Eurovision Song Contest 1959
| Eurovision Song Contest 1959 | |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | |
| Final |
|
| Venue | Palais des Festivals Cannes, France |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | European Broadcasting Union (EBU) |
| Production | |
| Host broadcaster | Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) |
| Producer | Marcel Cravenne |
| Director | Marcel Cravenne |
| Musical director | Franck Pourcel |
| Presenter | Jacqueline Joubert |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 11 |
| Debuting countries | Monaco |
| Returning countries | United Kingdom |
| Non-returning countries | Luxembourg |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Ten-member juries in each country; each member gave one vote to their favourite song |
| Winning song | Netherlands "Een beetje" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1959, originally known as the Grand Prix Eurovision 1959 de la Chanson Européenne (English: Grand Prix of the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest), was the fourth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France, and presented by Jacqueline Joubert. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), who staged the event after winning the 1958 contest for France with the song "Dors, mon amour", performed by André Claveau.
Broadcasters from eleven countries participated in the contest, with Monaco making its first appearance and the United Kingdom returning after its absence the previous year. Luxembourg, however, decided not to participate after competing in all former editions.
The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Een beetje", performed by Teddy Scholten, composed by Dick Schallies and written by Willy van Hemert. This was the Netherlands' second victory in the contest, having also won in 1957, and also marked the first time a country had won the contest more than once. Van Hemert also became the first individual to win twice, having also written the first Dutch winning song from 1957, "Net als toen". The United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Denmark rounded out the top five, with the United Kingdom's receiving their first (of a total of sixteen) runner-up position in the competition.