Luxembourg returned to the competition after an absence of one year, and Norway made its first contest appearance, bringing the total number of participating countries to thirteen.

Although the Netherlands had won the 1959 contest in Cannes, the Dutch broadcaster Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS) declined to stage the event for a second time in three years, after hosting the 1958 edition in Hilversum.

The rights to staging the contest subsequently passed to the United Kingdom's British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), following the UK's second place finish in the previous year's event, a decision which was announced in October 1959.

[2][3][4] The number of entries grew to thirteen for this edition, with the eleven competing countries from the 1959 contest being joined by Luxembourg, returning after a one year absence, and Norway, making its first appearance.

[7][16] Boyle presided over the opening of the contest and the voting process, while the various national broadcasters that carried the show provided commentary between each act, with the United Kingdom's commentator David Jacobs also being heard by the assembled audience of over 2,500 people in the hall.

[2][14] The winner was France represented by the song "Tom Pillibi", composed by André Popp, written by Pierre Cour and performed by Jacqueline Boyer.

[17] Boyer is the daughter of Jacques Pills, who had represented Monaco in the previous year's contest and placed last with "Mon ami Pierrot".