Germany was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1957 The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (HR) on behalf of ARD (broadcaster), ARD, the contest, originally known as the () ...

with the song "", composed by Friedrich Meyer, with lyrics by Ralph Maria Siegel, and performed by

Margot Hielscher Margot Hielscher (29 September 1919 – 20 August 2017) was a German singer and film actress. She appeared in over fifty films between and 1939 and 1994. Hielscher was born in Berlin. In 1957, she was chosen to represent Germany at the Eurovis ...

. The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, (HR), selected its entry through a national final. In addition, HR was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Before Eurovision

(HR) on behalf of ARD, organised and produced the German national final as part of the show . was a regular game show starting in autumn 1956. The selection of the German entry took place at the

Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks hr-Sendesaal, formerly Großer Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks (Large broadcasting hall of the Hessischer Rundfunk) is a music hall and former television studio based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The hall is part of the Broadcasting House Do ...

– the same venue as for the

– on 17 February 1957 at 20:15

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

(19:15

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

). The final was broadcast on ARD's Deutsches Fernsehen, and abroad on Österreichisches Fernsehen and

Dutch television Television in the Netherlands was officially Timeline of the introduction of television in countries, introduced in 1951. In the Netherlands, the television market is divided between a number of commercial networks, such as RTL Nederland, and a sy ...

. It was hosted by Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff and directed by . oversaw the production of the show. Four songs competed in the national final. The artists were accompanied by the Tanzorchester des Hessischen Rundfunks under the musical direction of Willy Berking. A jury consisting of the directors of entertainment programs of the West-German broadcasters decided the winner. They gave their votes via telephone and the results were shown on a scoreboard. Each juror distributed ten votes among his favourite songs. "", composed by , and with lyrics by , won the national final with a large margin and was selected as the German entry.

At Eurovision

HR hosted the

, when there was still no format in place for the previous year's winning broadcaster to host the following year, and following Switzerland hosting and winning in 1956. "" was conducted by Willy Berking and Hielscher performed seventh, following the and preceding . The song received eight votes, placing fourth in a field of ten. In order to overcome language barriers, the lyrics include some greetings and simple words in other European languages. The song's lyrics gave rise to what is generally considered the first performance with a prop in the contest history, with Hielscher in fact picking up a real telephone receiver during her performance. At the end of the song, she picks it up again and explains "on the telephone" that she can't talk anymore because her song is ending. It was succeeded as German representative at the 1958 contest by Hielscher again, with "". Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was broadcast on ARD's Deutsches Fernsehen and on HR's radio station Zweites Programm. Excerpts from the show were also broadcast on UKW West (WDR) on 29 April 1957 at 21:15 CET.

Voting

Each participating broadcaster assembled a ten-member jury panel. Every jury member could give one vote to his or her favourite song.

Notes

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1957

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...