the inaugural contest featured 12 singers from seven countries (Belgium, France, [West] Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland), with each country performing two songs. Switzerland’s Lys Assia (b. Rosa Mina Schärer) was one of two singers chosen to perform both of her country’s entries, delivering “Das alte Karussell” in German and “Refrain” in French. A jury voted “Refrain” the winner, although the full breakdown of results has never been disclosed and is presumed lost or destroyed. In 2021, the Good Evening Europe blog unearthed full video footage of Assia’s reprise performance from the 1956 event, shot by photographer Vincenzo Vicari.

Following her success in Lugano, Assia (1924-2018) was selected to represent Switzerland again in 1957 (with “L'Enfant que j'étais” in Frankfurt, West Germany) and 1958 (with “Giorgio” in Hilversum, Netherlands), finishing eighth and second, respectively.

Eurovision’s “first lady” is one of just four singers to date to have made three consecutive appearances at the ESC, alongside Dutchwoman Cornelia “Corry” Brokken, who achieved the feat simultaneously in 1956-58, Austria’s Udo Jürgens (1964-66) and San Marino’s Valentina Monetta (2012-14). In 2012-13, Assia, then in her late eighties, attempted to make a Eurovision comeback with songs penned by the competition’s most prolific songwriter, Ralph Siegel, but on both occasions failed to win enough support to come through (2012) or make it to (2013) Switzerland’s national selection process.