Eurovision Song Contest 1959

Eurovision Song Contest 1959
Dates
Final11 March 1959
Host
VenuePalais des Festivals et des Congrès
Cannes, France
Presenter(s)Jacqueline Joubert
Musical directorFranck Pourcel
Directed byMarcel Cravenne
Host broadcasterRadiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/cannes-1959 Edit this at Wikidata
Participants
Number of entries11
Debuting countries Monaco
Returning countries United Kingdom
Non-returning countries Luxembourg
  • A coloured map of the countries of EuropeBelgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest
         Competing countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1959
Vote
Voting systemTen-member juries in each country; each member gave one vote to their favourite song
Winning song Netherlands
"Een beetje"
1958 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1960

The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France, and hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the contest, originally known as the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1959 (English: Grand Prix of the Eurovision Song Contest 1959[1]), was held in France following the country's victory at the 1958 contest with the song "Dors, mon amour", performed by André Claveau.

In total eleven countries participated in the contest, with Monaco making its first appearance and the United Kingdom returning after their absence the previous year. Luxembourg, however, decided not to participate after competing in all former editions.

The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Een beetje", performed by Teddy Scholten, composed by Dick Schallies and written by Willy van Hemert. This was the Netherlands' second victory in the contest, having also won in 1957, and also marked the first time a country had won the contest more than once. Van Hemert also became the first individual to win twice, having also written the first Dutch winning song from 1957, "Net als toen". The United Kingdom placed second, marking the first of a record sixteen times that the country would go on to finish as contest runners-up, while France placed third.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Radio Times was invoked but never defined (see the help page).