Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Switzerland | |
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Member station | SRG SSR |
National selection events |
National Final
Internal Selection
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Participation summary | |
Appearances | 59 (48 finals) |
First appearance | 1956 |
Best result | 1st: 1956, 1988 |
Worst result |
Last: 1964, 1967, 1974, 1998, 2004 SF, 2010 SF, 2011, 2015 SF, 2016 SF Nul points: 1964, 1967, 1998, 2004 SF |
External links | |
SF page | |
Switzerland's page at Eurovision.tv | |
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 |
Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 59 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 would go 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.
Girl band Vanilla Ninja finished eighth in 2005, Switzerland's only top ten result of the 21st century. Sebalter gave the country its second-best result of the century, finishing 13th in 2014. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Switzerland has failed to reach the final 11 times.
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 relegated Switzerland from the contest.[1][2][3][4]
Contestants
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 58 appearances in the Contest, Switzerland has sent 52 songs, 24 of which were in French, 12 in German, 12 in English, 9 in Italian, and 1 in Romansh. Both of Switzerland's winning songs have been sung in French.
- Table key
- NOTES:
- a. ^ The full results for the first contest in 1956 are unknown, only the winner was announced. The official Eurovision site lists all the other songs as being placed second.
- b. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries.
Voting history
As of 2017, Switzerland's voting history is as follows:
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Hostings
Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Lugano | Teatro Kursaal | Lohengrin Filipello |
1989 | Lausanne | Palais de Beaulieu | Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux |
Commentators and Spokespeople
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(s) | Swiss German Commentator | Swiss French Commentator | Swiss Italian Commentator | Spokesperson | Dual Swiss German Commentator | Dual Swiss French Commentator | Dual Swiss Italian Commentator |
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1956 | No broadcast | Georges Hardy | No broadcast | N/A | No Dual Commentator | No Dual Commentator | No Dual Commentator |
1957 | Commentary via RTF France between 1957 and 1961 | Mäni Weber | |||||
1958 | Theodor Haller | ||||||
1959 | Boris Acquadro | ||||||
1960 | |||||||
1961 | |||||||
1962 | Georges Hardy | Commentary via RAI Italy between 1962 and 1965 | Alexandre Burger | ||||
1963 | |||||||
1964 | |||||||
1965 | |||||||
1966 | Giovanni Bertini | ||||||
1967 | |||||||
1968 | |||||||
1969 | |||||||
1970 | |||||||
1971 | No Spokesperson | ||||||
1972 | |||||||
1973 | |||||||
1974 | Michel Stocker | ||||||
1975 | |||||||
1976 | |||||||
1977 | |||||||
1978 | |||||||
1979 | |||||||
1980 | |||||||
1981 | |||||||
1982 | |||||||
1983 | |||||||
1984 | Bernard Thurnheer | Serge Moisson | Ezio Guidi | ||||
1985 | |||||||
1986 | |||||||
1987 | |||||||
1988 | |||||||
1989 | Thierry Masselot | ||||||
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 | Jonathan Tedesco | Sandy Altermatt | Roman Kilchsperger | |||
1998 | Jean-Marc Richard | Regula Elsener | |||||
1999 | Sandra Studer | Did not participate | No Dual Commentator | ||||
2000 | Astrid Von Stockar | ||||||
2001 | Phil Mundwiller | Did not participate | |||||
2002 | Diana Jörg | Claudio Lazzarino | |||||
2003 | Roman Kilchsperger | Jean-Marc Richard | Daniele Rauseo | Did not participate | Alain Morisod | ||
2004 | Marco Fritsche | Daniela Tami | Emel Aykanat | ||||
2005 | Sandra Studer | Cécile Bähler | Marie-Thérèse Porchet | ||||
2006 | Sandy Altermatt | Jubaira Bachmann | Alain Morisod | ||||
2007 | Bernard Thurnheer | Sven Epiney | Henri Dès (final) + Nicolas Tanner (semi-final) | ||||
2008 | Sven Epiney | Cécile Bähler | Nicolas Tanner | No Dual Commentator | |||
2009 | |||||||
2010 | Christa Rigozzi | ||||||
2011 | Jonathan Tedesco | Cécile Bähler | |||||
2012 | Clarissa Tami | Sara Hildebrand | Paolo Meneguzzi | ||||
2013 | Alessandro Bertoglio | Mélanie Freymond | No Dual Commentator | ||||
2014 | Kurt Aeschbacher | Peter Schneider + Gabriel Vetter | Sandy Altermatt | ||||
2015 | Clarissa Tami | Laetitia Guarino | Paolo Meneguzzi | ||||
2016 | Sebalter | Michele Carobbio | |||||
2017 | Luca Hänni | Stefan Büsser + Micky Beisenherz | Sebalter | ||||
2018 | Letícia Carvalho | No Dual Commentator |
Conductors
All conductors are Swiss except those marked with a flag.
Fernando Paggi (1956, 1961, 1964) (musical director in 1956) Willy Berking (1957) - Paul Burkhard (1958)
Franck Pourcel (1959) - Cédric Dumont (1960, 1962)
Eric Robinson (1963) - Mario Robbiani (1965, 1968, 1976, 1984)
Jean Roderes (1966) - Hans Moeckel (1967)
Henry Mayer (1969) Bernard Gérard (1970) - Hardy Schneiders (1971)
Jean-Pierre Festi (1972) Hervé Roy (1973) Pepe Ederer (1974) - Peter Jacques (1975, 1977)
Peter Janin (1978) Rolf Zuckowski (1979, 1981) - Peter Reber (1980)
Joan Amils (1982) - Robert Weber (1983)
Anita Kerr (1985) Atilla Şereftuğ (1986, 1988) Benoît Kaufman (1989) (musical director) Bela Balint (1990) Flaviano Cuffari (1991) - Roby Seidel (1992)
- Marc Sorrentino (1993)
Valeriano Chiaravalle (1994) Rui dos Reis (1996) Pietro Damiani (1997)
- Notes
- Anita Kerr changed her nationality to Swiss in 1970.
- Atilla Şereftuğ holds dual citizenship since 1985.
- Bela Balint later changed his nationality to Swiss.
- Rui dos Reis holds dual citizenship since 2010.
- Prior to 1999, the Swiss entry was performed without orchestral accompaniment in 1987 and 1998.[6]
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
- Table key
Year | Artist | Language | Title | Final | Points | Semi | Points | Place (1988) | Points (1988) |
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1988 | Celine Dion | French | "Ne partez pas sans moi" | Failed to qualify | 10 | 98 | 1 | 137 | |
Photogallery
- Jean Philippe at Luxembourg (1962)
- Peter, Sue and Marc at The Hague (1976)
- Piero and the MusicStars at Istanbul (2004)
- Paolo Meneguzzi at Belgrade (2008)
- Michael von der Heide at Oslo (2010)
- Anna Rossinelli at Düsseldorf (2011)
- Mélanie René at Vienna (2015)
See also
- Switzerland in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Junior version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Switzerland in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Switzerland in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21.
- Switzerland in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger.
References
- ↑ "History by Year: Eurovision Song Contest 1995". EBU. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ↑ "History by Year: Eurovision Song Contest 1999". EBU. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ↑ "History by Year: Eurovision Song Contest 2001". EBU. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ↑ "History by Year: Eurovision Song Contest 2003". EBU. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ↑ Barclay, Simon (June 17, 2010). The Complete and Independent Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Silverthorn Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4457-8415-1.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
External links
- Points to and from Switzerland eurovisioncovers.co.uk