This article needs additional citations for
verification. (October 2013) |
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
---|---|
Participating broadcaster | Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) |
Participation summary | |
Appearances | 63 (52 finals) |
First appearance | 1956 |
Highest placement | 1st: 1956, 1988 |
Host | 1956, 1989 |
Participation history
| |
External links | |
Switzerland's page at Eurovision.tv | |
For the most recent participation see Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 |
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.
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).
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]
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.
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.
1 | First place |
2 | Second place |
3 | Third place |
◁ | Last place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
† | Upcoming event |
Artist | Song | Language | At Congratulations | At Eurovision | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Final | Points | Semi | Points | Year | Place | Points | |||
Céline Dion | " Ne partez pas sans moi" | French | Failed to qualify | 10 | 98 | 1988 | 1 | 137 |
Year | Location | Venue | Presenter(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Lugano | Teatro Kursaal | Lohengrin Filipello |
1989 | Lausanne | Palais de Beaulieu | Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux |
Year | Category | Song | Composer(s) lyrics (l) / music (m) |
Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Composer Award | " Tout l'univers" | Gjon Muharremaj, Xavier Michel, Wouter Hardy & Nina Sampermans (m & l) | Gjon's Tears | 3 | 432 | Rotterdam |
Year | Conductor [d] | Musical Director | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Fernando Paggi | [e] | [6] | |
1957 | Willy Berking | N/A | [f] | |
1958 | Paul Burkhard | |||
1959 | Franck Pourcel | [g] | ||
1960 | Cédric Dumont | |||
1961 | Fernando Paggi | |||
1962 | Cédric Dumont | |||
1963 | Eric Robinson | [h] | ||
1964 | Fernando Paggi | |||
1965 | Mario Robbiani | |||
1966 | Jean Roderes | [i] | ||
1967 | Hans Moeckel | |||
1968 | Mario Robbiani | |||
1969 | Henry Mayer | |||
1970 | Bernard Gérard | [7] | ||
1971 | Hardy Schneiders | |||
1972 | Jean-Pierre Festi | |||
1973 | Hervé Roy | |||
1974 | Pepe Ederer | |||
1975 | Peter Jacques | |||
1976 | Mario Robbiani | |||
1977 | Peter Jacques | |||
1978 | Daniel Janin | |||
1979 | Rolf Zuckowski | |||
1980 | Peter Reber | [8] | ||
1981 | Rolf Zuckowski | |||
1982 | Joan Amils | |||
1983 | Robert Weber | [j] | ||
1984 | Mario Robbiani | |||
1985 | Anita Kerr | |||
1986 | Atilla Şereftuğ | |||
1987 | No conductor | |||
1988 | Atilla Şereftuğ | |||
1989 | Benoît Kaufman | [k] | ||
1990 | Bela Balint | N/A | ||
1991 | Flaviano Cuffari | |||
1992 | Roby Seidel | |||
1993 | Marc Sorrentino | |||
1994 | Valeriano Chiaravalle | |||
1996 | Rui dos Reis | |||
1997 | Pietro Damiani | |||
1998 | No conductor |
Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2016– 2021 | Reto Peritz | |
2022– | Yves Schifferle |
This section needs additional citations for
verification. (February 2020) |
Over the years Switzerland has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest on three television stations, SRF ( German language), RTS ( French language) and RSI ( Italian language).
Year | Commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SRF | RTS | RSI | |||
1956 | Fritz Schäuffele [13] | Raymond Colbert [14] | No broadcast | No spokesperson | |
1957 | No broadcast | Commentary via RTF France | Mäni Weber | ||
1958 | Theodor Haller | ||||
1959 | Boris Acquadro | ||||
1960 | |||||
1961 | |||||
1962 | Commentary via RAI Italy | Alexandre Burger | |||
1963 | Georges Hardy | ||||
1964 | Robert Burnier | ||||
1965 | Jean Charles | ||||
1966 | Georges Hardy | Giovanni Bertini | |||
1967 | Robert Burnier | ||||
1968 | Georges Hardy | ||||
1969 | |||||
1970 | |||||
1971 | No spokesperson | ||||
1972 | |||||
1973 | |||||
1974 | Michel Stocker | ||||
1975 | |||||
1976 | |||||
1977 | |||||
1978 | |||||
1979 | Max Rüeger | ||||
1980 | Theodor Haller | ||||
1981 | |||||
1982 | |||||
1983 | |||||
1984 | Bernard Thurnheer | Serge Moisson | Ezio Guidi | ||
1985 | |||||
1986 | |||||
1987 | Wilma Gilardi | ||||
1988 | Ezio Guidi | ||||
1989 | Thierry Masselot | Giovanni Bertini | |||
1990 | Emanuela Gaggini | ||||
1991 | Lolita Morena | ||||
1992 | Mariano Tschuor | Ivan Frésard | |||
1993 | Bernard Thurnheer | Jean-Marc Richard | |||
1994 | Wilma Gilardi | Sandra Studer | |||
1995 | Heinz Margot | Joanne Holder | Did not participate | ||
1996 | Sandra Studer | Pierre Grandjean | Yves Ménestrier | ||
1997 | Heinz Margot, Roman Kilchsperger | Jonathan Tedesco | Sandy Altermatt | ||
1998 | Jean-Marc Richard | Regula Elsener | |||
1999 | Sandra Studer | Did not participate | |||
2000 | Astrid Von Stockar | ||||
2001 | Phil Mundwiller | Did not participate | |||
2002 | Jonathan Tedesco, Claudio Lazzarino | Diana Jörg | |||
2003 | Roman Kilchsperger | Jean-Marc Richard, Alain Morisod | Daniele Rauseo, Claudio Lazzarino | Did not participate | |
2004 | Marco Fritsche | Daniela Tami, Claudio Lazzarino | Emel Aykanat | ||
2005 | Sandra Studer | Jean-Marc Richard, Marie-Thérèse Porchet | Cécile Bähler | ||
2006 | Jean-Marc Richard, Alain Morisod | Sandy Altermatt, Claudio Lazzarino | Jubaira Bachmann | ||
2007 | Bernard Thurnheer | Jean-Marc Richard (all), Henri Dès (final), Nicolas Tanner (semi-final) |
Sven Epiney | ||
2008 | Sven Epiney | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner | Sandy Altermatt | Cécile Bähler | |
2009 | |||||
2010 | Christa Rigozzi | ||||
2011 | Jonathan Tedesco | Cécile Bähler | |||
2012 | Clarissa Tami, Paolo Meneguzzi | Sara Hildebrand | |||
2013 | Alessandro Bertoglio | Mélanie Freymond | |||
2014 | Sven Epiney, Peter Schneider, Gabriel Vetter | Alessandro Bertoglio, Sandy Altermatt | Kurt Aeschbacher | ||
2015 | Clarissa Tami, Paolo Meneguzzi | Laetitia Guarino | |||
2016 | Clarissa Tami, Michele Carobbio | Sebalter | |||
2017 | Sven Epiney (all); Stefan Büsser, Micky Beisenherz (final) | Clarissa Tami (all); Sebalter (final) | Luca Hänni | ||
2018 | Sven Epiney | Clarissa Tami, Sebalter | Letícia Carvalho | ||
2019 | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner (all); Bastian Baker (final) |
Sinplus | |||
2021 | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner (all); Joseph Gorgoni (final) |
Clarissa Tami (2nd semi-final and final); Sebalter (final) |
Angélique Beldner | ||
2022 | Jean-Marc Richard (all); Nicolas Tanner (semi-finals) Gjon's Tears (final) |
Clarissa Tami (all); Francesca Marigiotta (1st semi-final and final) Boris Piffaretti (2nd semi-final and final) |
Julie Berthollet | ||
2023 | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner, Priscilla Formaz | Ellis Cavallini and Gian-Andrea Costa | Chiara Dubey | ||
2024 | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner, Julie Berthollet (final) | Jennifer Bosshard |
This article needs additional citations for
verification. (October 2013) |
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
---|---|
Participating broadcaster | Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) |
Participation summary | |
Appearances | 63 (52 finals) |
First appearance | 1956 |
Highest placement | 1st: 1956, 1988 |
Host | 1956, 1989 |
Participation history
| |
External links | |
Switzerland's page at Eurovision.tv | |
For the most recent participation see Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 |
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.
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).
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]
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.
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.
1 | First place |
2 | Second place |
3 | Third place |
◁ | Last place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
† | Upcoming event |
Artist | Song | Language | At Congratulations | At Eurovision | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Final | Points | Semi | Points | Year | Place | Points | |||
Céline Dion | " Ne partez pas sans moi" | French | Failed to qualify | 10 | 98 | 1988 | 1 | 137 |
Year | Location | Venue | Presenter(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Lugano | Teatro Kursaal | Lohengrin Filipello |
1989 | Lausanne | Palais de Beaulieu | Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux |
Year | Category | Song | Composer(s) lyrics (l) / music (m) |
Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Composer Award | " Tout l'univers" | Gjon Muharremaj, Xavier Michel, Wouter Hardy & Nina Sampermans (m & l) | Gjon's Tears | 3 | 432 | Rotterdam |
Year | Conductor [d] | Musical Director | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Fernando Paggi | [e] | [6] | |
1957 | Willy Berking | N/A | [f] | |
1958 | Paul Burkhard | |||
1959 | Franck Pourcel | [g] | ||
1960 | Cédric Dumont | |||
1961 | Fernando Paggi | |||
1962 | Cédric Dumont | |||
1963 | Eric Robinson | [h] | ||
1964 | Fernando Paggi | |||
1965 | Mario Robbiani | |||
1966 | Jean Roderes | [i] | ||
1967 | Hans Moeckel | |||
1968 | Mario Robbiani | |||
1969 | Henry Mayer | |||
1970 | Bernard Gérard | [7] | ||
1971 | Hardy Schneiders | |||
1972 | Jean-Pierre Festi | |||
1973 | Hervé Roy | |||
1974 | Pepe Ederer | |||
1975 | Peter Jacques | |||
1976 | Mario Robbiani | |||
1977 | Peter Jacques | |||
1978 | Daniel Janin | |||
1979 | Rolf Zuckowski | |||
1980 | Peter Reber | [8] | ||
1981 | Rolf Zuckowski | |||
1982 | Joan Amils | |||
1983 | Robert Weber | [j] | ||
1984 | Mario Robbiani | |||
1985 | Anita Kerr | |||
1986 | Atilla Şereftuğ | |||
1987 | No conductor | |||
1988 | Atilla Şereftuğ | |||
1989 | Benoît Kaufman | [k] | ||
1990 | Bela Balint | N/A | ||
1991 | Flaviano Cuffari | |||
1992 | Roby Seidel | |||
1993 | Marc Sorrentino | |||
1994 | Valeriano Chiaravalle | |||
1996 | Rui dos Reis | |||
1997 | Pietro Damiani | |||
1998 | No conductor |
Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2016– 2021 | Reto Peritz | |
2022– | Yves Schifferle |
This section needs additional citations for
verification. (February 2020) |
Over the years Switzerland has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest on three television stations, SRF ( German language), RTS ( French language) and RSI ( Italian language).
Year | Commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SRF | RTS | RSI | |||
1956 | Fritz Schäuffele [13] | Raymond Colbert [14] | No broadcast | No spokesperson | |
1957 | No broadcast | Commentary via RTF France | Mäni Weber | ||
1958 | Theodor Haller | ||||
1959 | Boris Acquadro | ||||
1960 | |||||
1961 | |||||
1962 | Commentary via RAI Italy | Alexandre Burger | |||
1963 | Georges Hardy | ||||
1964 | Robert Burnier | ||||
1965 | Jean Charles | ||||
1966 | Georges Hardy | Giovanni Bertini | |||
1967 | Robert Burnier | ||||
1968 | Georges Hardy | ||||
1969 | |||||
1970 | |||||
1971 | No spokesperson | ||||
1972 | |||||
1973 | |||||
1974 | Michel Stocker | ||||
1975 | |||||
1976 | |||||
1977 | |||||
1978 | |||||
1979 | Max Rüeger | ||||
1980 | Theodor Haller | ||||
1981 | |||||
1982 | |||||
1983 | |||||
1984 | Bernard Thurnheer | Serge Moisson | Ezio Guidi | ||
1985 | |||||
1986 | |||||
1987 | Wilma Gilardi | ||||
1988 | Ezio Guidi | ||||
1989 | Thierry Masselot | Giovanni Bertini | |||
1990 | Emanuela Gaggini | ||||
1991 | Lolita Morena | ||||
1992 | Mariano Tschuor | Ivan Frésard | |||
1993 | Bernard Thurnheer | Jean-Marc Richard | |||
1994 | Wilma Gilardi | Sandra Studer | |||
1995 | Heinz Margot | Joanne Holder | Did not participate | ||
1996 | Sandra Studer | Pierre Grandjean | Yves Ménestrier | ||
1997 | Heinz Margot, Roman Kilchsperger | Jonathan Tedesco | Sandy Altermatt | ||
1998 | Jean-Marc Richard | Regula Elsener | |||
1999 | Sandra Studer | Did not participate | |||
2000 | Astrid Von Stockar | ||||
2001 | Phil Mundwiller | Did not participate | |||
2002 | Jonathan Tedesco, Claudio Lazzarino | Diana Jörg | |||
2003 | Roman Kilchsperger | Jean-Marc Richard, Alain Morisod | Daniele Rauseo, Claudio Lazzarino | Did not participate | |
2004 | Marco Fritsche | Daniela Tami, Claudio Lazzarino | Emel Aykanat | ||
2005 | Sandra Studer | Jean-Marc Richard, Marie-Thérèse Porchet | Cécile Bähler | ||
2006 | Jean-Marc Richard, Alain Morisod | Sandy Altermatt, Claudio Lazzarino | Jubaira Bachmann | ||
2007 | Bernard Thurnheer | Jean-Marc Richard (all), Henri Dès (final), Nicolas Tanner (semi-final) |
Sven Epiney | ||
2008 | Sven Epiney | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner | Sandy Altermatt | Cécile Bähler | |
2009 | |||||
2010 | Christa Rigozzi | ||||
2011 | Jonathan Tedesco | Cécile Bähler | |||
2012 | Clarissa Tami, Paolo Meneguzzi | Sara Hildebrand | |||
2013 | Alessandro Bertoglio | Mélanie Freymond | |||
2014 | Sven Epiney, Peter Schneider, Gabriel Vetter | Alessandro Bertoglio, Sandy Altermatt | Kurt Aeschbacher | ||
2015 | Clarissa Tami, Paolo Meneguzzi | Laetitia Guarino | |||
2016 | Clarissa Tami, Michele Carobbio | Sebalter | |||
2017 | Sven Epiney (all); Stefan Büsser, Micky Beisenherz (final) | Clarissa Tami (all); Sebalter (final) | Luca Hänni | ||
2018 | Sven Epiney | Clarissa Tami, Sebalter | Letícia Carvalho | ||
2019 | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner (all); Bastian Baker (final) |
Sinplus | |||
2021 | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner (all); Joseph Gorgoni (final) |
Clarissa Tami (2nd semi-final and final); Sebalter (final) |
Angélique Beldner | ||
2022 | Jean-Marc Richard (all); Nicolas Tanner (semi-finals) Gjon's Tears (final) |
Clarissa Tami (all); Francesca Marigiotta (1st semi-final and final) Boris Piffaretti (2nd semi-final and final) |
Julie Berthollet | ||
2023 | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner, Priscilla Formaz | Ellis Cavallini and Gian-Andrea Costa | Chiara Dubey | ||
2024 | Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner, Julie Berthollet (final) | Jennifer Bosshard |