Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Switzerland
Member station	SRG SSR
National selection events	National final Concours Eurovision ; 1956–1957 ; 1959–1961 ; 1963–1970 ; 1972–1993 ; 1998 ; 2000 ; 2002 ; 2004 ; Die Grosse Entscheidungsshow ; 2011–2018 ; Internal selection 1958 ; 1962 ; 1971 ; 1994 ; 1996–1997 ; 2005–2010 ; 2019–2021 ;
Participation summary
Appearances	60 (49 finals)
First appearance	1956
Best result	1st: 1956, 1988
Nul points	1964, 1967, 1998, 2004 SF
External links
	SF page
	Switzerland's page at Eurovision.tv
	For the most recent participation see; Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 60 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.

Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Switzerland have failed to reach the final in 11 of 16 contests. Switzerland returned to the top five for the first time in 26 years when Luca Hänni gave the country its 16th top five result by finishing fourth in 2019. The country's only other top 10 result of the 21st century is Estonian girl group Vanilla Ninja's eighth-place in 2005.

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 60 appearances in the Contest, Switzerland has sent 61 songs, 23 of which were in French, 12 in German, 15 in English, 10 in Italian and 1 in Romansh. Both of Switzerland's winning songs have been sung in French.

Table key
1	Winner
2	Second place
3	Third place
◁	Last place
X	Entry selected but did not compete

Year	Artist	Language	Title	Final	Points	Semi	Points
1956	Lys Assia	German	"Das alte Karussell"	2[lower-alpha 1]	N/A	No semi-finals
1956	Lys Assia	French	"Refrain"	1	N/A
1957	Lys Assia	French	"L'enfant que j'étais"	8	5
1958	Lys Assia	German, Italian	"Giorgio"	2	24
1959	Christa Williams	German	"Irgendwoher"	4	14
1960	Anita Traversi	Italian	"Cielo e terra"	8	5
1961	Franca Di Rienzo	French	"Nous aurons demain"	3	16
1962	Jean Philippe	French	"Le retour"	10	2
1963	Esther Ofarim	French	"T'en va pas"	2	40
1964	Anita Traversi	Italian	"I miei pensieri"	13 ◁	0
1965	Yovanna	French	"Non, à jamais sans toi"	8	8
1966	Madeleine Pascal	French	"Ne vois-tu pas?"	6	12
1967	Géraldine	French	"Quel cœur vas-tu briser?"	17 ◁	0
1968	Gianni Mascolo	Italian	"Guardando il sole"	13	2
1969	Paola del Medico	German, French	"Bonjour, Bonjour"	5	13
1970	Henri Dès	French	"Retour"	4	8
1971	Peter, Sue and Marc	French	"Les illusions de nos vingt ans"	12	78
1972	Véronique Müller	French	"C'est la chanson de mon amour"	8	88
1973	Patrick Juvet	French	"Je vais me marier, Marie"	12	79
1974	Piera Martell	German	"Mein Ruf nach Dir"	14 ◁	3
1975	Simone Drexel	German	"Mikado"	6	77
1976	Peter, Sue and Marc	English	"Djambo, Djambo"	4	91
1977	Pepe Lienhard Band	German	"Swiss Lady"	6	71
1978	Carole Vinci	French	"Vivre"	9	65
1979	Peter, Sue and Marc + Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri	German	"Trödler und Co"	10	60
1980	Paola	French	"Cinéma"	4	104
1981	Peter, Sue and Marc	Italian	"Io senza te"	4	121
1982	Arlette Zola	French	"Amour on t'aime"	3	97
1983	Mariella Farré	Italian	"Io così non ci sto"	15	28
1984	Rainy Day	German	"Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein?"	16	30
1985	Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini	German	"Piano, piano"	12	39
1986	Daniela Simmons	French	"Pas pour moi"	2	140
1987	Carol Rich	French	"Moitié, moitié"	17	26
1988	Céline Dion	French	"Ne partez pas sans moi"	1	137
1989	Furbaz	Romansh	"Viver senza tei"	13	47
1990	Egon Egemann	German	"Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus"	11	51
1991	Sandra Simó	Italian	"Canzone per te"	5	118
1992	Daisy Auvray	French	"Mister Music Man"	15	32
1993	Annie Cotton	French	"Moi, tout simplement"	3	148	Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994	Duilio	Italian	"Sto pregando"	19	15	No semi-finals
1996	Kathy Leander	French	"Mon cœur l'aime"	16	22	8	67
1997	Barbara Berta	Italian	"Dentro di me"	22	5	No semi-finals
1998	Gunvor	German	"Lass ihn"	25 ◁	0
2000	Jane Bogaert	Italian	"La vita cos'è?"	20	14
2002	Francine Jordi	French	"Dans le jardin de mon âme"	22	15
2004	Piero and the MusicStars	English	"Celebrate"	Failed to qualify		22 ◁	0
2005	Vanilla Ninja	English	"Cool Vibes"	8	128	8	114
2006	six4one	English	"If We All Give a Little"	16	30	Top 11 previous year[lower-alpha 2]
2007	DJ BoBo	English	"Vampires Are Alive"	Failed to qualify		20	40
2008	Paolo Meneguzzi	Italian	"Era stupendo"			13	47
2009	Lovebugs	English	"The Highest Heights"			14	15
2010	Michael von der Heide	French	"Il pleut de l'or"			17 ◁	2
2011	Anna Rossinelli	English	"In Love for a While"	25 ◁	19	10	55
2012	Sinplus	English	"Unbreakable"	Failed to qualify		11	45
2013	Takasa	English	"You and Me"	Failed to qualify		13	41
2014	Sebalter	English	"Hunter of Stars"	13	64	4	92
2015	Mélanie René	English	"Time to Shine"	Failed to qualify		17 ◁	4
2016	Rykka	English	"The Last of Our Kind"			18 ◁	28
2017	Timebelle	English	"Apollo"			12	97
2018	ZiBBZ	English	"Stones"			13	86
2019	Luca Hänni	English	"She Got Me"	4	364	4	232
2020	Gjon's Tears	French	"Répondez-moi"	Contest cancelled[lower-alpha 3] X
2021	Gjon's Tears

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

Artist	Language	Title	At Congratulations				At Eurovision
Artist	Language	Title	Final	Points	Semi	Points	Year	Place	Points
Celine Dion	French	"Ne partez pas sans moi"	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

Related involvement

Conductors

Year	Conductor[lower-alpha 4]	Musical Director	Notes	Ref.
1956	Fernando Paggi		[lower-alpha 5]	[5]
1957	Willy Berking	N/A	[lower-alpha 6]
1958	Paul Burkhard
1959	Franck Pourcel		[lower-alpha 7]
1960	Cédric Dumont
1961	Fernando Paggi
1962	Cédric Dumont
1963	Eric Robinson		[lower-alpha 8]
1964	Fernando Paggi
1965	Mario Robbiani
1966	Jean Roderes		[lower-alpha 9]
1967	Hans Moeckel
1968	Mario Robbiani
1969	Henry Mayer
1970	Bernard Gérard			[6]
1971	Hardy Schneiders
1972	Jean-Pierre Festi
1973	Hervé Roy
1974	Pepe Ederer
1975	Peter Jacques
1976	Mario Robbiani
1977	Peter Jacques
1978	Daniel Janin
1979	Rolf Zuckowski
1980	Peter Reber			[7]
1981	Rolf Zuckowski
1982	Joan Amils
1983	Robert Weber
1984	Mario Robbiani
1985	Anita Kerr
1986	Atilla Şereftuğ
1987	No conductor
1988	Atilla Şereftuğ
1989	Benoît Kaufman		[lower-alpha 10]
1990	Bela Balint	N/A
1991	Flaviano Cuffari
1992	Roby Seidel
1993	Marc Sorrentino
1994	Valeriano Chiaravalle
1996	Rui dos Reis
1997	Pietro Damiani
1998	No conductor

Commentators and spokespersons

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	Commentator			Spokesperson	Ref.
Year	SRF	RTS	RSI	Spokesperson	Ref.
1956	No broadcast	Robert Burnier	No broadcast	No spokesperson
1957	No broadcast	Commentary via RTF France		Mäni Weber
1958	Theodor Haller			Mäni Weber
1959				Boris Acquadro
1960
1961
1962			Commentary via RAI Italy	Alexandre Burger
1963		Georges Hardy
1964		Robert Burnier
1965		Jean Charles
1966		Georges Hardy	Giovanni Bertini
1967		Robert Burnier
1968		Georges Hardy
1969
1970
1971				No spokesperson
1972
1973
1974				Michel Stocker
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979	Max Rüeger
1980	Theodor Haller
1981
1982
1983
1984	Bernard Thurnheer	Serge Moisson	Ezio Guidi
1985
1986
1987			Wilma Gilardi
1988			Ezio Guidi
1989		Thierry Masselot	Giovanni Bertini
1990		Thierry Masselot	Emanuela Gaggini
1991		Lolita Morena
1992	Mariano Tschuor	Ivan Frésard
1993		Jean-Marc Richard
1994			Wilma Gilardi	Sandra Studer
1995	Heinz Margot		Joanne Holder	Did not participate
1996	Sandra Studer	Pierre Grandjean	Joanne Holder	Yves Ménestrier
1997	Heinz Margot, Roman Kilchsperger	Pierre Grandjean	Jonathan Tedesco	Sandy Altermatt
1998	Heinz Margot, Roman Kilchsperger	Jean-Marc Richard		Regula Elsener
1999	Sandra Studer			Did not participate
2000				Astrid Von Stockar
2001		Phil Mundwiller		Did not participate
2002		Phil Mundwiller	Jonathan Tedesco, Claudio Lazzarino	Diana Jörg
2003	Roman Kilchsperger	Jean-Marc Richard, Alain Morisod	Daniele Rauseo, Claudio Lazzarino	Did not participate
2004	Marco Fritsche	Jean-Marc Richard, Alain Morisod	Daniela Tami, Claudio Lazzarino	Emel Aykanat
2005	Sandra Studer	Jean-Marc Richard, Marie-Thérèse Porchet	Daniela Tami, Claudio Lazzarino	Cécile Bähler
2006	Sandra Studer	Jean-Marc Richard, Alain Morisod	Sandy Altermatt, Claudio Lazzarino	Jubaira Bachmann
2007	Bernard Thurnheer	Jean-Marc Richard (all), Henri Dès (final), Nicolas Tanner (semi-final)	Sandy Altermatt, Claudio Lazzarino	Sven Epiney
2008	Sven Epiney	Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner	Sandy Altermatt	Cécile Bähler
2009				Cécile Bähler
2010				Christa Rigozzi
2011			Jonathan Tedesco	Cécile Bähler
2012			Clarissa Tami, Paolo Meneguzzi	Sara Hildebrand
2013			Alessandro Bertoglio	Mélanie Freymond
2014	Sven Epiney, Peter Schneider, Gabriel Vetter		Alessandro Bertoglio, Sandy Altermatt	Kurt Aeschbacher
2015			Clarissa Tami, Paolo Meneguzzi	Laetitia Guarino
2016			Clarissa Tami, Michele Carobbio	Sebalter
2017	Sven Epiney (all); Stefan Büsser, Micky Beisenherz (final)		Clarissa Tami (all); Sebalter (final)	Luca Hänni	[8][9][10]
2018	Sven Epiney		Clarissa Tami, Sebalter	Letícia Carvalho	[11][12][13][14]
2019	Sven Epiney	Jean-Marc Richard, Nicolas Tanner (all); Bastian Baker (final)	Clarissa Tami, Sebalter	Sinplus	[15][16][17][18]

Gallery

Jean Philippe in Luxembourg (1962)
Yovanna in Naples (1965)
Henri Dès in Amsterdam (1970)
Peter, Sue and Marc in The Hague (1976)
Piero and the MusicStars in Istanbul (2004)
Six4one during a press conference in Athens (2006)
DJ BoBo in Helsinki (2007)
Paolo Meneguzzi in Belgrade (2008)
Michael von der Heide in Oslo (2010)
Anna Rossinelli in Düsseldorf (2011)
Takasa in Malmö (2013)
Sebalter in Copenhagen (2014)
Mélanie René in Vienna (2015)
Rykka in Stockholm (2016)
Timebelle in Kyiv (2017)
ZiBBZ in Lisbon (2018)
Luca Hänni in Tel Aviv (2019)

Notes

The full results for the first contest in 1956 are unknown, as only the winner was announced. The official Eurovision site lists all other songs as being placed second.
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.
All conductors are of Swiss nationality unless otherwise noted.
Also conducted the Dutch and German entries.
Host conductor
Host conductor
Host conductor
Host conductor
Also conducted the Luxembourgish entry and half of the Danish entry.

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.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 93–101. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
"«ESC» 2017: Satirischer Kommentar mit Stefan Büsser und «Aeschbacher Spezial – aus Kiew»" [«ESC» 2017: Satirical commentary with Stefan Büsser and «Aeschbacher Special - from Kyiv»]. SRF (in German). Retrieved 27 February 2020.
"Eurovision Song Contest 2017". RSI (in Italian). Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
Davies, Megan (1 May 2017). "Switzerland: Luca Hänni Announced As Spokesperson". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
Granger, Anthony (16 April 2018). "Switzerland: Sven Epiney Returns to the Commentary Booth". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
"Eurosong - TV - Play RTS". RTS (in French). Retrieved 26 February 2020.
"Eurovision Song Contest 2018 - RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera". RSI (in Italian). 7 May 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
Granger, Anthony (19 April 2018). "Switzerland: Leticia Carvalho Revealed as Spokesperson". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
Granger, Anthony (16 April 2019). "Switzerland: Sven Epiney Confirmed as SRF's Eurovision Commentator". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
Brown, Alistair (3 May 2019). "Switzerland: Bastian Baker Announced As Commentator For Grand Final". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
"Dal 3 giugno addio al Digitale Terrestre in Svizzera, niente più Eurovision sulla RSI per gli italiani" [Farewell to DTT in Switzerland from 3 June, no more Eurovision on CSR for Italians]. eurofestivalnews.com (in Italian). 6 May 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
Herbert, Emily (24 April 2019). "Switzerland: Sinplus Revealed as Eurovision 2019 Spokespersons". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

External links

Points to and from Switzerland eurovisioncovers.co.uk

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[5] The full results for the first contest in 1956 are unknown, as only the winner was announced. The official Eurovision site lists all other songs as being placed second.

[note2-6] 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.

[7] The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[8] All conductors are of Swiss nationality unless otherwise noted.

[9] Also conducted the Dutch and German entries.

[11] Host conductor

[12] Host conductor

[13] Host conductor

[14] Host conductor

[17] Also conducted the Luxembourgish entry and half of the Danish entry.

[1] "History by Year: Eurovision Song Contest 1995". EBU. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2009-04-15.

[2] "History by Year: Eurovision Song Contest 1999". EBU. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2009-04-15.

[3] "History by Year: Eurovision Song Contest 2001". EBU. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2009-04-15.

[4] "History by Year: Eurovision Song Contest 2003". EBU. Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2009-04-15.

[10] Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 93–101. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.

[15] Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.

[16] Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.

[18] "«ESC» 2017: Satirischer Kommentar mit Stefan Büsser und «Aeschbacher Spezial – aus Kiew»" [«ESC» 2017: Satirical commentary with Stefan Büsser and «Aeschbacher Special - from Kyiv»]. SRF (in German). Retrieved 27 February 2020.

[19] "Eurovision Song Contest 2017". RSI (in Italian). Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.

[20] Davies, Megan (1 May 2017). "Switzerland: Luca Hänni Announced As Spokesperson". Eurovoix. Retrieved 27 February 2020.

[21] Granger, Anthony (16 April 2018). "Switzerland: Sven Epiney Returns to the Commentary Booth". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

[22] "Eurosong - TV - Play RTS". RTS (in French). Retrieved 26 February 2020.

[23] "Eurovision Song Contest 2018 - RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera". RSI (in Italian). 7 May 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

[24] Granger, Anthony (19 April 2018). "Switzerland: Leticia Carvalho Revealed as Spokesperson". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

[25] Granger, Anthony (16 April 2019). "Switzerland: Sven Epiney Confirmed as SRF's Eurovision Commentator". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

[26] Brown, Alistair (3 May 2019). "Switzerland: Bastian Baker Announced As Commentator For Grand Final". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

[27] "Dal 3 giugno addio al Digitale Terrestre in Svizzera, niente più Eurovision sulla RSI per gli italiani" [Farewell to DTT in Switzerland from 3 June, no more Eurovision on CSR for Italians]. eurofestivalnews.com (in Italian). 6 May 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

[28] Herbert, Emily (24 April 2019). "Switzerland: Sinplus Revealed as Eurovision 2019 Spokespersons". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2020.