Each country performed two songs at the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956.
The inaugural contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Seven countries participated: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Each broadcaster submitted two songs, creating a total of 14 performances.
This format was different from the modern contest, in which each participating country normally presents one song in the grand final. The 1956 edition also used national juries and did not publish a complete breakdown of the voting results.
Switzerland won the first contest with Lys Assia’s “Refrain”. Assia also performed Switzerland’s second entry, “Das alte Karussell”. The two-song rule disappeared after the inaugural edition, so later Eurovision questions about a country’s entry generally refer to one song per contest.