Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 64 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year: 1995, 1999, 2001, and 2003. Switzerland hosted the inaugural contest in 1956 in Lugano, where it also won. The country claimed its second victory in 1988, 32 years after the first, and its third in 2024, 36 years after the second win. The Swiss participant broadcaster in the contest is the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR).
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
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Participating broadcaster | Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) |
Participation summary | |
Appearances | 64 (53 finals) |
First appearance | 1956 |
Highest placement | 1st: 1956, 1988, 2024 |
Host | 1956, 1989, 2025 |
Participation history | |
External links | |
Switzerland's page at Eurovision.tv | |
![]() Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 |
"Refrain" performed by Lys Assia won the inaugural contest in 1956 for Switzerland; she returned to place second in 1958 with "Giorgio". The country achieved second place with "T'en va pas" by Esther Ofarim (1963) and "Pas pour moi" by Daniela Simmons (1986), and third place with "Nous aurons demain" by Franca di Rienzo (1961) and "Amour on t'aime" by Arlette Zola (1982). It won for the second time in 1988 with "Ne partez pas sans moi" performed by Céline Dion. "Moi, tout simplement" by Annie Cotton secured Switzerland's 15th top-five finish by placing third in 1993.
Since the introduction of the qualifying round in 1993, Switzerland has reached the top ten only four times. Since the semi-final round's inception in 2004, the country has failed to reach the final in 11 of 19 contests, finishing last in the semi-final on four occasions. Switzerland returned to the top five after 26 years when "She Got Me" by Luca Hänni finished fourth in 2019, achieving the country's 16th top-five result. This was followed by "Tout l'univers" by Gjon's Tears placing third in 2021, marking the 17th top-five finish. Switzerland won the contest for the third time in 2024, with "The Code" by Nemo. The country has also finished last in the semi-finals four times since 2004, with "Celebrate" by Piero and the MusicStars (2004), "Il pleut de l'or" by Michael von der Heide (2010), "Time to Shine" by Mélanie René (2015), and "The Last of Our Kind" by Rykka (2016).
Participation
Summarize
Perspective
The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has participated in the contest representing Switzerland since the first contest in 1956.
Switzerland has four official languages, French, German, Italian, and Romansh. For intermittent periods prior to its abolition in 1999, the rules stated that the song had to be performed in an official language, which gave SRG SSR leeway as it could submit entries in any of the four languages. Out of its 64 appearances in the contest, it has sent 65 songs, 24 of which were in French,[a] 12 in German, 18 in English, 10 in Italian, and one in Romansh. The first two of Switzerland's winning songs were sung in French, with the third being sung in English.
SRG SSR has used a mix of different selection processes to determine its entry in each year's contest. Since 2019, it 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
1 | First place |
2 | Second place |
3 | Third place |
◁ | Last place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
† | Upcoming event |
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
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 |
Hostings
Year | Location | Venue | Presenter(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Lugano | Teatro Kursaal | Lohengrin Filipello |
1989 | Lausanne | Palais de Beaulieu | Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux |
2025 | Basel | St. Jakobshalle | Hazel Brugger, Sandra Studer (all shows) and Michelle Hunziker (final) |
Awards
Marcel Bezençon Awards
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 | ![]() |
|
2024 | Composer Award Artistic Award[e] |
"The Code" | Benjamin Alasu, Lasse Midtsian Nymann, Linda Dale, Nemo Mettler (m&l) | Nemo | 1 | 591 | ![]() |
Related involvement
Summarize
Perspective
Conductors
Year | Conductor[f] | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1956 | Fernando Paggi | [g] | [4] |
1957 | ![]() |
[h] | |
1958 | Paul Burkhard | ||
1959 | ![]() |
[i] | |
1960 | Cédric Dumont | ||
1961 | Fernando Paggi | ||
1962 | Cédric Dumont | ||
1963 | ![]() |
[j] | |
1964 | Fernando Paggi | ||
1965 | Mario Robbiani | ||
1966 | ![]() |
[k] | |
1967 | Hans Moeckel | ||
1968 | Mario Robbiani | ||
1969 | ![]() |
||
1970 | ![]() |
[5] | |
1971 | Hardy Schneiders | ||
1972 | ![]() |
||
1973 | ![]() |
||
1974 | ![]() |
||
1975 | Peter Jacques | ||
1976 | Mario Robbiani | ||
1977 | Peter Jacques | ||
1978 | ![]() |
||
1979 | ![]() |
||
1980 | Peter Reber | [6] | |
1981 | ![]() |
||
1982 | ![]() |
||
1983 | Robert Weber | [l] | |
1984 | Mario Robbiani | ||
1985 | Anita Kerr | ||
1986 | ![]() ![]() |
||
1987 | No conductor | ||
1988 | ![]() ![]() |
||
1989 | ![]() |
[m] | |
1990 | Bela Balint | ||
1991 | ![]() |
||
1992 | Roby Seidel | ||
1993 | Marc Sorrentino | ||
1994 | ![]() |
||
1996 | ![]() ![]() |
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1997 | ![]() |
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1998 | No conductor |
Heads of delegation
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[7]
Commentators and spokespersons
Over the years SRG SSR has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland on its three television stations: German-language Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), French-language Radio télévision suisse (RTS), and Italian-language Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI).
Year | Swiss German (SRF) | Swiss French (RTS) | Swiss Italian (RSI) | Spokesperson | Ref. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Channel | Commentator(s) | Channel | Commentator(s) | Channel | Commentator(s) | |||
1956 | SRG | Fritz Schäuffele | TSR | Raymond Colbert | No television broadcast | No spokesperson | [13][14][15][16] | |
1957 | Unknown | Robert Beauvais[n] | Unknown | [17][18] | ||||
1958 | TV DRS | Georges Hardy | [19][20] | |||||
1959 | Unknown | TSI | Unknown | [21][22][23] | ||||
1960 | Theodor Haller | [24][25][26] | ||||||
1961 | Unknown | Robert Beauvais[n] | [27][28][29] | |||||
1962 | Pierre Tchernia[n] | [30][31][32][33] | ||||||
1963 | Theodor Haller | Georges Hardy | Renato Tagliani[o] | [34][35][36][37] | ||||
1964 | Unknown | Robert Burnier | Unknown | [38][39][40] | ||||
1965 | Jean Charles | [41][42][43] | ||||||
1966 | Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach[p] | Unknown | [44][45][46][47] | |||||
1967 | Unknown | Robert Burnier | [48][49][50] | |||||
1968 | Theodor Haller | Georges Hardy | [51][52][53] | |||||
1969 | Unknown | [54][55][56] | ||||||
1970 | [57][58][59] | |||||||
1971 | Theodor Haller | No spokesperson | [60][61][62] | |||||
1972 | [63][64][65] | |||||||
1973 | [66][67][68] | |||||||
1974 | Unknown | [69][70][71] | ||||||
1975 | Unknown | [72][73][74] | ||||||
1976 | Theodor Haller | [75][76][77] | ||||||
1977 | [78][79][80] | |||||||
1978 | [81][82][83] | |||||||
1979 | Max Rüeger | [84][85][86] | ||||||
1980 | Theodor Haller | [87][88][89] | ||||||
1981 | Giovanni Bertini | [90][91][92][93] | ||||||
1982 | [94][95][96][97] | |||||||
1983 | [98][99][100][101] | |||||||
1984 | Bernard Thurnheer | Serge Moisson | Unknown | [102][103][104] | ||||
1985 | [105][106][107] | |||||||
1986 | [108][109][110] | |||||||
1987 | SRG Sportkette | SSR Chaîne Sportive | SSR Canale Sportivo | [111][112][113] | ||||
1988 | [114][115][116] | |||||||
1989 | TV DRS | TSR | Thierry Masselot | TSI | Giovanni Bertini | [117][118][119][120] | ||
1990 | SRG Sportkette | SSR Chaîne Sportive | Unknown | SSR Canale Sportivo | Unknown | [121][122][123] | ||
1991 | TV DRS | TSR Chaîne nationale | Lolita Morena | TSI Canale nationale | [124][125][126] | |||
1992 | Mariano Tschuor | Ivan Frésard | [127][128] | |||||
1993 | SF DRS | Bernard Thurnheer | Jean-Marc Richard | Emanuela Gaggini | [129][130][131] | |||
1994 | Unknown | Sandra Studer | [132][133][134] | |||||
1995 | Schweiz 4 | Heinz Margot | Suisse 4 | Unknown | Did not participate | [135][136] | ||
1996 | TSR | Pierre Grandjean | Yves Ménestrier | [137][138][139] | ||||
1997 | Sandra Studer | TSI | Unknown | Sandy Altermatt | [140][141][142] | |||
1998 | SF 2 | Unknown | TSR 1 | Jean-Marc Richard | TSI 1 | Jonathan Tedesco | Regula Elsener | [143][144][145][146][147] |
1999 | Sandra Studer | TSI 2 | Unknown | Did not participate | [148][149][150][151] | |||
2000 | TSI 1 | Jonathan Tedesco | Astrid von Stockar | [152][153][154][155] | ||||
2001 | Phil Mundwiller | Unknown | Did not participate | [156][157] | ||||
2002 | Jonathan Tedesco | Diana Jörg | [158][159][160] | |||||
2003 | Roman Kilchsperger | Jean-Marc Richard and Alain Morisod | Daniele Rauseo | Did not participate | [161][162] | |||
2004 | SF 2 (Semi-final) SF 1 (Final) |
Marco Fritsche (Semi-final) Sandra Studer (Final) |
TSR 2 (Semi-final) TSR 1 (Final) |
Unknown | Emel Aykanat | [163][164][165][166][167][168] | ||
2005 | Sandra Studer | Jean-Marc Richard and Marie-Thérèse Porchet | TSI 2 (Semi-final) TSI 1 (Final) |
Daniela Tami and Claudio Lazzarino | Cécile Bähler | [169][170][171][172][173][174][175][176] | ||
2006 | Jean-Marc Richard and Alain Morisod | Unknown | Jubaira Bachmann | [177][178][179][180][181][182] | ||||
2007 | Bernard Thurnheer | TSR 2 | Nicolas Tanner (Semi-final) Henri Dès (Final) Jean-Marc Richard (All shows) |
Sven Epiney | [183][184][185][186][187] | |||
2008 | SF zwei (SF2/Final) HD suisse (Final) |
Sven Epiney | TSR 2 (SF2/Final) | Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner | TSI 2 (SF2) TSI 1 (Final) |
Sandy Altermatt | Cécile Bähler | [188][189][190][191][192][193][194] |
2009 | SF zwei (SF1/Final) | TSR 2 (SF1/Final) | Jean-Marc Richard (SF1/Final) Nicolas Tanner (Final) |
RSI La 2 (SF1) RSI La 1 (Final) |
[195][196][197][198][199][200] | |||
2010 | SF zwei | TSR 2 | Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner | RSI La 1 | Christa Rigozzi | [201] | ||
2011 | SF zwei (SF1/Final) | TSR 2 (SF1/Final) | Nicolas Tanner (Semi-final) Henri Dès (Final) Jean-Marc Richard (All shows) |
RSI La 2 (Semi-finals) RSI La 1 (Final) |
Jonathan Tedesco | Cécile Bähler | [202][203][204] | |
2012 | RTS Deux (SF1/Final) | Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner | RSI La 2 (SF1) RSI La 1 (Final) |
Clarissa Tami and Paolo Meneguzzi | Sara Hildebrand | [205][206][207][208] | ||
2013 | SF zwei (SF2) SRF 1 (Final) |
RTS Deux (SF2/Final) | RSI La 2 (SF2) RSI La 1 (Final) |
Alessandro Bertoglio | Mélanie Freymond | [209][210][211][212] | ||
2014 | SF zwei (Semi-finals) SRF 1 (Final) |
RTS Deux (SF2) RTS Un (Final) |
Jean-Marc Richard and Valérie Ogier | Sandy Altermatt and Alessandro Bertoglio | Kurt Aeschbacher | [213][214][215][216][217] | ||
2015 | SF zwei (Semi-finals) SRF 1 (Final) |
Peter Schneider and Gabriel Vetter (Final) Sven Epiney (All shows) |
rts.ch (SF1) RTS Deux (SF2) RTS Un (Final) |
Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner | Clarissa Tami and Paolo Meneguzzi | Laetitia Guarino | [218][219][220][221] | |
srf.ch | Sign language interpreters | |||||||
2016 | SF zwei (Semi-finals) SRF 1 (Final) |
Peter Schneider and Gabriel Vetter (Final) Sven Epiney (All shows) |
RTS Deux (SF2/Final) | Michele "Cerno" Carobbio (Final) Clarissa Tami (All shows) |
Sebalter | [222][223][224][225][226] | ||
2017 | Sven Epiney | RTS Deux (Semi-finals) RTS Un (Final) |
RSI La 2 (Semi-finals) RSI La 1 (Final) |
Clarissa Tami and Sebalter | Luca Hänni | [227][228] | ||
2018 | RTS Deux (SF2) RTS Un (Final) |
Clarissa Tami | Letícia Carvalho | [229][230][231][232][233] | ||||
2019 | RTS Deux (Semi-finals) RTS Un (Final) |
Bastian Baker (Final) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner (All shows) |
RSI La 2 (SF2) RSI La 1 (Final) |
Clarissa Tami and Sebalter | Sinplus | [234][235][236][237] | ||
SRF 1 (Final) SRF info (All shows) |
Not announced before cancellation | [238][239] | ||||||
2021 | SF zwei (Semi-finals) SRF 1 (Final) |
Sven Epiney | RTS 2 (Semi-finals) RTS 1 (Final) |
Joseph Gorgoni (Final) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner (All shows) |
RSI La 2 (SF2) RSI La 1 (Final) |
Sebalter (Final) Clarissa Tami (All shows) |
Angélique Beldner | [240][241][242][243][244] |
2022 | SF zwei (Semi-finals) SRF info (SF2) SRF 1 (Final) |
Nicolas Tanner (Semi-finals) Gjon's Tears (Final) Jean-Marc Richard (All shows) |
RSI La 2 (Semi-finals) RSI La 1 (Final) |
Francesca Margiotta (SF1/Final) Boris Piffaretti (SF2/Final) Clarissa Tami (All shows) |
Julie Berthollet | [245][246][247][248] | ||
2023 | SF zwei (Semi-finals) SRF 1 (Final) |
Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner and Priscilla Formaz | Ellis Cavallini and Gian-Andrea Costa | Chiara Dubey | [249][250][251][252] | |||
2024 | Julie Berthollet (Final) Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner (All shows) |
Jennifer Bosshard | [253][254][255][256][257][258] | |||||
2025 | TBA | TBA | [259] |
Photo gallery
- Jean Philippe in Luxembourg (1962)
- Peter, Sue and Marc in The Hague (1976)
- Piero and the MusicStars in Istanbul (2004)
- Paolo Meneguzzi in Belgrade (2008)
- Michael von der Heide in Oslo (2010)
- Anna Rossinelli in Düsseldorf (2011)
- Mélanie René in Vienna (2015)
- Luca Hänni in Tel Aviv (2019)
- Gjon's Tears in Rotterdam (2021)
- Marius Bear in Turin (2022)
- Remo Forrer in Liverpool (2023)
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 17 years and younger.
Notes
- The selected Swiss entry for the cancelled 2020 contest was also sung in French.
- 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.
- The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Commentary provided by France's RTF
- Commentary provided by Italy's RAI
- Commentary provided by Germany's ARD
References
External links
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