Date: 11 March 1959 - Host Venue: Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes, France
Presenter: Jacqueline Joubert
Musical director: Franck Pourcel
Directed by Marcel Cravenne
Host broadcaster: Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF)
Interval act: Franck Pourcel's Orchestra
The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Cannes, France, following the country's victory at the 1958 contest with the song "Dors, mon amour" by André Claveau. It was the first time France hosted the event. The contest was held at Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on Wednesday 11 March 1959, and was hosted by Jacqueline Joubert. It was the first Eurovision Song Contest held in a coastal town and in the Mediterranean Basin.
Eleven countries participated in the contest. Monaco made its debut this year, the United Kingdom returned after a year of absence, and Luxembourg decided not to participate.
The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Een beetje", performed by Teddy Scholten, written by Willy van Hemert and composed by Dick Schallies. This was the Netherlands' second victory in the contest, following their win in 1957 - marking the first time a country had won more than once. Willy van Hemert also wrote the first Dutch winner that year.
A new rule was created for this Eurovision, ensuring that no professional publishers or composers were allowed in the national juries. During the voting, 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 thus 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 third- and second-placed songs, France and United Kingdom respectively, were allowed to sing again at the end of the show, together with the eventual winner, the Netherlands.
Luxembourg did not return to the competition after its 1958 participation. The United Kingdom returned after missing the previous contest (appearing on the scoreboard as "Grande Bretagne") and finished second for the first time. The UK would go on to have 15 second-place finishes in the country's history in the contest. Monaco made its debut in the contest, but came last.
For the first and the last time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, the top three songs were reprised at the end of the show.
Results
Draw Country Artist Song Language Place Points
01 France Jean Philippe "Oui, oui, oui, oui" French 3 15
02 Denmark Birthe Wilke "Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig" Danish 5 12
03 Italy Domenico Modugno "Piove (Ciao, ciao bambina)" Italian 6 9
04 Monaco Jacques Pills "Mon ami Pierrot" French 11 1
05 Netherlands Teddy Scholten "Een beetje" Dutch 1 21
06 Germany Alice & Ellen Kessler "Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n" German 8 5
07 Sweden Brita Borg "Augustin" Swedish 9 4
08 Switzerland Christa Williams "Irgendwoher" German 4 14
09 Austria Ferry Graf "Der K und K Kalypso aus Wien" German 9 4
10 United Kingdom Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson "Sing, Little Birdie" English 2 16
11 Belgium Bob Benny "Hou toch van mij" Dutch 6 9
Timecodes:
20:32 🇳🇱 1) Netherlands🥇🏆/ 21 points
38:01 🇬🇧 2) United Kingdom🥈 / 16 points
07:08 🇫🇷 3) France🥉/ 15 points
31:20 🇨🇭 4) Switzerland / 14 points
09:50 🇩🇰 5) Denmark / 12 points
13:33 🇮🇹 6) Italy / 9 points (tie)
41:10 🇧🇪 6) Belgium / 9 points (tie)
24:28 🇩🇪 8) Germany / 5 points
27:50 🇸🇪 9) Sweden / 4 points (tie)
35:09 🇦🇹 9) Austria / 4 points (tie)
17:27 🇲🇨11) Monaco / 1 point
1:03:39 3rd Place Reprise 🇫🇷 France
1:06:54 2nd Place Reprise 🇬🇧 UK
1:09:52 1st Place Reprise 🇳🇱 Netherlands