69 years ago today – the European Broadcasting Union announced the establishment of Eurovision at the General Assembly in Rome – the story of the competition’s birth.
Rome, Italy, October 19, 1955: The General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) convenes in the Eternal City. During this assembly, held as part of efforts to unify television broadcasting in Europe, one of the most significant decisions in European cultural history was made – the establishment of a pan-European song contest to encourage original creation and cooperation between countries.
The Founding of the European Broadcasting Union
The EBU was established on February 12, 1950, when the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) hosted a conference in Torquay, England, with representatives from 23 different European broadcasting bodies. The conference focused on promoting creative collaboration and the exchange of television programs. Four years later, in October 1955, the Union’s representatives decided to advance the idea of a pan-European song contest – which quickly became Eurovision.
At this meeting in Rome, the proposal by the Swiss national broadcaster SRG SSR to host the first competition in Lugano, Switzerland, in the spring of 1956 was accepted. This contest, called “Grand Prix Eurovision De La Chanson” (in English: “Eurovision Song Prize”), was in fact a modest but significant beginning to an event that would become the largest annual music event in the world.
The Origin of the Name “Eurovision” and Early Events
Journalist George Campey coined the name “Eurovision” in an article published in the London Evening Standard on November 5, 1951. The term was intended to describe a BBC program broadcast on Dutch television, and it was chosen for its simplicity and efficiency. Watch an interview with the man who invented the name “Eurovision”.
The first television broadcasts on the European network included the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which took place on June 2, 1953, and was also broadcast in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. A year later, a season of international event broadcasts took place, including the Narcissus Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, a tour of the Vatican in Rome, and a parade of the British Royal Navy. The highlight was the broadcast of the World Cup in Switzerland, the first time World Cup matches were televised.
Marcel Bezençon, Director General of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation and President of the EBU Program Committee, was primarily responsible for establishing the competition. Through his diplomatic skills, Bezençon managed to convince the EBU to establish the Eurovision contest, offering to broadcast the World Cup matches for free in exchange for covering expenses of up to 10,000 Swiss francs (about 10,600 Euros today).
The Evolution of Eurovision: From Concept to Reality
At a meeting held in Monaco in January 1955, two ideas were proposed: a European song contest and an amateur talent competition called “Top Town”. The latter idea quickly fell through, allowing the song contest to continue developing.
Michael Brennan, a British actor, also contributed to shaping the competition format, although he was not directly involved in establishing Eurovision. In 1954, he proposed to the BBC the idea of holding a national song contest based on the Italian San Remo Festival. His proposal included performing each song twice, with the second performance accompanied by a small orchestra, as well as a regional voting system and a scoreboard – elements that were adopted in later Eurovision competitions.
Inspiration from the San Remo Festival
After the EBU approved the establishment of the competition, it was decided to use the Italian San Remo Festival as a model. The festival, which began in Italy in the 1950s, was initially held on radio and served as a song competition between Italian composers and performers. With the transition to television, the San Remo Festival became an important event in Italian music, including a double performance of the songs – once with a full orchestra and again with a smaller orchestra, allowing performers to present their creations in different ways.
Essential elements from the San Remo Festival, such as the use of orchestras and judges from different countries, were adapted and incorporated into the first Eurovision contest held in Switzerland in 1956, thus contributing to the establishment of the competition as a unique and significant cultural event in Europe.
The First Eurovision: A Historic Moment in European Culture
The first Eurovision was held in Switzerland on May 24, 1956, with seven countries participating: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Each country sent two songs to the competition, so a total of 14 songs competed that evening. The juries, who were international representatives from each participating country, watched the competition under conditions designed to simulate home television viewing. They used small screens set up at the event venue, Teatro Kursaal, which was chosen to host this historic competition.
The event was broadcast live on television and radio, making it accessible not only to television viewers but also to radio listeners. Seven radio stations broadcast the event live, while 13 additional stations recorded it and broadcast it at a later date. Despite the excitement surrounding the event, the number of television viewers was not impressive – in the UK, only about 4 million people watched the broadcast, joining mid-competition.
The winning song was “Refrain” performed by Swiss singer Lys Assia, who is now considered a Eurovision legend. Unfortunately, the exact scoring of the juries was never published, and no complete record of the broadcast was kept in archives, creating a historical information gap regarding the scoring and exact events of the competition. Nevertheless, there is an audio recording of most of the competition and video clips of the winning song.
The first Eurovision competition was a milestone in the history of European and world television and music. From the assembly in Rome in 1955 to the competition in Lugano in 1956, Eurovision succeeded in combining music and technology to become an event that united different countries on the continent. The event, which began as a modest idea to promote cultural cooperation, has become one of the most famous competitions in the world and continues to be a source of celebration, creativity, and cultural connection between participating countries.
Source: eurovision.tv
Eurovision 2025: The 69th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Basel, Switzerland, on May 13, 15, and 17, 2025. The St. Jakobshalle arena, which will host the competition, is expected to accommodate about 12,000 spectators for each show. The contest will take place in Switzerland following the country’s third historical win with the song “The Code”, performed by singer Nemo. This will be the third time the competition has been hosted in Switzerland, after the contest was held there in 1956 and 1989.
