Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971

Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 with the song "Les Illusions de nos vingt ans", composed by Peter Reber [fr], with lyrics by Maurice Tézé [fr], and performed by Peter, Sue and Marc. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), internally selected its entry for the contest.

Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971
Eurovision Song Contest 1971
Participating broadcaster	Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR)
Country	Switzerland
Selection process	Internal selection
Announcement date	27 February 1971
Competing entry
Song	"Les Illusions de nos vingt ans"
Artist	Peter, Sue and Marc
Songwriters	Peter Reber [fr] Maurice Tézé [fr]
Placement
Final result	12th, 78 points
Participation chronology
◄1970 • 1971 • 1972►

Before Eurovision

Internal selection and song change

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) held an internal selection on 8 February.^[1] The events of the selection are unknown, including the participants who took part. The internal jury ultimately selected Peter, Sue and Marc to compete with the song "Légendes de mon pays", composed by Peter Reber [fr], with lyrics by Maurice Tézé [fr].^[1]

For an unknown reason, "Légendes de mon pays" was withdrawn by Peter, Sue and Marc, with the song last being mentioned in newspapers in 27 February.^[2] On the same day, it was first reported that the trio would instead represent Switzerland with the song "Les Illusions de nos vingt ans", composed by the same songwriters, which was first performed at the Hits à Gogo [de] program on 4 March,^[3] with further reports of the song being referred to as the Swiss entry on 6 March and onward.^[4]

At Eurovision

At the Eurovision Song Contest 1971, held at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, the Swiss entry was the fourth entry of the night following Monaco and preceding Germany. The Swiss conductor at the contest was Hardy Schneiders [nl]. At the close of voting, Switzerland had received 78 points in total; finishing in twelfth place out of eighteen countries.

Voting

A new voting system was introduced in this edition, and was used annually until 1973. Each participating broadcaster appointed two jury members, one aged between 16 and 25 and one aged between 26 and 55, with at least 10 years between their ages. They each awarded 1 to 5 points for each song, other than the song of their own country. They cast their votes immediately after each song was performed and the votes were then collected and counted. For the public voting sequence after the interval act, the jury members were shown on the stage's screen with each lifting a signboard with the number between 1 and 5 for each song, as a visual verification of the scores they had awarded earlier.^[5]

Points awarded to Switzerland[6] Score Country 10 points 9 points 8 points 7 points  Italy 6 points  France  Germany  Portugal  United Kingdom 5 points  Austria  Ireland  Malta  Netherlands 4 points  Finland  Monaco  Norway  Sweden  Yugoslavia 3 points  Belgium 2 points  Luxembourg  Spain

Points awarded by Switzerland[6] Score Country 10 points  Monaco 9 points  Sweden 8 points  France  Italy 7 points 6 points  Germany  United Kingdom 5 points  Netherlands  Spain 4 points  Belgium  Finland  Norway 3 points  Ireland  Luxembourg 2 points  Austria  Malta  Portugal  Yugoslavia