Skip to main content

London was the host city of the fifth Eurovision Song Contest despite a Dutch victory in Cannes in 1959.

London calling

The capital of the United Kingdom, London, provided the setting for the fifth Eurovision Song Contest. This was despite the fact that the Netherlands actually won the Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes the year before with Een Beetje, performed by Teddy Scholten. Following the victory the Dutch national broadcaster did not want to host the contest again so the honour went to the UK which had finished second the year before.

About the winner 

The winning song Tom Pillibi, performed by Jacqueline Boyer, provided France with a second victory in the Eurovision Song Contest. 

Facts & figures

  • The number of participants of this year's song contest grew to 13 as Norway made its debut with one of the country's leading jazz singers, Nora Brockstedt;
  • Luxembourg decided to return to the contest after a year of absence with a song fully in Luxembourgish, performed by Camillo Felgen who later started a successful career as radio and TV presenter;
  • The Dutch singer Rudi Carrell also became a famous TV personality in parts of Europe despite a disappointing 12th place with Wat Een Geluk;
  • The entry from Austria, Du Hast Mich So Fasziniert by Henry Winter was written by famous operetta composer Robert Stolz who was already 80 years old in 1960, but the song only ended up in 7th place.