Eurovision Song Contest 1959

The event took place in Cannes, France, following the nation's victory at the in Hilversum, Netherlands, with the song "", performed by André Claveau. The selected venue was the , built in 1949 to host the Cannes Film Festival and located on the along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Due to the growth in the film festival a new building bearing the same name was opened in 1982, with the original building renamed as the . This marked the second occasion in which the previous year's winning country organised the event, and the first time in which the winning country was given first choice at hosting the following year's event, as the rights to host the 1958 contest were only awarded to the Netherlands after all other countries declined. A garden space with plants from Southern France was installed in front of the building for the contest, and the flags of the participating nations were raised on the roof. The audience comprised 1,500 invited guests. Additional events during the contest week included a supper for the participating delegations on behalf of the city of Cannes held on the evening following the contest in the of the city's . == Participants ==

A total of eleven countries competed in the contest, with making its first appearance and the returning after a one year absence. The United Kingdom's absence from the 1958 contest is generally reported to have been due to the country's poor result in , but its return coincided with the international success of "", the Italian entry from the previous year's contest, and the appointment of Eric Maschwitz as Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC. Beginning with this event the United Kingdom holds the record for the longest string of consecutive appearances in the Eurovision Song Contest, appearing in every subsequent contest final . was absent from the event, having participated in all previous contests, with management at the Luxembourgish broadcaster (CLT) rejecting the proposed entry and leaving no sufficient time to find a replacement. This decision appears to have occurred late in the preparations for the contest as the country was listed among the participants in several radio and television listings. == Production and format ==

The contest was organised and broadcast by the French public broadcaster (RTF), with serving as producer and director, Gérard Dubois serving as designer, and Franck Pourcel serving as musical director and leading the . The stage featured three revolving platforms, each of which was segmented into four, similar to a revolving door, to include various backdrops. These backdrops were specific to each of the participating countries and featured scenery or objects associated with that country. == Contest overview ==

The contest was held on 11 March 1959 at 21:00 (CET) and lasted 1 hour and 12 minutes. The Netherlands became the first country to achieve two victories in the event, and Van Hemert became the first individual to win the contest twice, after previously providing lyrics for the Netherlands' winner in 1957, "". Known spokespersons at the 1959 contest are listed below. • • == Detailed voting results ==

The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in reverse order to that which each country performed. == Broadcasts ==

Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its television network. No official accounts of the viewing figures are known to exist. An estimate given in the press was at least 20 million viewers. 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. Twelve commentator boxes were installed on the balconies of the auditorium. Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the table below. } } == Notes and references ==

Notes References Bibliography • • • == External links ==