Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956

For their national selection, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) opened a public submission period between January and 20 February 1956 for interested songwriters to submit their compositions. Only songwriters with Swiss citizenship or having been residing in Switzerland for at least ten years were allowed to participate. A jury assembled in Lugano chose eleven of them for the national final. The national final called was held at the Radio Lausanne Studio de la Sallaz in Lausanne on 28 April 1956 at 20:45 CET (19:45 UTC). It was broadcast on TSR and SRG as well as on the radio stations Beromünster, Sottens and Monte Ceneri. The studio audience consisted of invited guests and journalists. Eleven songs were sung by Jo Roland, Anita Traversi and Lys Assia. Four entries had been written by Radio Lausanne's own Émile Gardaz and Géo Voumard. The puppet group Compagnie des marottes and André Robert seem to have also participated in the show. A professional jury of nine members watched the songs from inside the studio, and then decided the winning songs in a secret vote, with three members each representing each of the languages German, French and Italian. One of the jury members was Father Kaelin. The winners were the songs "Refrains", composed by Géo Voumard and written by Émile Gardaz, and, "", written and composed by Georg Betz-Stahl. Both songs were performed by Lys Assia. == At Eurovision ==

(pictured in 1957) won the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 "" was performed second and "" was performed ninth in the running order, both following the and preceding 's two entries. Each participating broadcaster appointed two jury members who voted by giving between one and ten points to each song, including those representing their own country. All jury members were colocated in a separate room in the venue in Lugano and followed the contest via a television set. The Swiss jury members were Father Pierre Kaelin and Rolf Liebermann who also acted as president of the jury. After the jury had held its vote, "Refrain" was announced as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1956. The placements of all other participating entries are not known. Excerpts from the final were rebroadcast on Radio Monte Ceneri on 10 June 1956 at 21:45 CET. ==Notes and references==