Intro Post

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Introduction

Since France won Eurovision 1958, they were given the first choice to host the 1959 contest, which they did in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in the southern coastal city of Cannes. RTF, a broadcaster that hasn’t existed since 1964, put on the most ambitious Eurovision show to this point, and the first one that truly manages to wow me. It’s also the first to feature an opening film: we see guests entering the Palais, then the camera pans up to show the flags of all 11 participant countries in French alphabetical order, starting with l’Allemagne and ending with la Suisse. The UK came back to the contest after skipping 1958 and hasn’t missed a year since. Monaco made their debut as well, but Luxembourg for whatever reason skipped this year.

The show starts with an orchestra playing the Eurovision theme song “Te Deum”, then through a revolving door enters the fabulous host, Jacqueline Joubert. She’s a very charming presenter with excellent diction, so much better than the last two. There are so many nice touches in France’s hosting, like the glamorous orchestral music that plays when Jacqueline shows us the scoreboard, or her saying “good evening, [country]” in each country’s language when the contestants are introduced. The part where all the contestants are introduced is pretty awesome because they’re each revealed on one of three rotating platforms. This introduction scene was long before my birth, yet it amazes me even 66 years later. The intro of the contest was neither too long nor too short—seven minutes was a perfect length.

As with 1958, the only commentary of this show that’s ever been archived is that of the host nation, this time the French commentary. Luckily I’m pretty good at understanding French, so long as it’s not spoken with too much slang.