Birth name Rosa Mina Scharer Website www.Lys-Assia.de Movies Palace Hotel Years active 1942–present | Instruments Vocals Role Singer Occupation(s) Singer Name Lys Assia | |
 | ||
Born 3 March 1924 (age 100)
Rapperswil, Aargau, Switzerland ( 1924-03-03 ) Spouse Oscar Pedersen (m. 1963–1995), Johann Heinrich Kunz (m. 1957–1957) Albums Die Sterne von Syrakus, O mein Papa Similar People Vico Torriani, Corry Brokken, Johnny Logan, Teddy Scholten, Caterina Valente | ||
Marriage location Zurich, Switzerland | ||
Lys assia singing in the 2009 ogae spain congress
Lys Assia (born Rosa Mina Schärer; 3 March 1924) is a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed to singing in 1940, after successfully standing in for a female singer.
Contents
- Lys assia singing in the 2009 ogae spain congress
- Eurovision 1956 Switzerland Lys Assia Refrain
- Eurovision Song Contest
- Personal life
- Discography
- Selected songs
- References
Eurovision 1956 - Switzerland - Lys Assia - Refrain
Eurovision Song Contest
In 1956 she was the winner of the very first Eurovision Song Contest, in which she sang for Switzerland. She had also been in the German national final of that year and returned to the contest again for Switzerland in 1957 and 1958.
In September 2011, Assia entered her song "C'était ma vie" written by Ralph Siegel and Jean Paul Cara into the Swiss national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The song, however, only came eighth in a closely fought national selection. She attended the event in Baku as a guest of honour.
In 2012, Assia again entered the Swiss national selection Die grosse Entscheidungs Show to represent Switzerland in Malmö at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "All In Your Head" featuring the hip-hop band New Jack. There were rumours of Assia representing San Marino, however it was announced on 30 January 2013 that Valentina Monetta would represent San Marino.
In 1957 she became the first artist in the Eurovision Song Contest to perform in the contest on her birthday. It took 30 years for a repeat occurrence with Sanja Doležal, lead singer from Novi fosili group, representing Yugoslavia in 1987.
Personal life
Assia married Johann Heinrich Kunz on 11 January 1957 in Zürich. Kunz died just nine months later after battling a serious illness.