Sebalter

Sebastiano Paù-Lessi, (born July 1, 1985) better known by his stage name, Sebalter (stylised SEBalter) is a Swiss singer, fiddler, and attorney who represented his country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He performed the song "Hunter of Stars" in the final on 10 May 2014, finishing 13th with 64 points.[2] Sebalter was born in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. Prior to Eurovision he worked as a business lawyer, putting his law career on hold to focus on his music career.[3]

Sebalter
Sebalter (2014)
Background information
Birth nameSebastiano Paù-Lessi[1]
Born (1985-07-01) July 1, 1985
Giubiasco, Ticino, Switzerland
GenresPop folk
Occupation(s)Singer, fiddle player, songwriter, attorney
Years active2002–present
LabelsPhonag Records

Music career

2000–2012: Early career

From 2000 to 2002, Sebalter played the bass in a Swiss hard rock band called The Stalkers, who specialised in covers of early '70s groups, such as Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. From 2002 to 2012, Sebalter played the fiddle in a Swiss folk rock band The Vad Vuc, where he released three albums with the band and toured extensively. He left the band in 2012 to pursue a solo career.[4] In 2005, while he was studying at university, Sebastiano co-presented the youth television series Le vostre vacanze (Your Holiday) on Swiss channel TSI and two New Year specials in 2006 and 2007.[5]

2013–15: Eurovision Song Contest 2014 and Day of Glory
Main articles: Eurovision Song Contest 2014 and Day of Glory

In November 2013, "Hunter of Stars" was announced as one of the three entries from Italian Swiss broadcaster RSI for the Swiss national selection. Later in the month the song passed the Expert Check stage, progressing to the national final. In December the song was released as a single. Sebalter and his band performed "Hunter of Stars" on the national final show Die Große Entscheidungsshow on 1 February, winning the selection. At the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, he performed "Hunter of Stars" during the second semi-final on 8 May 2014 and qualified for the grand final on 10 May 2014. He finished 13th with 64 points, Switzerland's best result since 2005. In July 2014 he released the single "Saturday". In January 2015 he released his debut studio album Day of Glory, which includes the singles "Hunter of Stars" and "Saturday". The album has peaked to number 9 on the Swiss Albums Chart. In 2015, he retired from music to continue working as a lawyer.[6] Despite his intentions and announcements, he still tours around Switzerland and Italy with guitarist Mattia Bordignon and banjo player Rocco Casella.

2016–present: Awakening

He presented the Swiss jury vote during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Stockholm. His second studio album, entitled Awakening, was released on 20 January 2017. In 2017, he performed his song "Weeping Willow" on ESC 2017 – Die Entscheidungsshow. He was a commentator for the Swiss-Italian broadcaster RSI along with Clarissa Tami at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 in Kyiv.

In 2018, it was announced that Sebalter would be making an attempt to return to Eurovision, competing for the chance to represent Switzerland in the 2019 contest with the song, "Carry the Light". In 2019, SRF revealed that they had chosen Luca Hänni as their representative.

Discography

Albums
Title Details Peak chart positions
SWI
[7]
Day of Glory
  • Released: 9 January 2015
  • Label: Phonag Records
  • Format: Digital download, CD
 9
Awakening
  • Released: 20 January 2017
  • Label: Phonag Records
  • Format: Digital download, CD
 9
Gente simpatica
  • Released: 13 March 2020
  • Label: Phonag Records
  • Format: Digital download, CD
 —
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
SWI
[7]		 AUT
[8]		 GER
[9]		 IRE
[10]		 NL
[11]		 UK
[12]
"Hunter of Stars" 2013 64877499885 Day of Glory
"Saturday" 2014 ——————
"Weeping Willow" 2017 —————— Awakening
"Gente simpatica" 2020 —————— Gente simpatica
"La Fine dell'Estate" ——————
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

With The Vad Vuc
  • Il monastero dei folli (2004)[13]
  • Trans Roonkaya Express (2006)[13]
  • La parata dei secondi (2009)[13]

References
  1. "SEBalter - About". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  2. "Running order for the Grand Final revealed! | News | Eurovision Song Contest - Copenhagen 2014". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  3. "Switzerland 2014". Eurovision Live. eurovisionlive.com. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  4. "SeBalter". Sebalter.tumblr.com. 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  5. "Sebalter, incontro (in italiano) con lo svizzero ticinese in finale all'Eurovision". Sorissi e canzoni TV. Archived from the original on May 16, 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  6. Gallagher, Robyn (17 July 2015). "Switzerland: Sebalter Quits Music for Law Career". Wiwibloggs.
  7. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Sebalter". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  8. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Sebalter". Austrian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  9. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Sebalter". German Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  10. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Sebalter". Irish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  11. Hung, Steffen. "Discografie Sebalter". Dutch Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
  12. Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
  13. "Music". The Vad Vuc. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Takasa with "You and Me"		 Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
2014		 Succeeded by
Mélanie René with "Time to Shine"
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