WHERE IT STARTED
The first Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision began on 24 May 1956 at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland. Seven broadcasters took part in a format that looked very different from the modern Contest.
Lugano 1956 at a glance
Date: 24 May 1956
Venue: Teatro Kursaal, Lugano, Switzerland
Winner: Lys Assia — “Refrain” for Switzerland
Participating broadcasters: 7
The seven founding participants
Each participating broadcaster entered two songs, creating a 14-song Contest.
How the first voting worked
Every participating country sent two jury members. Voting was conducted in secret, and the complete final scores were never published. Juries were even allowed to vote for their own country, making 1956 unique in Eurovision history.
Lys Assia becomes the first winner
Swiss singer Lys Assia performed both of Switzerland's entries and won with the French-language “Refrain”. She later returned to Eurovision in 1957 and 1958.
From seven broadcasters to a global event
The inaugural edition was conceived as an experiment in simultaneous international television broadcasting. The format expanded dramatically over the following decades, but Lugano remains the starting point of the complete Eurovision timeline.