German Schlager Festival 1961
The first German Schlager Festival took place on June 4, 1961 in the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden . The organizer was the “Deutsche Schlager-Festspiele e. V. ”, which was founded at the end of 1960. The German Schlager Festivals organized by Radio Luxemburg , which took place in Wiesbaden in 1959 and 1960, and for the last time in autumn 1961, are regarded as the forerunner or motor for this event . The Südwestfunk (SWF) had already tried in 1960 to launch a Schlager festival that was independent of Radio Luxembourg, but the event planned for 1960 had to be canceled at short notice. Only after the founding of the new association could a sponsor for the 1961 event be found.
By January 16, 1961, 713 titles had been submitted for the competition. A jury then selected 24 titles, which were presented to the audience in four preliminary TV decisions. These broadcasts were on April 21 ( Bayerischer Rundfunk ), April 28 ( Süddeutscher Rundfunk ), May 5 ( Norddeutscher Rundfunk ) and May 12 ( Sender Freie Berlin ). There remained 8 titles that competed against each other in the final on June 4th in Baden-Baden. The winner was determined by 8 juries from the broadcasting houses of the ARD stations and the audience. All titles later hardly appeared in the charts. Therefore, they considered how to improve the event and came to the conclusion that the following year the event would be merged with the preliminary decision on the Grand Prix Eurovision .
The participants in 1961
| space | title | Interpreter |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Bailando a dos (instr.) | Orchestra Alfred home |
| 2. | Texas Jimmy | The Missouris |
| 3. | A little gold ring | Lys Assia |
| 4th | You're so sweet when you smile, Cherie | Nora Nova |
| 5. | Luck comes unexpectedly | Inge Brück |
| 6th | South Seas ballad | Medium trio |
| 7th | In Paraguay | Tony Sandler |
| 8th. | The "Without You Polka" | Hans-Arno Simon |
Some of the tracks were recorded on vinyl by several performers.