Germany 1959

In 1959 Alice & Ellen Kessler were asked to participate in the German national final, they refused to take part in a German pre-selection so there wasn't any .... The song they had to sing called Heute Möcht' Ich Bummeln but the twins didn't like that, they suggested the title Heute Abend Wollen Wir Tanzen Gehen and so it happened. They went to Cannes with a lovely dance act but they finished only 8th out of 11 contenders. A few years later they said in a German TV show they were forced to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest with a song they didn't like at all on a stage that was far to small for their dance routine. Alice and Ellen covered a few eurovision songs after their song contest adventure.

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Alice and Ellen Kessler (born August 20 1936 in Nerchau, Germany) are twins and popular in Europe, especially Germany and Italy, from the 1950s and 1960s and until today for their singing, dancing and acting. They are usually credited as the Kessler Twins and remain popular today.

In the USA, they were not as popular, but appeared in the 1963 film Sodom and Gomorrah as dancers and appeared on the cover of Life Magazine in that year.

Their parents, Paul and Elsa, sent them to ballet classes at the age of six, and they joined the Leipzig Opera's child ballet program at age 11. When they were 18, their parents used a visitor's visa to escape to West Germany, where they performed at the Palladium in Düsseldorf. They performed at The Lido in Paris between 1955 and 1960, and represented West Germany in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in 8th place with Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n.

They moved to Italy in 1960 and gradually moved to more serious roles. At the age of 40, they agreed to pose on the cover of the Italian edition of Playboy. That issue became the fastest-selling Italian Playboy up until that point.[citation needed]

They moved back to Germany in 1986 and currently live in Munich. They have received numerous awards from both the German and Italian governments for promoting German-Italian cooperation through their work in show business. The twins are still popular in Germany and Italy.