On 14th October, 2006, Switzerland's branch of the Eurovision club network OGAE will hold its annual event in Basel. Headlining the guest appearances will be none other than the very first winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, Lys Assia.
Lys won the 1956 edition of the contest with the chanson Refrain, and also sang Switzerland's second entry that year – the only year when each country submitted two entries. Not only that, but she returned in 1957 and 1958, achieving the runner-up position in the latter with the German-Italian Schlager Giorgio. She remains an icon of Eurovision history, and has endorsed the continuance of the contest through countless appearances at events including even subsequent Eurovision Song Contests as an audience member.
Star-studded line-up
Joining Lys in the country where Eurovision began will be Gunvor Guggisberg (Switzerland 1998), Arlette Zola (Switzerland 1982) and Katarína Hasprová, who was Slovakia's last entrant to date, singing Modlitba in 1998. There may yet be more, and fans are encouraged to check the website of OGAE Switzerland at switzerland.ogae.net for more details.
