User:EurovisionLibrarian/Myths

Wrong facts about the Eurovision Song Contest, albeit published by respectable authors or widespread

Naming
"Erst seit den Neunzigern trägt das Event offiziell die englische Bezeichnung 'Eurovision Song Contest'." [= "It is only since the 1990s that the event is officially called in English 'Eurovision Song Contest'"].

Not exactly true because:

While it is true that the ESC 1991 was called "Concorso Eurovisione della Canzone" in its logo and all subsequent editions "Eurovision Song Contest", apart from a few editions (in French-speaking countries), the contest was called "Eurovision Song Contest" already in most editions from 1968 onwards, including contests held in the Netherlands (1970), Germany (1983), Norway (1986) and Sweden (1975). Only the editions of 1976 and 1980 in the Netherlands and those in French-speaking countries (for example 1987, 1989) didn't have the English name but used a version in their own language. See more on the history of the name in Eurovision_Song_Contest.

Origins: reason of creation of the ESC
"[Marcel Bezençon] veut absolument trouver un programme qui permette de réunir les uns et les autres [...] Il rêve d'une Europe réunie autour de la culture et du divertissement" [Marcel Bezençon "absolutely wants to find a programme which permits to reunite everybody (...) He dreams of a Europe united around culture and entertainment."]

Similarly presenter Måns Zelmerlöw at the beginning of the ESC 2016 grand final: "This competition was created in 1956 to unify a continent torn apart by war."

Also claimed in:

Wrong because:

"Utopic ideas of the ESC's innate Europeanism are, however, not justified in the documental archives of the EBU: the founders of the ESC really did only conceive of it in the mid-1950s as an experiment in television."

Only solo artists allowed
"Only solo artists were allowed to enter the contest."

Also claimed in:

Wrong because:

The official rules say different, see Talk:Eurovision_Song_Contest_1956.

Production: only one camera
"Saali nurgas seisis väidetavalt vaid üks kamera, mis andis vähestele teleriomanikele edasi uduse kujutise." ["Allegedly, there was only one camera in the corner of the hall, which gave a blurry image to the few TV owners."]

Seems to be wrong because:

The preserved reprise video of Lys Assia's "Refrain" shows different camera angles shortly one after another when Lys Assia finishes her performance: cutting from the stage to the audience.

United Kingdom's "entrant"
"Britain had an entrant ready, zither-playing Australian singer Shirley Abicair, with a song called 'Little Ship', but she never made it to Lugano. It is not clear why, though it might have been because Britain suddenly decided it didn't want to be represented by a non-Brit."

Wrong because:

"Little Ship", sung by Shirley Abicair, was an entry in the Festival of British Popular Songs 1956 (which wasn't a preselection for the ESC, see above (section Reason of the United Kingdom's absence)). She finished 2nd in the final on 22 October 1956 and had qualified for the final by winning heat one held on 7 May 1956.

Location of jury
“Die Jurys saßen, anders als in der Folgezeit, damals noch im Saal.” ["Unlike in later editions, the juries were sitting in the hall/auditorium at that time."]

Also claimed in:

Not exactly true because:

It seems true that the jury was assembled in the same venue, at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano but not inside the same hall as the auditorium and the performers. The official rules (article 12) stated that the jury composed of the jurors from every country was to follow the contest on usual television screens, in a location decided by Swiss television. It would have made no sense for the jury to watch a show on television screens if they had the stage itself in front of their eyes as well. Besides that, according to Dutch juror Ger van Lugtenburg, the jury members were removed from the jury room once they had cast their votes and were therefore unable to follow the tabulation of the final results. Which means that they were in a separate room. The distance between jury room and stage must have been not too great as the jury president Rolf Liebermann appeared on stage after the vote count to announce the winner. According to Stephan Näther, the jury assembled in the room usually used for playing Bridge.

Voting rules: jurors' mode of giving points
"There were two members from each country, who would award ten points for their favourite song, nine for second, eight for third and so on down to one point for their tenth favourite."

Also claimed in:

Other version: "Chaque jury attribue deux votes à sa chanson préferée." ["Each juror gives two points to their favourite song."]

Wrong because:

The official rules say different: "Chaque membre du jury cote, sur un bulletin 'ad hoc' chacune des chansons présentées de 1 à 10 dans l'ordre croissant de son appréciation."

[= "Each jury member, on an 'ad hoc' report, gives marks from 1 to 10 in ascending order of appreciation to each of the songs presented."]

This means that all fourteen songs were ranked by each juror from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest mark, 1 the lowest, and with several songs having the possibility of getting a "10 point"-mark by each juror, for example.

"No trophy" record for Lys Assia
"Lys Assia holds the record of being the only winner without a trophy." [translation]

Wrong because:

While it seems to be true that she didn't receive a trophy after her victory, other winning artists share the same fate. In 1957, a medaillion was awarded to the composer but not to the artist (press documents explicitly stated that it was not for the artist).

Winning songwriters finding out about victory
"Neither of the [winning] composers was present at the contest, and they didn't find out about their victory until the following day. Apparently on the evening of the contest they were a long way from Lugano having a meal with their friends."

Probably not exactly true because:

An interview with the winning songwriters Géo Voumard and Émile Gardaz published in the Swiss listings magazine Radio Je vois tout after the victory asks the question where they had been the night of the final:

"Nous étions invités à Lugano, mais pour tout vous dire, nous étions si peu confiants dans notre succès que, le soir des finales, nous n'avons ni écouté la radio, ni regardé la télévision ! Nous étions dans la campagne, avec des amis de Radio-Lausanne, sans plus penser au Grand Prix européen de la chanson ! Et ce sont nos parents qui, par téléphone, nous ont appris notre succès. Peu après, nous étions interviewés en direct par Lugano !"

[= "We were invited in Lugano but honestly, we were not confident of our success so that, the night of the finals, we neither listened to the radio nor watched television! We were in the countryside with friends from Radio Lausanne, not thinking anymore of the Grand Prix européen de la chanson! And it was our parents who, by phone, informed us of our success. Shortly after, we were interviewed live on air by Lugano!"]

While it seems to be true that the songwriters were not in Lugano but far away with friends, the passage mentioning the quick succession of being phoned by their parents and then interviewed live by Radio Monte Ceneri suggests that they found out about their victory the same night.

Claimed broadcasts

 * 1956 was not televised, only broadcast on the radio => Wrong: The show appears in TV listings of the participating countries and there are reports of it being broadcast on TV the days after.
 * Germany: live on radio BR => Wrong: not programmed on either BR1 or BR2 for that day.

1956 Germany
Lys Assia sang the song "Ein kleiner gold'ner Ring" in the national final.

Wrong because:

She competed with this song in the Deutsche Schlager-Festspiele 1961.

1957 Germany
Burandt gives different matches singer - composer for the national final, plus an additional song sung by Margot Hielscher: NDR's Eurovision website also pretends Margot Hielscher sang two songs. This contradicts the matches singer - composer and also the number of four entries given by the ARD press service ahead of the national final. The number of four entries was also mentioned in a press report after the national final.