The Eurovision Song Contest 1958 was the third Eurovision Song Contest. The convention that the winning country from a year hosted the following year's contest was introduced in this year. France's win was their first. It was the last time to date that the United Kingdom did not enter the contest. Unlike the competition in 1956, 1957 limited one song per country, they were still limited to entering a single song in 1958, which has remained the policy to date. Together with 1956, it is the only contest that has not featured a single song in the English language.
André Claveau during a rehearsal, singing Dors, mon amour
Sweden, a country that would later be one of the most successful in the contest, debuted this year.
The juries were not in the studio as in 1956. As in 1957, this year they stayed in their own countries, listening to the event. Once the songs had all been sung, juries sent their results via telephone. The Italian entry was not picked up properly in some of the other countries, which meant that after all the other songs had been presented, Domenico Modugno had to sing it again. Later on, it became very successful in the United States, where it has become commonly known as Volare, and got two Grammy Awards. It is one of few Eurovision songs that has reached #1 in the US singles charts. At the 50th anniversary show "Congratulations" in 2005, it was elected the 2nd best Eurovision entry ever.
The interval acts was music by the Metropole Orkest, under the lead of conductor Dolf van der Linden. This year, there were two interval acts; one in the middle, one after all the songs were played.
