The first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest
Born: March 3, 1924;
Died: March 24, 2018
LYS Assia, who has died aged 94, was the first singer to win the Eurovision Song Contest. She took first place for Switzerland in 1956 with the song Refrain, and went on to become the grande dame of the contest, representing her country two more times and promoting the contest as a vehicle for peace and harmony across Europe.
Assia was already a star when she sang for Switzerland in 1956. She had had hits across the German-speaking world in the early 1950s and was particularly known for O Mein Papa, in which a young woman sings about her beloved father.
For the contest, she sang two songs - Refrain, which she sang in French, and The Old Carousel in German - and it was a small affair compared to what the contest has become. Only seven countries took part and most people heard it on the radio rather than saw it television. The UK did not take part until the following year.
Assia was born Rosa Mina Schärer in 1924 in Rupperswil, in the north of Switzerland, and as a young teenager had ambitions to be a ballerina. However, she won a recording contract with HMV when she was 18 and entertained French and US troops during the Second World War.
She was asked to take part in Eurovision after several years of hits and as well as her triumph at the inaugural contest, also represented Switzerland in 1957 and in 1958 where she finished second with Giorgio.
Much later, in her late 80s, she attempted to sing again for her country. She entered the Swiss national selection in 2012 with C'était Ma Vie, which nostalgically hinted at her early success: "It was my life, it's my destiny/And I will sing all my refrains until the end" but she finished eighth in the process. She entered again the following year, backed by a rap group, but was again unsuccessful.
Over the years, Assia made regular appearances at the contest to support its ideals. She was a guest of honour in 1985 and in 2005 she performed to Congratulations to celebrate its 50th anniversary. In 2003, she also addressed millions of viewers via a satellite link from Cyprus, wishing the contestants the best of luck ahead of the final in Riga. When asked by the presenter how she felt when she looked back at the 1956 contest, she said: "It was fun — I won!"
Assia was also convinced that the Eurovision Song Contest had a positive role to play in promoting positive relations between nations. "It was and it still is very important," she said. "The idea is to open the frontiers, to make people meet people, their cultures, their country. After the war, after very many sad years, this idea was sensational. And the proof is that it still lives after 50 years."
Assia was married twice. Her first husband Johann Kunz died of an illness shortly after their wedding; her second was the hotelier Oscar Pedersen; he died in a car accident in1995.
Assia died at Zurich's Zollikerberg Hospital, organisers of the contest said. They offered their deepest condolences to her friends and family and said they would be paying tribute to her at this year's contest. Lys Assia is survived by her daughter.
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