Retro Reviews: Frankfurt 1957
The second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held
on the 3rd March, 1957 (still the earliest in the year it has ever
been held) in Frankfurt, West Germany. Seeing as no full recording of the
inaugural 1956 contest is known to exist, it is here that I have decided to start
my review series. At some point I may go back and listen to the 1956 songs, but
that will be a different form of review I think. The tradition of the contest
being hosted by the previous year’s winner hadn’t yet been established, so it
was German broadcaster HR that took on the responsibility after Switzerland
declined to stage the event for a second consecutive year.
A number of new rules were introduced for the 1957 contest,
some of which are still in place today. Each participating country was now represented
by just one song, which could be performed by up to two performers. Juries now
consisted of ten people who each awarded one vote to their favourite song (not
including their own country’s entry). The full results of the voting were also
made public for the first time, with a physical scoreboard (which was situated
to the side of the stage) used to allow viewers to follow the voting. It is
thought that the EBU took this idea from the BBC’s Festival of British Popular
Songs, which was serving as the UK’s national final at the time.
The contest featured ten participating countries, including
all seven from the previous year (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Switzerland) as well as Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Conventional
wisdom states that Austria and Denmark had intended to participate in 1956 but missed
the deadline to submit their entries, whilst the BBC decided to focus on the
aforementioned Festival of British Popular Songs. At one point, Monaco
was named as a participating country, but this did not come to fruition and the
country would later debut in 1959.
I watched the contest in full without any commentary through
YouTube; there are several versions available, but the one I watched is here.
Before I sat down to watch the show, I was excited and nervous in equal measure
to find out what the quality of the show would be like. Of course, with the
year being 1957, the broadcast is in black and white and a bit flickery at
times (though at this point Eurovision was still primarily a radio event), and
there is noticeable tape hiss throughout. All that being said, however, it was still
a very enjoyable show, and felt a lot more manageable than the marathons we
have endured in recent years, with the entire thing coming in at just over an
hour.
I initially thought there was no sound on the recording I
had chosen, before realising that the volume on my laptop was in fact muted, so
I restarted the show and listened to the familiar sound of Te Deum,
which was played through twice by the orchestra. Our host for the evening is
Anaid Iplicjian, who makes her entrance very promptly to a round of polite
applause from the assembled audience of around 400 people. Anaid is quite
serious, and wearing what is, in my opinion, a slightly odd dress. She presents
most of the show in German, so I didn’t understand much of it, but did manage
to make out “Frankfurt am Main” and “Grand Prix Eurovision” during her opening
monologue.
Before the show gets started, Anaid introduces musical
director Willy Berking, and the orchestra all stand for another round of
applause. After that, we are straight into the competing entries, and fly
through the show with a suitably German level of efficiency. Anaid announces
the title of each song, along with its German translation, and also names the performing
artists, lyricists and composers. She reads from some sort of binder, which
does mean that she doesn’t engage with the audience as much as we are used to
seeing nowadays. However, as I have already said, I can’t fault Anaid for the
pace at which she moves the show along and the professionalism she brings to
proceedings.
Each performer appears at the top of a staircase with their
conductor (excluding those whose performance was conducted by the host musical
director) and they descend the stairs together. They then split, with the
conductor turning to the orchestra and the performer to the stage. Unfortunately,
the rules on how long competing entries could be weren’t being strictly enforced
in 1957, so six of tonight’s ten songs exceed the now-standard three minutes,
and Italy’s entry lasts a whole five minutes and nine seconds. Thankfully this
rule was changed the following year!
Belgium: Bobbejaan Schoepen – “Straatdeuntje”
As the orchestra played the opening notes of this song, I
thought it would be a good start; I enjoyed the bouncy, chanson feel to it.
Unfortunately, Bobbejaan (who has a massive head) soon joins in with a highly
irritating whistle solo that only served to get on my nerves. Though possibly a
little bit pedestrian, “Straatdeuntje” does have a nice melody, and in my
opinion was really enhanced by the orchestra. I appreciated the bouncy chorus
and Bobbejaan does have a nice voice, although for me there is a little bit too
much “tra-la-laaa” and “la-da-deee”, as well as the aforementioned whistling.
Luxembourg: Danièle Dupré –
“Tant de peine”
This song is more downbeat than Belgium’s, but in a way that
caught my attention rather than leaving me bored. It does, however, have a
similar chanson feel to it. Danièle performs it well; she is probably one
of the best singers of the night in terms of engaging with the camera, and I
really liked her slightly husky voice. She carries the package excellently, and
I enjoyed the big notes in the middle of the song where it didn’t feel at all
like she was struggling or being stretched in any way. The song’s
instrumentation picks up a bit towards the end and we get a final vocal
flourish which was excellent.
United Kingdom: Patricia Bredin – “All”
The first of tonight’s debutees (debutantes?) is the United
Kingdom, though introduced as England by Anaid. Patricia was apparently “astonished”
when conductor Eric Robinson ran down the stairs ahead of her, leaving her by
herself at the top, and I think this was clear by the fact that the orchestra
seemed to start before she was ready. I think this being the only song in
English may, rather oddly, put it at a bit of a disadvantage for me because I
can fully understand the amount of drivel in the lyrics. This was, for a long
time, the shortest song in Eurovision history, and quite frankly it’s a good
job, because I don’t think I could have put up with much more of this pretentious
nonsense. Not a good start for the UK.
Italy: Nunzio Gallo – “Corde della mia chitarra”
This song is remembered for its length far more than its
quality, and unfortunately I can understand why. First of all, it takes far too
long to get started – I got bored during the opening guitar solo and could have
done without the subsequent orchestral interludes. Funnily enough, it was also
getting a bit repetitive towards the end of its five whole minutes. That being
said, Nunzio did manage to capture my attention with his great voice and a few
really powerful notes. It’s a very Italian ballad with a typical heartthrob at
the helm; it built nicely to its climax but by that point I had lost interest.
Austria: Bob Martin – “Wohin, kleines Pony?”
Austria is also making its debut tonight and unfortunately
ORF seems to have slightly misjudged the general vibe of the contest this year,
sending a bouncy little ditty about a pony. Bob Martin has a very friendly face
but overall the package feels like something that belongs on children’s TV
(which is absolutely not an insult!). He carries the song well though and I
enjoyed seeing the orchestra at work during the performance. Whilst it’s not
the most sophisticated composition, it is very catchy and did make me smile,
and Bob clearly had a great time singing it, which I found to be quite
endearing.
Netherlands: Corry Brokken – “Net als toen”
Like Patricia for the UK, Corry seemed to narrowly avoid
missing the start of the song as she arrived on stage, but she is a vision in
white and everything in this package seems quite bright. The song starts quite
well before taking a bit of a dip, although it’s back by the time we reach the chorus.
There are some odd close-up camera shots here, which do give us the chance to
look at Corry’s earrings, which look alarmingly like bunches of grapes. “Net
als toen” is very well-crafted, and performed confidently by Corry, who steps
aside at one point for a violinist who looks like he is having the time of his
life. It has a big finish, and gets a huge response from the audience, but unfortunately
left me a bit cold. Did it deserve the landslide victory it got? Not in my
opinion.
Germany: Margot Hielscher – “Telefon, Telefon”
The home entrant gets a good reception as she takes to the stage
(in a massive dress) with Eurovision’s first-ever gimmick: a telephone prop
which she speaks to in multiple languages. It’s all a bit strange but very
Eurovision, and maybe before its time? Margot is good when she’s singing, but
for me there’s too many spoken interludes and it ends up feeling more like some
sort of sketch. However, I think she does lean into it well and the whole thing
probably manages to stay just about on the right side of silly. The song ends
well but once again the phone ‘ringing’ annoyed me a bit and rather spoilt the
mood.
France: Paule Desjardins – “La Belle Amour”
“La Belle Amour” has a fun instrumental opening before blending
into a more standard chanson fare. Paule performs it very well, and has a nice
voice to boot. The song’s melody is entertaining thanks to its twists and turns
yet the whole thing has an air of serenity that I appreciate in a Eurovision
song. It’s all very French, with exaggerated facial expressions and very dramatic
arms, including a slightly peculiar ‘sleeping’ action. I really enjoyed this,
and Paule clearly did too – she blows kisses to the audience at the end of the
performance, who respond by giving her a hearty round of applause.
Denmark: Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler – “Skibet
skal sejle i nat”
Birthe and Gustav are Eurovision’s first-ever duo, and begin
their performance standing very close to each other and in distinctly odd
outfits. I was quite confused when watching this about the relative heights of
the pair, as Birthe seems to be constantly growing and shrinking in comparison
to Gustav. It’s a nice song about a tragic love story, with a jazzy melody that
really works. Despite being romantic partners, Birthe and Gustav don’t manage
to project their chemistry down the camera very well (look each other in the
eyes!), and Birthe at one point looks like she’s trapped in a hostage situation.
All in all, the package works very well, but it is of course remembered for the
infamous kiss at the end of the song which was seen as very scandalous at the time.
Switzerland: Lys Assia – “L’Enfant que j’étais”
Reigning champion Lys Assia gets a big round of applause
from the audience and this year’s entry gets off to a good start. It really is
a lovely song that feels smart in its way, and Lys is a highly competent
performer. Her smooth vocals and calm manner when performing make the whole
package seem effortless, and allowed me to relax into it as I watched. I was,
however, glad to hear it pick up towards the end, and it was nice to see the
orchestra getting another moment to shine. All in all, this entry was a nicely
understated return from Lys and I think it was very hard done by in the voting.
After the final performance, the show continues in the same
highly efficient vein, as Anaid explains the voting process whilst a rather
unsubtle set change takes place behind her. She then moves to a desk behind
which is displayed a map of Europe highlighting each participating country. Anaid
sits at the desk with her ‘assistant’, and they each have a telephone (I am
unable to confirm or deny whether these were actually functional, though the fact
that Anaid’s assistant is also wearing some sort of headset makes me think that
they might have just been there for show – maybe the broadcaster got a good
deal when they ordered Margot’s prop?).
There is a slightly awkward moment before the phone ‘rings’
for Anaid to speak to the first jury and then the feed cuts out for a second or
two. The countries are voting in reverse order of performance, which makes
sense when you consider that the Swiss jury could effectively cast their votes
after the ninth song had been performed, so had a bit more time to get their
affairs in order. The votes are updated manually on the scoreboard, which only
displays the number and title of each song. When each country is voting, a
little light is illuminated in the relevant place on the map behind Anaid and
her assistant.
There is quite a bit of confusion during the voting process;
Anaid seems to struggle connecting to some of the juries, leading to a lot of “Hallo
Paris”, “Are you there Copenhagen?” before contact is eventually made. A couple
of countries seem to get their votes a bit mixed up and are forced to clarify,
whilst others can barely be heard (including, confusingly, the German
spokesperson who is also in Frankfurt). It was very striking to see how much the
voting has changed since 1957, back then the spokespeople were incredibly
formal (quite posh-sounding in the case of the British spokesperson in London)
and awarded ‘votes’ rather than points.
The Netherlands go into an early lead thanks to a very
generous seven votes from the first jury, and end up running away with it. “Net
als toen” was the only song to receive votes from every other participating
country and received almost twice as many votes as France in second place.
Despite a slow start, Denmark rounded out the top three, with Luxembourg and
Germany tying for fourth. The UK found itself in second place after the votes
of the first jury, but ended up lagging behind in seventh by the end of
proceedings, whilst Austria took the ‘wooden spoon’, becoming the first country
ever to do so at Eurovision as the full results from the 1956 contest are still
unknown.
Final Results:
- Netherlands – 31 points
- France – 17 points
- Denmark – 10 points
- Luxembourg – 8 points
- Germany – 8 points
- Italy – 7 points
- United Kingdom – 6 points
- Belgium – 5 points
- Switzerland – 5 points
- Austria – 3 points
Once the voting is complete, we have the symbolic setting
down of telephones by Anaid and her assistant before Anaid makes her way in
front of the desk (the poor assistant is still shuffling papers) to announce
the Netherlands as the winner, whilst we get a full shot of the scoreboard, and
people walking up and down in front of it. The audience is initially hesitant,
but then respond with a healthy round of applause.
Corry and her team come out from backstage whilst the desk
and related props are whisked away. Everybody shakes hands before a man who
looks remarkably like Louis Walsh presents Corry with a medallion – the first
award to be given to a Eurovision winner – though this is quickly taken back
off her to be given to the winning composer instead. We then get the
traditional winner’s reprise, though this seems to be exactly the same as the
first performance and entirely devoid of any feeling of celebration.
This is not, however, the end of the show: Corry is
presented with a bunch of flowers (perhaps somebody felt bad about the fiasco
with the medallion). The very formal audience seem quite unimpressed by this. Somebody
(presumably the winning composer) then comes and displays the medallion looking
very proud of himself. Anaid stumbles her way to the front to make her closing
remarks, then we have Te Deum again… and that’s it!
This was a very interesting watch for me, as I hadn’t really
been sure of what to expect going into it. As I have said multiple times, I was
impressed with the production, and Anaid did an excellent job of keeping the
show on the road. There was no fluff whatsoever, she just got on with it and
for that I applaud her. It did all feel rather formal at times but of course the
show is a product of a bygone era and to compare it to the spectacle that
Eurovision is today would be stupid.
Eurovision was still very much finding its feet at this
point, and clearly broadcasters hadn’t quite settled into the rhythm of it all,
but what struck me was the lack of variety among many of the songs on offer. At
this point in time, rock ‘n’ roll was dominating the charts, but most of this
year’s entries seemed to be stuck about ten years in the past, making the whole
thing feel a bit uneventful. That being said, in 1957 we see the first
instances of a few Eurovision tropes, including gimmicky props, scandal and
uproar about the tainting of a family entertainment programme… and the UK getting
huffy after a poor result.
Douze Points: France and Denmark were in contention,
but in the end I’m giving it to Switzerland. Lys knew what she was doing
by now, and this was one of the only entries that felt like a complete package
without any obvious flaws. I don’t know what the juries were thinking!
Nul Points: Unfortunately this has to go the United
Kingdom. Yes, Patricia’s high notes are impressive but even she admitted
that it “simply wasn’t the right song for the event”. The song just seems a bit
half-baked compared to everything else in the field and the trilling gets annoying
very quickly.
My Votes:
Awarding points in the current way seems a bit silly when
there’s only ten participating songs as it means everybody gets something –
even though I just called the UK my nul points. I suppose we should maybe treat
this as more of a ranking of this year’s field.
1 point: United Kingdom
2 points: Germany
3 points: Belgium
4 points: Austria
5 points: Italy
6 points: Luxembourg
7 points: Netherlands
8 points: Denmark
10 points: France
12 points: Switzerland
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