Switzerland_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest

Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Overview of the performance of Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 63 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956 in Lugano, and won it. Switzerland won the contest again in 1988, with the 1989 contest being held in Lausanne.

For the most recent participation, see Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. For the upcoming participation, see Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.
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Lys Assia won the first contest in 1956 with the song "Refrain". She returned to place second in 1958. Switzerland went on to finish second with Esther Ofarim (1963) and Daniela Simmons (1986) and third with Franca di Rienzo (1961) and Arlette Zola (1982), before winning the contest for the second time in 1988 with Celine Dion and the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Annie Cotton gave the country its 15th top five result in 1993, when she placed third.

Since the introduction of the qualifying round in 1993, Switzerland has entered the top ten only four times. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Switzerland have failed to reach the final in 11 of 19 contests, including finishing in last place in the semi-final on four occasions. Switzerland returned to the top five for the first time in 26 years when Luca Hänni gave the country its 16th top five result by finishing fourth in 2019, followed by its 17th top five finish, when Gjon's Tears placed third in 2021. It has also finished in last place in the semi-finals four times since their introduction in 2004, with Piero and the MusicStars (2004), Michael von der Heide (2010), Mélanie René (2015) and Rykka (2016).

Absences

Switzerland had been absent from Eurovision four times since their participation began in the first contest. These absences, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003 were caused by poor results in previous contests that led to relegation.[1][2][3][4]

National selections

See also: National selections for the Eurovision Song Contest

A mix of different selection processes have been used to determine Switzerland's entry in each year's contest. Since 2019, SRG SSR has used an internal selection process, although televised national finals were used in previous years, held under various names including Concours Eurovision from the 1950s to 2000s, and Die Grosse Entscheidungsshow between 2011 and 2018. In the 1980s, the Swiss national finals tended to have ten participating songs each year: three in French, three in German, three in Italian and one in Romansch.

Participation overview

Switzerland has four official languages, French, German, Italian, and Romansh. For decades, the song requirements stated that the song had to be performed in a national language, which gave Switzerland leeway as they could perform in any of the four languages. Out of their 60 appearances in the contest, Switzerland has sent 61 songs, 24 of which were in French, 12 in German, 15 in English, 10 in Italian and 1 in Romansh. Both of Switzerland's winning songs have been sung in French.

Table key
1 First place
2 Second place
3 Third place
◁ Last place
X Entry selected but did not compete
† Upcoming event
More information Year, Artist ...

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

Further information: Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
More information Artist, Song ...

Hostings

More information Year, Location ...

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Further information: Marcel Bezençon Awards
More information Year, Category ...

Conductors

More information Year, Conductor ...

Heads of delegation

More information Year, Head of delegation ...

Commentators and spokespersons

Over the years Switzerland has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest on three television stations, SRF (German language), RTS (French language) and RSI (Italian language).

More information Year, Commentator ...

See also

Notes

  1. The 1956 contest had secret voting and, apart from the winner, no results were released.
  2. According to the then-Eurovision rules, the top ten non-Big Four countries from the previous year along with the Big Four automatically qualified for the grand final without having to compete in semi-finals. For example, if Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to the next year's grand final along with all countries ranked in the top ten.
  3. The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  4. All conductors are of Swiss nationality unless otherwise noted.
  5. Also conducted the Dutch and German entries.
  6. Host conductor
  7. Host conductor
  8. Host conductor
  9. Host conductor
  10. Conducted at the national final by Hans Moeckel
  11. Also conducted the Luxembourgish entry and half of the Danish entry.

References

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