Eurovision Top 100, #42: Das alte Karussell (Switzerland, 1956)

Back to Eurovision Top 100 countdown Gold Tier Member Lys Assia.  At number 42, it’s her non-winner from 1956, “Das alte Karussell.”

Of course, her other song from that year won, so I doubt she would be broken up that this song didn’t win.  After all, Lys Assia is the original queen of Eurovision.  She won the 1956 Eurovision Song Contest, but not with this song.  Assia performed both of Switzerland’s entries in the only year where each country had two turns – of course, it was easy to do that when just seven countries entered the contest.  The thing is, both of her entries that year were very good.  This song winning would not have been a surprise, just as it was no shock that “Refrain” won.

They never announced the vote totals from this first-ever contest, so I would like to think that Assia’s songs finished first and second, respectively.  On earlier scoring rounds of the 1956 contest, we had other songs in between Assia’s entries, but with the most updated rubric, they finished in the top two positions.

Vital Information: “Das alte Karussell”

What I Liked

Assia’s vocals are very clean.  One might say, because I’m saying it, that she has the voice of an angel.  Even though this song did not win, she deserved the victory with one of them.  I almost found it better than “Refrain,” but not quite.

The pace picks up during the song, and ultimately, it’s a fine representation of its time period.  There’s also an unintentionally-amusing line that 12-year old me would appreciate: “Man muss es einmal schmieren,” which translates to “You have to lubricate it once.”  She, of course, is referring to the old carousel.  One would assume peoples’ minds did not “go there” in 1956.

Other Facts

• This, paired with “Refrain,” was Assia’s first Eurovision entry – which makes sense because it was the first Eurovision.  She would represent Switzerland again in 1957 and 1958 (“Giorgio”), making her one of only a handful of performers to appear three times and to perform four songs at the contest.
• Both of Assia’s entries in 1956 were in different languages.  This was in German, and her winning song was in French.  In a later contest, she would perform in Italian, which you have already seen on this list.
• The three-minute rule did not exist yet – this song ran about four minutes.
• This was Switzerland’s first Eurovision song ever and the first of Assia’s entries in the 1956 running order, going second overall.

Well, You Can Listen to “Das alte Karussell”

But for reasons you already know, you cannot watch it on YouTube.