EUROVISION'S 150 MOST INFLUENTIAL SONGS. This post: 1959 -1962 More: tomorrow.

EUROVISION

1956-2022

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SONGS

(in chronological order)

 

This year’s Contest will see the 70^th song declared a winner. Caffè Lattè lists all of the past winning entries and other songs that have had a lasting impact on the Eurovision Song Contest.

1959

The Contest moved to the south of France in Cannes where Monaco competed for the first time and the United Kingdom returned to the fold.

 

EEN BEETJE Teddy Scholten

Netherlands

 

The fourth ESC saw The Netherlands become the first country to achieve a second win. This followed the 1957 triumph. Despite claiming victory, the country declined the right to host the Contest. The reason given was the exorbitant production costs. As a result, the 1960 ESC would be hosted by the runner-up: United Kingdom.

 

1960

The new decade would see London become the musical epicentre. In a few years, British acts like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones would dominate charts around the planet. On the other hand, Eurovision began the 1960s was more of its traditional conservative songs. Thirteen countries competed, with Luxembourg back after a year’s absence and Norway joining the ESC family. This record was broken in the following year.

 

TOM PILLIBI Jacqueline Boyer

France

The fifth Contest resulted in a third entry performed in French winning. France now joined The Netherlands in the lead with 2 victories. The UK finished in second place again.

1961

A second French victory in 1960 returned Eurovision to host city Cannes. This was the first location to fill that role more than once. Spain, Yugoslavia and Finland raised the number of ESC participating countries to sixteen. The UK finished in second place for the third consecutive year.

 

NOUS LES AMOUREUX

Jean-Claude Pascal

Luxembourg

Luxembourg’s first win at Eurovision increased the total number of winning songs sung in French to 4 out of 6. Dutch and French were thus far the only languages used by victorious entries. Pascal was a Frenchman invited to represent Luxembourg.

1962

Luxembourg hosted the seventh Contest. All of the 16 countries that had competed in 1961 returned. For the first time, 4 nations received “nul points’: Belgium, Spain, Austria and The Netherlands. No country had previously failed to score even one point.

 

UN PREMIER AMOUR

Isabelle Aubret

France

Five of the first 7 Contest winning entries were performed in French when France triumphed in 1962. The country was the first to accomplish a third victory. Despite racking up another win, France decided not to host the 1963 Contest. Runner-up Monaco declined. Luxembourg, having finished in third place also opted not to host. In equal fourth position was the United Kingdom. So, Eurovision returned to London for the following year’s event.