Lys Assia

Lys Assia – born Rosa Mina Schärer in Rupperswil, Aargau, Switzerland on March 3, 1925 – was a singer best known as the winner of the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Initially interested in dancing, she took ballet lessons before studying at the Conservatory and the Academy of Arts in Zurich. The outbreak of the World War II interrupted her career as a dancer, and she then turned to singing. After joining Eddie Bruner's orchestra as a singer, she signed her first recording contract with the record label La Voix de son maître. Subsequently, she signed with Radio Basel which allowed her to perform several tours abroad. She became known in Germany in 1950 thanks to her interpretation of the song "O Mein Papa", taken from the operetta Das Feuerwerk. Like many hit vocalists of the era in Germany, Lys Assia then began a career in cinema. In 1956, she participated simultaneously in the German and Swiss national selections for the very first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. She failed at the premiere with "Ein Kleiner Goldener Ring" but won the Swiss selection. In accordance with the rules then in force, she sang twice for Switzerland: first in German with the song "Das alte Karussell", then in French with "Refrain", under the direction of conductor Fernando Paggi. It was the latter which made her the only Swiss artist to have won Eurovision until the country's second victory, in 1988, when they were represented by Quebec, Canada’s Céline Dion. Lys Assia participated in the competition twice more – in 1957 and 1958 – but did not win either time. Her career continued long after her Eurovision success as she released several albums and dozens of singles that made her one of the most popular singers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Lys Assia died on March 24, 2018, at the age of 94.

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