Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Eurovision Song Contest 2018
Country   Switzerland
National selection
Selection process ESC 2018 – Die Entscheidungsshow
Selection date(s) 4 February 2018
Selected entrant Zibbz
Selected song "Stones"
Selected songwriter(s) Corinne “Co” Gfeller
Stee Gfeller
Laurell Barker
Finals performance
Semi-final result Failed to qualify (13th, 86 points)
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2017 • 2018 • 2019►

Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) organised a national final in order to select the Swiss entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Background

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-eight times since its first entry in 1956.[1] Switzerland is noted for having won the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Refrain" performed by Lys Assia. Their second and, to this point, most recent victory was achieved in 1988 when Canadian singer Céline Dion won the contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Switzerland had managed to participate in the final four times up to this point. In 2005, the internal selection of Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, performing the song "Cool Vibes", qualified Switzerland to the final where they placed 8th. Due to their successful result in 2005, Switzerland was pre-qualified to compete directly in the final in 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, the nation failed to qualify to the final after a string of internal selections. Since opting to organize a national final from 2011 onwards, Switzerland has managed to qualify to the final twice. In 2017, Switzerland failed to qualify to the final, placing 12th in the semi-final with the song "Apollo" performed by Timebelle. The last time they had qualified was in 2014.

The Swiss national broadcaster, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), broadcasts the event within Switzerland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. SRG SSR confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 30 June 2017.[2] Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster also announced that the Swiss entry for the 2018 contest would be selected through a revamped national final.[2] Switzerland has selected their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest through both national finals and internal selections in the past. Between 2005 and 2010, the Swiss entry was internally selected for the competition. Since 2011, the broadcaster has opted to organize a national final in order to select their entry.

Before Eurovision

ESC 2018 – Die Entscheidungsshow

ESC 2018 – Die Entscheidungsshow was the eighth edition of the Swiss national final format that selected Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

National final

ESC 2018 – Die Entscheidungsshow took place on 4 February 2018 at SRF's Studio 1 in Zürich, hosted by Sven Epiney.[3] The winning entry was determined by a 50 % public televote and 50 % international jury vote. The finalists were announced on 9 January 2018.

Draw Artist Song Composer(s) Jury Televote Total Place
1 Zibbz "Stones" Corinne “Co” Gfeller, Stee Gfeller, Laurell Barker 76 77 153 1
2 Angie Ott "A Thousand Times" Jonas Gladnikoff, Sara Ljunggren, Glen Vella 26 39 65 5
3 Naeman "Kiss Me" Kate Northrop, Eric Lumiere, Ken Berglund, Alejandro Reyes 14 19 33 6
4 Chiara Dubey "Secrets and Lies" Chiara Dubey, Janie Price, Jeroen Swinnen, Darcy Proper, Sally Herbert 22 44 66 4
5 Alejandro Reyes "Compass" Alejandro Reyes, Laurell Barker, Lars Christen 72 48 120 2
6 Vanessa Iraci "Redlights" Borislav Milanov, Joacim Bo Persson, Johan Alkenäs, Jessica Ashley Karpov, Jesse Saint John 42 25 67 3
Detailed Jury Votes
Draw Song Albania Armenia France Germany Iceland Israel Italy Total
1 "Stones" 12 8 10 10 12 12 12 76
2 "A Thousand Times" 6 6 — 8 6 — — 26
3 "Kiss Me" — — — 6 — — 8 14
4 "Secrets and Lies" — — 6 — 8 8 — 22
5 "Compass" 8 10 12 12 10 10 10 72
6 "Redlights" 10 12 8 — — 6 6 42

At Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 took place at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May and the final on 12 May 2018. According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) were required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progressed to the final. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Switzerland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.

Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Switzerland was set to perform in position 17, following the entry from Armenia and before the entry from Ireland.

In Switzerland, three different stations broadcast the contest. Sven Epiney provided German commentary for both semi-finals airing on SRF zwei and the final airing on SRF 1. Clarissa Tami provided Italian commentary for the first semi-final airing on RSI La 2 and the final airing on RSI La 1 joined by 2014 Swiss Eurovision representative Sebalter. Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Taner provided French commentary for the first semi-final airing on RTS Deux and the final airing on RTS Un. The Swiss spokesperson revealing the result of the Swiss vote in the final was Letícia Carvalho.

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Switzerland

Points awarded to Switzerland (Semi-final 1)
Televote
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Jury
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by Switzerland

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Swiss jury: [4]

  • Georg Schlunegger – Chairperson – producer, songwriter
  • Alizé Oswald – singer
  • Michael Kinzer – boardmember of Swiss Music Export and Fondation pour la Chanson et les Musiques Actuelles
  • Eva Bellomo – singer
  • Nicola Kneringer (Nickless) – singer

References

  1. ↑ "Switzerland Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 Granger, Anthony (30 June 2017). "Switzerland: Eurovision 2018 Participation Confirmed". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  3. ↑ Granger, Anthony. "Switzerland: Six Eurovision 2018 Hopefuls Revealed". Eurovoix.com. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  4. ↑ Groot, Evert (30 April 2018). "Exclusive: They are the expert jurors for Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
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