Ten countries took part, with Austria, Denmark, and the United Kingdom competing for the first time and joining the original seven participating countries from the first contest in 1956. 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 the Netherlands, with the song "Net als toen" performed by Corry 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 2023[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's SRG SSR, which had both hosted the contest and provided the winning entry in 1956, declined to stage it for a second time.[6] Germany was subsequently selected to host the second edition, after Hans-Otto Grünefeldt, TV program director at HR, offered to organise it on behalf of ARD.[a][3][7]Frankfurt was selected as host city as early as June 1956 during an EBU meeting in Italy.[8]
Ten countries participated in the 1957 contest, with the seven countries which took part in the first contest being joined by Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom in their first appearances.[3] Austria and Denmark had originally planned to compete in 1956, but missed the cut-off date for entry.[9][10]
Two of the participating artists, Switzerland's Lys 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.[11]
Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1957[12][13][14]
The stage built in the Großer Sendesaal featured a staircase for each artist and conductor to make their entrance, and a harp-shaped background. The centre of the background contained a removable background, allowing for a different graphic to be used for each nation's performance.[6][20] The entire contest, including the performances and voting, lasted around one hour in total.[5][21] 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.[6]
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.[20] Up to two people were now allowed on stage during the performance, however no other vocal backing was allowed.[3][6][20]
A new voting system was introduced, with ten individuals in each country giving one vote to their favourite song, with no abstentions allowed.[6] In an additional change to the 1956 rules, jurors were not allowed to vote for the song from their own country.[6][16] A scoreboard 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. This new aspect of the contest was inspired by the United Kingdom's Festival of British Popular Songs, which included voting by regional juries and the points received shown on a scoreboard, a telerecording of which was viewed by EBU organisers.[5][6] 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 receive their votes, in a change from 1956 when the jurors were co-located to the contest venue.[6][20]
Each song, as in 1956, was required to last no longer than three minutes and 30 seconds, however several of the competing entries went beyond this limit. 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.[6][20] 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 until 2015.[6] Subsequently the restriction on song length was more strictly monitored from 1958 onwards.[6][20]
The draw that determined the running order was held on 2 March 1957.[22]
Contest overview
Corry Brokken(pictured in 1958) had previously represented the Netherlands in 1956 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.[13][23] The event was hosted by German actress Anaid Iplicjian.[3][6]
The winner was the Netherlands represented by the song "Net als toen", composed by Guus Jansen, written by Willy van Hemert and performed by Corry Brokken.[24] Notable among this year's participants were Denmark's Birthe Wilke and Gustav 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's Margot Hielscher, the first Eurovision act to use a prop during their performance, in this instance a telephone.[3][6]
An award was presented to the winning composer for the first time, taking the form of a medallion, which was awarded at the end of the broadcast by Eberhard Beckmann [de], director of Hessischer Rundfunk.[16][25][26] The medallion had been commissioned by Deutsches Fernsehen and designed by sculptor Hans Mettel [de].[22][27] It featured the Eurovision logo and the words "Grand Prix 1957" on one side, and the mythological figure Europa on a bull on the other side.[28]
Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1957[13][29][30]
Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone.[31] Known spokespersons at the 1957 contest are listed below.
The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in reverse order to the order in which each country performed.[16]
Detailed voting results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1957[16][33][34]
Total score
Switzerland
Denmark
France
Germany
Netherlands
Austria
Italy
United Kingdom
Luxembourg
Belgium
Contestants
Belgium
5
1
2
2
Luxembourg
8
3
4
1
United Kingdom
6
2
1
1
1
1
Italy
7
1
2
2
1
1
Austria
3
1
2
Netherlands
31
7
3
4
1
6
1
1
3
5
Germany
8
6
1
1
France
17
2
6
1
2
4
2
Denmark
10
5
3
2
Switzerland
5
2
1
1
1
Broadcasts
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. In total, the contest was broadcast in 12 countries.[35] 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.[36] 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 through newsreel and other recordings.[6][21][37] 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.[3]
Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
^Arbeitsgemeinschaft 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 consortium ARD[15]
^ abcRoxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. p. 152. ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
^ abcdeRoxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. pp. 152–156. ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
^ abcdeRoxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. pp. 156–158. ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
^"Internationaler Schlager- und Chansonwettbewerb". Deutsches Fernsehen. ARD-Pressedienst (in German). No. 10/57. 21 February 1957. pp. 4–5. OCLC183304021. 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.]
^"Internationaler Schlager- und Chansonwettbewerb" [International Schlager and Chanson Competition]. Deutsches Fernsehen. ARD-Pressedienst (in German). No. 10/57. 21 February 1957. pp. 4–5. OCLC183304021.
^Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1957. Programm [Eurovision Grand Prix for European Song 1957 Programme] (in German, English, and French). Frankfurt am Main, West Germany: Hessischer Rundfunk. 1957. p. 3. OCLC72005371.
^"Verrassingen" [Surprises]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 4 May 1957. p. 2. Retrieved 2 June 2022. Onmiddellijk nadat het scorebord in Frankfurt [...] de overtuigende overwinning van Corry Brokken's presentatie van Nederlands bijdrage had gegeven, had juryvoorzitter Siebe van der Zee (AVRO) de tekstschrijver van het bekroonde liedje "Net als toen", Willy van Hemert (VARA) naar de Bussumse studio gehaald vor een vluchtig gesprekje. [Immediately after the scoreboard in Frankfurt [...] had given the convincing victory to Corry Brokken's presentation of the Dutch entry, jury chairman Siebe van der Zee (AVRO) had the lyricist of the award-winning song "Net als toen", Willy van Hemert (VARA) brought to the Bussum studio for a quick chat.]
^ abThorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna [Melodifestivalen through the ages: the Swedish selections and international final] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 10–11. ISBN91-89136-29-2.