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1959 Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1959
ESC 1959 logo.png
Dates
Final 11 March 1959
Host
Venue Palais des Festivals et des Congrès
Cannes, France
Presenter(s) Jacqueline Joubert
Conductor Franck Pourcel
Directed by Marcel Cravenne
Host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF)
Interval act None
Participants
Number of entries 11
Debuting countries
Returning countries
Withdrawing countries
Vote
Voting system Each country had 10 jury members who each awarded 1 point to their favourite song
Nul points None
Winning song  Netherlands
"Een beetje"

The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest.

It was held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 in Cannes, France, following the country's victory at the 1958 edition. The contest was won by the Netherlands with the song "Een beetje", performed by Teddy Scholten. This was the second win for the Netherlands. Willy van Hemert was also the lyricist of "Net als toen", which won the Eurovision Song Contest 1957.

The event took place in Cannes, France, with the venue being the original building of Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, after France got the right to host this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest for winning its previous 1958 edition with the song "Dors, mon amour" performed by André Claveau. Cannes, a city located on the French Riviera, is a busy tourist destination and known worldwide for hosting the annual Cannes Film Festival, with the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès also hosting the Film Festival. The original building was built in 1949 and was located on the boulevard of Promenade de la Croisette, on the present site of the JW Marriott Cannes.

A new rule was created for this Eurovision, ensuring that no professional publishers or composers were allowed in the national juries. Italy gave one point to France, no points to the UK and seven points to the Netherlands placing them just three points ahead of the UK. Later on France gave only three points to Italy and four points to the Netherlands giving them a five-point lead over the UK, who were only one point ahead of France, leaving Italy behind in sixth position, behind Denmark, on nine points. Something that occurred this year, but never again, was that more than the winning entry was performed once again. The second and third placed songs, United Kingdom and France, were allowed to sing again at the end of the show, together with eventual winner, the Netherlands.


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