Looking back at Eurovision's first winner Lys Assia

Article by Jamie Stewart

Today, August 1 is Swiss National Day. Each year Swiss people across the globe celebrate their nation, marking the anniversary of the Federal Charter of 1291 when three Alpine cantons swore the oath of confederation.

To mark the occasion, we go back in time to 1956: the very first Eurovision Song Contest which was held in Lugano, Switzerland.

Seven countries participated in the inaugural contest (Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Italy).

The result was determined by an assembled jury composed of two jurors from each country, with each juror ranking each song between 1 and 10 points.

Only the winning country and song were announced at the conclusion of the event, with the results of the remaining participants unknown.

The winner was Lys Assia from Switzerland with her beautiful song Refrain.

Refrain was recently ranked in the Top 20 of Eurovision winners by the Aussievision team across the 70 years that Eurovision has been held.

So who was Lys and what legacy did she leave?

Lys and early days of Eurovision

Lys Assia (her Swiss stage name) was born Rosa Mina Schärer on 3 March 1924 in Rupperswil in the canton of Aargau. 

She began her stage career as a dancer but became a singer in 1940 and it was in 1950 that she achieved success in the music genre with her song O mein Papa.

Aside from winning Eurovision in 1956, she returned in 1957 with L'enfant que j'étais where she finished in 8th place and the following year in 1958 with Giorgio where she was the runner-up behind André Claveau from France with his song Dors mon amour.

Eurovision connections in the 21st century

Not content to rest on her previous Eurovision laurels, Lys returned to the stage at the 2009 Eurovision Grand Final in Moscow, Russia to co-present the winner’s trophy along with Dima Balan from Russia to Alexander Rybak from Norway for his song Fairytale.

Lys also attempted to return to the Eurovision stage as a singer and in 2011 she entered a song C'était ma vie in the Swiss national song selection for Baku 2012.

Unfortunately, she wasn't selected, with her song finishing in eighth place in the Swiss national final.

In 2012 while in her late 80s, Lys tried again to represent Switzerland at the 2013 edition of Eurovision in Malmo, Sweden.

Her song All in Your Head was a collaboration with hip-hop rap group New Jack for the Swiss national song selection. This song was unfortunately not chosen.

There were rumours that Lys may represent San Marino that same year in Malmo, but that did not come to fruition. She did however make a guest appearance at the second semi-final.

Final appearance

Lys Assia made her final guest appearance in 2015 at the age of 91 at the Eurovision Song Contest’s Greatest Hits in London.

This was a live television program organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest.

It was at this event that Lys Assia was officially crowned Queen of Eurovision by BBC presenter and commentator Graham Norton.

On 24 March 2018, Lys Assia sadly passed away at the age of 94.

Legacy

The Eurovision Song Contest returns to Switzerland in May 2025 after a hiatus of 36 years, courtesy of Nemo’s 2024 Grand Final win in Malmo, Sweden with The Code.

Whether Basel or Geneva is selected as the host city, it would be very touching if a tribute to the legacy of Lys Assia is honoured in such a graceful manner during the Eurovision Song Contest program.   

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