For their national selection, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation opened a public submission period between January and 20 February 1956 for interested songwriters to submit their compositions.[1] Only songwriters with Swiss citizenship or having been residing in Switzerland for at least ten years were allowed to participate.[1] 402 songs were submitted, with half of them with German lyrics, a third in French and the rest in Italian.[2][3] A jury united in Lugano chose eleven of them for the national final.[2]
Eleven songs were sung by Jo Roland, Anita Traversi and Lys Assia.[3][5] They were accompanied by the Orchestra Radiosa under the direction of Fernando Paggi.[5] Seven songs were sung in French, three in German, one in Italian.[8] Four entries had been written by Radio Lausanne's own Émile Gardaz and Géo Voumard.[3] The accordeonist duo Les Frères Domergue and the harmonica group Trio Hill Billy's were interval acts.[6][9] The puppet group Compagnie des marottes and André Robert seem also to have participated in the show.[5][10]
A professional jury of nine members watched the songs from inside the studio, and then decided the winning songs in a secret vote, with three members each representing each of the languages German, French and Italian.[3][11] One of the jury members was Father Kaelin.[12]
The winning song "Refrains" was co-written by Émile Gardaz and Géo Voumard, and "Das alte Karussell" was written and composed by Georg Betz-Stahl.[6][13][14]
"Das alte Karussell" was performed second in the contest, following the Netherlands and preceding Belgium. "Refrain" performed ninth at the second round with the same order of countries. Both of the Swiss entries were conducted at the contest by the musical director Fernando Paggi.
Each country nominated two jury members who voted for their respective country by giving between one and ten points to each song, including those representing their own country.[19] All jury members were colocated in a separate room in the venue in Lugano and followed the contest via a television set.[17] One of the Swiss jury members was Father Pierre Kaelin.[20][3]
After the jury had held its vote, "Refrain" was announced as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1956.[18] The placement of all other participating entries is not known.[18]
^Consistently spelled as "Refrains" in reports about the national final[7][8][15] but as "Refrain" in the international Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano.[17][18]
^ abRoxburgh, 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. 95-100. ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
^ abcO'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (Updated ed.). London: Carlton. pp. 8–9. ISBN978-1-84732-521-1. OCLC699877063.