Broadcasters from ten countries participated in the contest, withAustria,Denmark, and theUnited Kingdom competing for the first time and joining the original seven participating countries from the first contest in1956. A number of changes to the rules from the previous year's event were enacted, with each country now represented by only one song, which could be performed by up to two performers on stage. The voting system received an overhaul, with each country's jury now comprising ten individuals which awarded one vote each to their favourite song. The results of the voting were now conducted in public, with a scoreboard introduced to allow the process to be followed by viewers and listeners at home. Jurors were also for the first time not allowed to vote for the song from their own country.
The winner of the contest was theNetherlands, with the song "Net als toen" performed byCorry Brokken. This was Brokken's second appearance as a participant, after previously representing the Netherlands in 1956; her victory marked the first of five Dutch wins in the contest as of 2025[update].[2]
A new plan for staging the event was invoked ahead of the 1957 contest, with a different broadcaster organising the contest each year, after Switzerland'sSRG SSR, which had both hosted the contest and provided the winning entry in1956, declined to stage it for a second time.[7] Germany was subsequently selected to host the second edition, after Hans-Otto Grünefeldt, TV program director at HR, offered to organise it on behalf ofARD.[a][4][8]Frankfurt was selected as host city as early as June 1956 during anEBU meeting in Italy.[9]
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Eurovision Song Contest 1957 – Participation summaries by country
Ten countries participated in the 1957 contest, with the seven countries which took part in the first contest being joined byAustria,Denmark and theUnited Kingdom in their first appearances.[4] Austria and Denmark had originally planned to compete in 1956, but missed the cut-off date for entry.[10][11] Initially,Monaco also figured on the list of participants for 1957,[12][13][14] but disappeared from the list by 21 February 1957.[15]
Two of the participating artists, Switzerland'sLys Assia and the Netherlands'Corry Brokken, had previously competed at the 1956 contest. Brokken was one of the two Dutch participants in that year's contest, competing with the song "Voorgoed voorbij", while Assia had performed both of Switzerland's entries, "Das alte Karussell" and "Refrain", the latter of which had won the contest.[16]
The contest was organised and broadcast by HR on behalf of ARD, withMichael Kehlmann serving as director andWilly Berking serving asmusical director, leading theTanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester des Hessischen Rundfunks during the event.[20][21][22][23] Its costs for broadcaster HR ranged between 40,000 and 50,000DM.[24] HR took charge of all financial costs, except costs regarding the individual participants (such as travel and accommodation) and costs regarding the international transmission via the Eurovision network.[12] Each participating delegation was allowed to nominate its own musical director to lead the orchestra during the performance of its country's entry, with the host musical director alsoconducting for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor.[12][18]
The stage built in theGroßer Sendesaal featured a wooden staircase for the artists and conductors to make their entrance, and alyre-shaped background for the singers, which should symbolize the history of popular songs since the Middle Ages.[25] The centre of the background contained a removable background, allowing for a different graphic to be used for each nation's performance.[7][26] The background of the orchestra featured photographs from different European landmarks, such as theBrandenburg Gate, theColosseum and theArc de Triomphe.[25] Curtains were used extensively as backgrounds and decorative elements.[25] The entire contest, including the performances and voting, lasted around one hour in total.[6][27] Held just over nine months after the inaugural contest, the contest date of 3 March remains the earliest date in the calendar year in which the contest has been held.[7]
A number of changes from the rules of the previous year's contest were enacted in 1957. Each country was now permitted to send only one song to compete, as opposed to the maximum of two in 1956.[12][26] Up to two people were now allowed on stage during the performance, however no other vocal backing was allowed.[12][4][7][26]
A new voting system was introduced, with ten individuals in each country giving one vote to their favourite song.[12][7] In an additional change to the 1956 rules, jurors were not allowed to vote for the song from their own country.[12][7][20] Ascoreboard was introduced for the first time, and the voting process was now included as part of the broadcast, rather than conducted in secret as in 1956. The inclusion of a voting sequence allowed for more transparency and helped to create dramatic tension.[28] This new aspect of the contest was inspired by the United Kingdom'sFestival of British Popular Songs, which included voting by regional juries and the running total being shown on a scoreboard, atelerecording of which was viewed by EBU organisers.[29][6][7] Each jury assembled in their own country to follow the contest on television and were then contacted by telephone by the contest's presenter in order to announce their votes, in a change from 1956 when the jurors were co-located to the contest venue.[7][26] The participating broadcasters had to make sure that the television sets of the national juries were switched off during the voting to prevent jury members being influenced by other countries' results.[12]
Entries were required to not have been commercially released before 10 February 1957.[12] Each song, as in 1956, was strongly recommended to last no longer than three to three minutes and 30 seconds,[12] however several of the competing entries went beyond this limit.[3] Italy's song, which lasted for five minutes and nine seconds, remains the longest song in the contest's history and, despite heavy protest, was not disqualified.[7][26] Conversely, the United Kingdom's first entry lasted for one minute and 53 seconds in total, and remained the shortest song to compete in the contest until2015.[7] Subsequently the restriction on song length was more strictly monitored from1958 onwards.[7][26]
Broadcasters were required to submit the lyrics, scores, and an audio recording of their entries by 17 February 1957.[12] Copies of the lyrics as well as their translation into English or French were forwarded to the national juries and the commentators.[12] The draw that determined the running order was held on 2 March 1957.[30]
Corry Brokken(pictured in 1958) had previously represented the Netherlands in1956 before entering the contest again in 1957 and ultimately winning.
The contest was held on 3 March 1957 at 21:00 (CET) and lasted 1 hour.[1][18] The event was hosted by German actressAnaid Iplicjian.[4][7]
The winner was theNetherlands represented by the song "Net als toen", composed by Guus Jansen, written byWilly van Hemert and performed by Corry Brokken.[31] Notable among this year's participants were Denmark'sBirthe Wilke andGustav Winckler, the first duo to compete in the contest, who made an impact with a passionate on-screen kiss at the end of their performance; and Germany'sMargot Hielscher, the first Eurovision act to use aprop during their performance, in this instance a telephone.[4][7]
An award was presented to the winning composer for the first time, taking the form of amedallion, which was awarded at the end of the broadcast byEberhard Beckmann [de],director ofHessischer Rundfunk.[20][32][33] The medallion had been commissioned byDeutsches Fernsehen and designed by sculptorHans Mettel [de].[30][34] It featured theEurovision logo and the words "Grand Prix 1957" on one side, and the mythological figureEuropa on a bull on the other side.[35][36]
Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1957[18][37]
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for its respective country via telephone.[38] Known spokespersons at the 1957 contest are listed below.
Broadcasters competing in the event were required to relay the contest via its networks; non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest.[12] In total, the contest was broadcast in 12 countries.[42] Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.[43] Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
The 1957 contest is the earliest edition to exist in full in the EBU's archives, as the 1956 edition has survived solely through audio recordings, with some missing segments, and limited video footage of the winning reprise performance throughnewsreel and other recordings.[7][27][44] Although the number of households which had access to a television in Europe continued to grow, this edition, as in the case of the 1956 contest, was still mainly accessed by spectators via radio.[4]
Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
^abcArbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland – "Working group of public broadcasters of the Federal Republic of Germany"
^On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortiumARD[19]
^Delayed broadcast on 29 April 1957 at 21:15 (CET)[52]
^Delayed broadcast on 3 March 1957 at 22:20 (CET)[62]
^"Op komst in de Vlaamse Televisie: De Grote Eurovisieprijs 1957 van het Europese lied te Frankfurt".De radio- en televisieweek (in Dutch). Vol. 13, no. 5. 3 February 1957. p. 11.OCLC1399842623.
^Longshot, Daddy (1957). "Voor en achter de kamera's : Grote Eurovisieprijs 1957".De TV-kijker (in Dutch). Vol. 2, no. 1. p. 22.OCLC649570706.
^"Internationaler Schlager- und Chansonwettbewerb".Deutsches Fernsehen. ARD-Pressedienst (in German). No. 10/57. 21 February 1957. pp. 4–5.OCLC183304021.
^ab"Sieben Tage Fernsehen" [Seven days of television].Bild+Funk [de] (Ausgabe B) (in German). No. 10/1957. 3 March 1957. p. 15.OCLC643528928.
^Hessen Drei – dabei. Unterhaltungen zur Unterhaltung (Television production) (in German).Hessischer Rundfunk. 8 April 1983. Event occurs at 23:42.[Hans-Otto Grünefeldt:] Ich glaube, es war der billigste Grand Prix, der je gemacht worden ist. Der hat so zwischen 40.000 und 50.000 Mark gekostet [I think it was the cheapest Eurovisiong Song Contest ever made. It cost about between 40,000 and 50,000 Deutschmarks]
^abGrand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1957 [Eurovision Grand Prix of European Song 1957] (Television programme) (in German).Frankfurt, West Germany:ARD andHessischer Rundfunk (HR). 3 March 1957.
^ARD-Pressedienst 1957, pp. 4–5, "Das hierbei ausgewählte Lied erhält den 'Grand Prix Eurovision 1957', einen Ehrenpreis, der keine Geldzuwendung enthält und dem Komponisten – nicht dem Sänger und nicht dem Texter – zuerkannt wird." [The selected song will receive the 'Grand Prix Eurovision 1957', an honorary price, which doesn't include any monetary grant, and which is awarded to the composer – not to the singer and not to the lyricist].
^ab"Binnen- en buitenlandse televisie programma's van 3 tot 9 maart 1957" [Domestic and foreign television programmes from 3 to 9 March 1957].De radio- en televisieweek (in Dutch). Vol. 13, no. 9.Brussels, Belgium:Nationaal Instituut voor de Radio-omroep [nl] (NIR). 3 March 1957. p. 22.OCLC1399842623.
^abcd"Paris-Inter".Radio Cinéma Télévision (in French). No. 372. Paris, France. 3 March 1957. p. 17.ISSN0481-5920.OCLC474508236.Présentation pour la France et les pays de langue française : Robert Beauvais [Presentation for France and the French-speaking countries: Robert Beauvais]
^"Programmes de télévision" [Television programmes].Radio Cinéma Télévision (in French). No. 372. Paris, France. 3 March 1957. p. 9.ISSN0481-5920.OCLC474508236.
^"Programmes de Télé-Monte-Carlo" [Programmes of Télé Monte-Carlo].L'Echo de la Côte d'Azur et de la Principauté (in French). Vol. 13, no. 566.Nice, France. 2 March 1957. p. 5.ISSN1142-3420.OCLC472794670.
"Internationaler Schlager- und Chansonwettbewerb" (Press release) (in German).Hamburg, West Germany:ARD.Deutsches Fernsehen. ARD-Pressedienst. 21 February 1957.OCLC183304021.
Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1957. Programm [Eurovision Grand Prix for European Song 1957 Programme] (in German, English, and French),Frankfurt, West Germany:Hessischer Rundfunk (HR), 1957,OCLC72005371
Gauja, Anika (2019). "Europe: Start Voting Now! Democracy, Participation and Diversity in the Eurovision Song Contest". In Kalman, Julie; Wellings, Ben; Jacotine, Keshia (eds.).Eurovisions: Identity and the International Politics of the Eurovision Song Contest since 1956. Singapore:Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 203–204.doi:10.1007/978-981-13-9427-0_10.ISBN978-981-13-9426-3.OCLC1128479336.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2012).Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s.Prestatyn, United Kingdom:Telos Publishing.ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006).Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna [Melodifestivalen through the ages: the Swedish selections and international finals] (in Swedish).Stockholm, Sweden: Premium Publishing.ISBN91-89136-29-2.
