Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956

Belgium debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956, held on 24 May 1956 at the Teatro Cursaal in Lugano, Switzerland. The Walloon broadcaster INR organised a national final to determine two Belgian entries for the contest. Held on 15 April 1956 in Brussels, the event saw ten songs compete to be the Belgian entries; the results were determined by the jury panel and postcard voting. The songs "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" by Fud Leclerc and "Le plus beau jour de ma vie" by Mony Marc were selected to represent the nation. Belgian entries performed 3rd and 10th, respectively, out of the 14 entries competing in the contest.

Eurovision Song Contest 1956
Country Belgium
National selection
Selection processFinale Nationale du Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson Europeenne
Selection date(s)15 April 1956
Selected entrantFud Leclerc and
Mony Marc
Selected song"Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" and
"Le plus beau jour de ma vie"
Finals performance
Final resultN/A
Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest
1956 • 1957►

Background

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was formed in 1950 among 23 organisations with the aim of the exchange of television programmes.[1] Following the formation of the EBU, a number of notable events were transmitted through its networks in various European countries, such as Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. Following this series of transmissions, a "Programme Committee" was set up within the EBU to investigate new initiatives for cooperation between broadcasters. The new European contest, entitled European Grand Prix, was subsequently approved at the EBU's General Assembly in October 1955.[2][3][4] A planning sub-group, was subsequently formed to build out the rules of the competition.[5][6][7] The rules of the contest were finalised and distributed to EBU members in early 1956. Per the rules of the contest, each participating country submitted two songs into the contest.[8] Belgium was subsequently included on the EBU's list of 7 countries that had signed up to partake in the contest. Belgian broadcasters NIR and INR were both set to be responsible for the selection of a nation's representatives, however NIR later withdrew from the contest, citing busyness related to the participation in the Venice International Festival, leaving INR as the only participating Belgian broadcaster in that year's contest.[9] For the 1956 contest, INR held a national final to choose two nation's representatives.[10]

Before Eurovision
Fud Leclerc (pictured in 1958) was selected along with Mony Marc to represent Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956

Finale Nationale du Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson Europeenne

To select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1956, INR hosted a national final, entitled Finale Nationale du Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson Europeenne, on 15 April 1956 in Brussels. The national final was hosted by Jacques Goosens and broadcast on INR at 20:40 CET. Prior to the event, 436 songs had been submitted to the broadcaster; ten candidate entries from six acts were then selected by a jury panel, consisting of Angele Guller, Steve Hirk, Peter Packay and Rene Henoumont, from the received submissions.[10] Competing entries were performed two times, first time in instrumental and in second time they were sang. Competing entries first faced a jury vote where "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" by Fud Leclerc was selected as the first winner. Then, "Le plus beau jour de ma vie" by Mony Marc was selected as the second winner from the remaining nine entries by the public postcard voting.[11][12]

  Public postcard vote winner   Jury winner

Final – 15 April 1956[11]
Artist(s) Song Songwriter(s)
Denice Lebrun Unknown
Fud Leclerc "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" Robert Montal, Jean Miret, Jack Say
Fud Leclerc Unknown Robert Montal
Ghislaine Mery Unknown
Janine Michel Unknown
Johnny Grey Unknown
Mony Marc "Le plus beau jour de ma vie" Claude Alix, David Bee

At Eurovision

Eurovision Song Contest 1956 took place at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. The order in which the countries and songs were performed was determined artistically by the Swiss broadcasters, with input and support by the musical directors from each participating country;[5][8] "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" was drawn to perform 3rd at the contest and "Le Plus beau jour de ma vie" was drawn to perform 10th. Both of the Belgian entries were conducted at the contest by the composer Léo Souris. The full results of the contest were not revealed and have not been retained by the EBU. Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was televised in Belgium on INR and NIR.[13] Following the Eurovision Song Contest, "Messieurs les noyés de la Seine" was accused of plagiarism from the song "Le noye Assassé" by Philippe Clay, by the Belgian songwriters and the author's organisation SABAM.[11]

References
  1. Staff (17 May 2005). "Singing out loud and proud". Bristol Evening Post. Daily Mail and General Trust.
  2. Jaquin, Patrick (1 December 2004). "Eurovision's Golden Jubilee". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 August 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  3. O'Connor 2010, pp. 8–9.
  4. Roxburgh, Gordon (19 October 2015). "A diamond day for the Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  5. Roxburgh 2012, pp. 93–96.
  6. Zwart, Josianne (4 November 2017). "A decade of song: Eurovision winners through the years (1956–1959)". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  7. "'Made in Italy': How Eurovision almost ended up in Venice annually!". European Broadcasting Union. 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  8. "Reglement du Grand Prix Eurovision 1956 de la Chanson Européenne (version définitive)" [Rules of the Grand Prix of the Eurovision Song Competition 1956 (final version)] (PDF) (in French). European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2016.
  9. Vermeulen 2021, pp. 10.
  10. Vermeulen 2021, pp. 11.
  11. Vermeulen 2021, pp. 12.
  12. "Nationale finale 1956".
  13. "Wegwijs in de Aether". Limburgsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 23 May 1956. p. 9. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.

Bibliography
  • Vermeulen, André (2021). Van Canzonissima tot Eurosong: 65 jaar belgische preselecties voor het Eurovisiesongfestival (in Dutch) (2nd ed.). Leuven, Belgium: Kritak. ISBN 978-94-0147-609-6.
  • O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
  • Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
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