Uncovering the 1956 Grand Prix

The very first Eurovision Song Contest, held in Lugano in 1956, holds many mysteries to the modern Eurofan. As it was the inaugural edition, it is possible that the organisers did not bother to keep a recording of the show, as they were unaware of what the contest would become. Even the voting results are unknown, and the placings of each entry (bar the winner) have become lost to time. Other than an audiotape of the contest, the only recording we have is a two-minute video clip of the show.

Until now. Recently, a five-minute clip of the full winner’s reprise has begun to circulate on the internet, uncovering a previously unknown incident that occurred. Delving further, we have also been able to find photographs from the live show as well as rehearsals for the big night. These pictures give us a glimpse of what television viewers may have seen when the contest aired in 1956.

We share our findings below.

The complete clip

The video, which is 5 minutes and 55 seconds long, was uploaded on 27 March, 2021. It begins with the host, Lohengrin Filipello, introducing Lys Assia once again as she performs her winner’s reprise. It begins promptly, however, Lys is rendered speechless past the first line. She explains that she is overwhelmed by emotion and asks to restart the music.

Je suis tellement emotionnée, je le regrette. On recommence, oui? Encore.

“I am so emotional, I’m sorry. Let’s start over, yes? Encore.”

As the orchestra starts playing again, a change of lighting appears to happen before the spotlight is then recast over Lys. She delivers the full song (i.e. not a shortened version), and once the performance is over, she is presented with flowers before the video comes to an end.

Thus, it becomes evident that the 2 minute clip that had previously circulated was, in fact, a shortened edit of the original 5 minute footage.

What we knew

In this video above, right after the intro, the false start is deleted and it skips straight to the first verse. After a few lines, it cuts straight to the end of the song. Although this video is the best known version of the reprise, as a consequence of this editing, up to three minutes of priceless, existing footage had been omitted from public knowledge.

So where did this come from?

The circumstances of its surfacing are uncertain. According to its uploader, this is not footage from the live TV broadcast. Rather, it was documented by a Lugano-based photographer named Vincenzo Vicari (1911-2007).

Upon further sleuthing, we were able to find a few pictures that Vincenzo Vicari took at the contest:

We were also able to find some photos that were taken during rehearsals:

Finally, we stumbled upon this photo, presumably of Italian songstress Tonina Torrielli, given the source, although we were unable to verify the identity of the photographer.

Source: Tonina Torrielli fan page (Facebook)

Our speculations

From these photographs, we are able to deduce a few things regarding the very first Eurovision Song Contest. It was common at the time for each entry to be given its own customised background, as can be seen in 1957, 1958, and 1959—we now know that this practice was born with the contest itself, although it later fell out of use as more countries joined. We can only wonder what each song’s scenery looked like. Could it be that the backdrop with the palm tree and windows correspond with ‘Amami se vuoi’, the Italian entry? The woman in that image is dressed similarly to Tonina Torrielli, after all. And the backgrounds must have not been utilised for the reprise, however, as Lys Assia is clearly singing in front of the stage curtains.

But this is all purely speculative, and you are welcome to draw your own conclusions.

Does this mean there’s more to uncover?

To put it simply, we don’t know. Nobody does. The media we have compiled in this article is certainly extremely valuable. There is always a possibility that there is some sort of recording or other form of media, maybe a few photographs locked away in an office like the ones above, or a tape hidden in someone’s attic. This article is merely but an attempt to bring to light these findings that show that there is more content from Eurovision 1956 than we thought, although it is still nowhere near the amount we want. Still, one can dare to dream.

Do you think our guesses are accurate?  What other conclusions can you draw from the available media? Let us know in the comments below!

This article has been updated in light of further evidence; parts of our speculation have been changed as a result.

4 thoughts on “Uncovering the 1956 Grand Prix”

  1. I unearthed these photographs a few years ago, along with a number of documents and minutes relating to the setting up of the contest, in the archive of Lugano city – Archiivio storico della Città di Lugano. They say that in total they may have 50 photographs approx.

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