Eurovision: 1956 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Switzerland

It was held in the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland. Known as the "Monte Carlo of Switzerland", Lugano sits on a lake of the same name and is a popular tourist destination. SSR SRG, the broadcaster, is the Swiss public broadcaster, and while the competition was mostly radio-based, it was also shown on television to those in Europe who had television sets.

Answer: Switzerland

Switzerland won with their entry "Refrain" ("Chorus"). Sung by Lys Assia, it was composed by Geo Voumard with lyrics by Emile Gardaz.

Answer: fourteen

Fourteen songs were performed. While only seven countries participated, they were allowed two songs each (for the first and, at least until 2010, only time in Eurovision Song Contest history).

Answer: Austria

Austria was the third country to miss the filing deadline and therefore be unable to take part in the competition. They didn't miss another contest until 1969.

Answer: seven

Seven of the entries were sung in French. This was the year that each country was allowed two entries; three (Belgium, France and Luxembourg) sang both entries in French while one (Switzerland) sang one in French and one in German.

Answer: Luxembourg

Luxembourg chose not to send a jury to the event. Instead, they gave their proxy votes to Switzerland, which may have led to Switzerland winning the contest. Since then no proxy voting has been allowed at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Answer: none

This was the first ever Eurovision Song Contest. The idea for it was brought up at a 1955 meeting of the European Broadcasting Union, and was "inspired by the Italian Sanremo Festival" (www.eurovision.tv).

Answer: Lohengrin Filipello

Lohengrin Filipello had the honour of hosting the first ever Eurovision Song Contest. This was the only time (at least as of 2009) that a solo male presenter took the helm.

Answer: Les Joyeux Rossignols and Les Trois Menestrels

Les Joyeux Rossignols was a whistling act. (Yes, television in those days was a lot simpler....) Les Trois Menestrels was a French vocal group.

Otto Waalkes is a German comedian, Buatier De Kolta was a French magician in the 1800s, and Julie Alix de la Fay was an 18th century Belgian ballerina.

Answer: nobody knows

Nobody knows. Only the winner's votes were declared. The whole voting structure was rather controversial, as countries were allowed to give their proxy votes to other countries, as well as being allowed to vote for themselves. On the official Eurovision site (www.eurovision.tv) it states "The scores of the voting have never been made public, leaving room for lots of speculation. Attempts to reconstruct the voting by interviewing jury members over the past five decades did not lead to any reliable outcome.". Needless to say, there was a major overhaul of the voting rules for the following year's competition.