And just like that, the 50s are over. Let’s have a quick retrospective on the four contests.
Before continuing to the next decade, I wanted to take a quick retrospective first. Favourite songs, favourite countries, things like that.
| Country | 1956-1 | 1956-2 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 89 | 81 | 82 | 84.000 | 82 | ||
| Germany | 58 | 95 | 93 | 95 | 47 | 77.600 | 93 |
| Switzerland | 88 | 75 | 59 | 87 | 68 | 75.400 | 75 |
| Austria | 84 | 70 | 66 | 73.333 | 70 | ||
| Luxembourg | 97 | 47 | 73 | 63 | 70.000 | 68 | |
| Italy | 84 | 57 | 45 | 100 | 62 | 69.600 | 62 |
| Netherlands | 59 | 53 | 86 | 45 | 95 | 67.600 | 59 |
| Sweden | 78 | 54 | 66.000 | 66 | |||
| United Kingdom | 38 | 86 | 62.000 | 62 | |||
| France | 18 | 73 | 55 | 50 | 73 | 53.800 | 55 |
| Belgium | 23 | 36 | 87 | 32 | 67 | 49.000 | 36 |
| Monaco | 35 | 35.000 | 35 |
Average score: 66.844
Median score: 68.0
| Year | Rating |
|---|---|
| 1958 | 70.100 |
| 1957 | 68.500 |
| 1959 | 66.091 |
| 1956 | 65.071 |
Despite not being my winner in any year, Denmark is the first in my rankings. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect that at first, but this also isn’t surprising. I found all three Danish entries charming, well-written and well-performed. They were the most consistently good country in the 1950s, which pays off in average rankings like this.
France ended up being second-to-last in my ratings. Once again, I’m not surprised. I’m simply not a huge fan of classic waltzy French chansons, which is something France has sent a lot of in the 1950s. They also sent my least favourite song in 1956 and the decade in general.
I find it a bit interesting that I’ve only chosen winners from the 7 countries that have participated in the inaugural contest. This definitely won’t continue for long because quite a few countries are about to join.
I actually enjoyed most songs. There were a couple of duds (which is normal, I’d be more surprised if I loved every song equally), but a couple of the songs have gone into some of my playlists, which is a great achievement.
Next up, the sixties.