Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957
Encyclopedia
Austria took part for the first time in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957. The country was represented by Bob Martin
Bob Martin (singer)
Bob Martin was an Austrian singer, who was the first participant representing Austria in the 1957 Eurovision Song Contest. The first "Austrian" was Freddy Quinn who performed in 1956 represent Germany. Martin, singing in German "Wohin, Kleines Pony?" , placed last in the field of ten...

 with the song "Wohin, kleines Pony?
Wohin, Kleines Pony?
"Wohin, kleines Pony?" was Austria's debut entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, performed in German by Bob Martin...

" written by Kurt Svab and Hans Werner.

Before the contest

Austria actually wanted to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956
Eurovision Song Contest 1956
The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland on 24 May 1956...

 but was, like Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 disqualified because no entry was subimitted before the submission deadline. For the 1957 contest, Bob Martin was selected internally to represent his country with the song “Wohin, kleines Pony?
Wohin, Kleines Pony?
"Wohin, kleines Pony?" was Austria's debut entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, performed in German by Bob Martin...

” (Where, little pony?), a typical schlager
Schlager
Schlager music is a style of popular music prevalent in Central and Northern Europe and the Balkans and also in France and Poland. In Portugal, it was adapted and became pimba music...

 for that time with a cowboy theme.

At Eurovision

Carl de Groof conducted the song at the Eurovision Song Contest. It was the fifth song presented that tonight following Italy
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957
Italy used the Sanremo Music Festival to their entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, held in Frankfurt, Germany.Their entry was Corde della mia chitarra, sung by Nunzio Gallo. At the contest, the song performed 4th on the night, and at the close of the voting had received 7 points, placing 6th...

 with “Corde della mia chitarra
Corde Della Mia Chitarra
"Corde della mia chitarra" was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, performed in Italian by Nunzio Gallo....

” and proceeding the Netherlands with “Net als toen
Net Als Toen
"Net als toen" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 performed in Dutch by Corry Brokken representing the Netherlands....

”. At the close of voting, Austria had received three points in total (two from the United Kingdom and one from the Netherlands) and would be the first debuting country in the Eurovision Song Contest to finish last. As only the winner was announced in 1956, Austria is also the first country at all to finish last in the competition. Austria gave six of its ten points to the Netherlands, which marked the second highest vote for the winning country that evening.

Voting

Every country had a jury of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.

Points given

  • 6 points to the Netherlands
  • 3 points to Luxembourg
    Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957
    Luxembourg was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 by Danièle Dupré with the song "Amours mortes ", written by Jean-Pierre Kemmer and Jacques Taber. The entry had been chosen internally by the broadcaster.- The entry :...

  • 1 point to the United Kingdom
    United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957
    The United Kingdom took part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1957. The country was represented by Patricia Bredin with the song “All” written by Reynell Wreford and Alan Stranks. The entry was chosen during a national final called A song for Europe...


Points received

  • 2 points from France
    France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957
    France took part in the Eurovision Song Contest for the second time in 1957. The country was represented by Paul Desjardins with the song “La belle amour”. Paule Desjardins was a rather unknown singer at the time of the contest...

  • 1 point from the Netherlands

Commercial success and critical reception

Bob Martin has never recorded the song and it was therefore also never released as a single. After the contest, a German newspaper stated that Austria's three points “for this musical confectionery, a mixture of a schmaltzy song and a cowboy song à la Bruce Low” were a decent proof that the judges “could not be improved by the random taste of the masses”.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK