The Eurovision Song Contest 1956, originally titled the Gran premio Eurovisione 1956 della canzone europea, was the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 24 May 1956 at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland, and presented by Lohengrin Filipello. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio svizzera italiana (RSI) on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. It is the only time that the contest has been hosted by a solo male presenter.
The Eurovision Song Contest, often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an original song representing its country to be performed and broadcast live to all of them via the Eurovision and Euroradio networks, and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine a winner.
Lugano is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population of 62,315, and an urban agglomeration of over 150,000. It is the ninth largest Swiss city.