Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest

Balance sheet

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Broadcasting company

First participation

1956

Number of participations

60 (as of 2019)

Highest ranking

1 ( 1956 , 1988 )

Highest Score

364 ( 2019 )

Lowest Score

0 ( 1964 , 1967 , 1998 , 2004 )

Points average (since first post)

50.34 (as of 2019)

Average points per voting country in the 12-point system

2.00 (as of 2019)

This article deals with the history of Switzerland as a participant in the Eurovision Song Contest .

Regular participation and success in the competition

Peter, Sue & Marc (here 1976) represented Switzerland a total of four times in ten years

The successful and well-known singer Celine Dion (here 2008) won her last Swiss victory in 1988

Luca Hänni (center), achieved Switzerland's best result since 1993 in 2019

Switzerland took part in the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and was able to win it straight away. Lys Assia was able to win the first edition of the competition in Lugano with her song Refrain . It also represented Switzerland in 1957, but was only able to land there on place 8 out of 10. Despite the little success, Lys Assia was also sent to the competition in 1958. This time she was more successful again and took second place with 24 points. She was only three points short of victory. In 1959, for the first time, another interpreter than Lys Assia was sent to the song contest, namely Christa Williams. However, this was also successful and finished 4th in 1960 the country was only average success and only landed 8th out of 13. In 1961, however, Switzerland was successful again and placed 3rd in 1962, the singer Jean Philippe landed in Middle field in 10th place out of 16. In 1963, Switzerland narrowly missed the victory again. The singer Esther Ofarim ended up only in second place, just two points short of victory. After this success came the first Swiss low point in the competition in 1964. The singer Anita Traversi landed in last place with her song I miei pensieri with zero points. However, she wasn't the only participant who ended up there. The Federal Republic of Germany, Yugoslavia and Portugal also came last with zero points. After this failure, Switzerland was not as successful as before in the competition.

After all, in 1965 the country only landed 8th out of 18 and thus only in the middle of the field. In 1966, on the other hand, the ranking was a little better with 6th place out of 18. In 1967, the next low point followed. Finally, the singer Géraldine landed in last place with zero points. This time, however, Switzerland came last, which was the worst Swiss result in the competition up to that point. In the following year, 1968, the country was unable to build on its previous successes and only landed 13th out of 17. In 1969, the best placement for six years followed, when the singer Paola del Medico landed 5th out of 16. In 1970 the singer Henri Dès even topped this ranking and landed on place 4 out of 12. In 1971 the success was over again when the trio Peter, Sue & Marc only landed in midfield on place 12 out of 18. In 1972, however, the singer Véronique Müller made it back into the top ten with 8th place out of 18. In 1973, Switzerland missed such a placement again, as the singer Patrick Juvet only landed 12th out of 17. In 1974, the third last place followed for Switzerland. However, after 1964 it was the second last shared place. This time, like in 1963, the FR of Germany and Portugal came in last. In addition, Norway ended up in last place. After this poor placement, Switzerland's most successful period to date at the Eurovision Song Contest followed, with the country always placing in the top ten.

In 1975 Switzerland was able to get the best place in five years with 6th place. In 1976 the trio Peter, Sue & Marc, who had represented Switzerland as early as 1971, returned. This time, however, they were much more successful and ended up in 4th place. In 1977 and 1978, Switzerland achieved good placements with 6th and 9th place. In 1979, the trio Peter, Sue & Marc competed for the country for the third time and won but this time the trio Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri added. Together with them, too, we managed to get a place in the top ten, because the song Trödler & Co landed in 10th place. In 1980 the singer Paolo took fourth place in the top ten. In 1981, the trio Peter, Sue & Marc competed for Switzerland for the fourth time in ten years. This time they got their best place in the competition with 4th place. In 1982 the best placement for 19 years followed, when the singer Arlette Zola took 3rd place. After this great success, Switzerland's most successful period in competition was over.

With 15th place in 1983, the worst placement in nine years followed. In 1984, with 16th place, an even worse ranking was achieved. In 1985, Switzerland failed to make it into the top ten and only finished 12th in the end. The result was all the more surprising in 1986 when the singer Daniela Simons reached 2nd place, the best result since 1963. In the following year this success came to an end, because the Swiss contribution only reached 17th place out of 22. In the following year, 1988, the then unknown singer Celine Dion achieved Switzerland's second and so far last victory with Ne partez pas sans moi . After this great success, Switzerland hosted the Song Contest in 1989, but was only moderately successful in its own country. The Swiss contribution landed only in the midfield at 13th place out of 22. In 1990, the country narrowly missed a place in the top ten with 11th place. The participation in 1991 was all the more successful when the singer Sandra Simó took 5th place. In 1992, on the other hand, Switzerland only landed in the midfield with 15th place out of 23. In 1993, 3rd place followed, the best position since the win in 1988. With 148 points, singer Annie Cotton even scored a new high for Switzerland. However, this should be Switzerland's last successful contribution for the time being, because in the following years Switzerland had a real crash in the competition.

The 1994 entry only reached the lower midfield with 19th place out of 25. However, this placement had consequences, because due to the many new participating countries in the 1990s, only places 1 to 18 were allowed to take part in the 1995 competition. As a result, Switzerland had to suspend for the first time in 1995 and was therefore absent from the competition for the first time since its introduction in 1956. Furthermore, until 1994, Switzerland, together with Germany, was the only country that had taken part in all competitions broadcast up to then. In 1996, however, Switzerland returned to the competition and only came in 16th out of 23rd place. In 1997, it was not possible to achieve a good placement when the Swiss entry landed in 22nd place out of 25. The low point followed in 1998, as the singer Gunvor Guggisberg landed in last place and received zero points. It was Switzerland's worst placement since 1974. As a result, the country had to sit out for the second time in 1999. In the year 2000, Switzerland was allowed to participate again, but only finished 20th out of 24 and had to sit out again in 2001. In 2002, too, with 22nd out of 24th place, no good ranking was achieved, so that in 2003 no Swiss contribution was allowed to participate. When Switzerland returned in 2004, they immediately had to take part in the newly introduced semi-finals. But the worst Swiss ranking to date was achieved there. Finally Piero Esteriore & The MusicStars reached out to Celebrate! zero points and so they ended up in last place. It was the fifth time that Switzerland finished last. Only in the following year was there another ray of hope for Switzerland.

Switzerland had to compete in the semifinals again in 2005. The Estonian band Vanilla Ninja took 8th place there, leading Switzerland back to the finals for the first time in three years. The great success then followed in the final. The song Cool Vibes came in 8th with 128 points, which was the best ranking for twelve years. For a long time it was also the last Swiss place in the top ten, because in the following years Switzerland became one of the most unsuccessful countries in the competition. In 2006, the country was already pre-qualified for the final thanks to its good position in the previous year. The band six4one ended up in 17th place out of 24. In 2007 the well-known DJ Bobo was sent to the song contest. But he also missed the final and only finished 20th out of 28 in the semifinals. In 2008 and 2009, the Swiss contributions did not make it to the final, which means that Switzerland was not represented in the final for three years for the first time in its Eurovision history. Another low point then followed in 2010, because Michael von der Heide finished last in the semi-finals, which was Switzerland's sixth last place. In 2011, the country returned to a preliminary decision and was able to qualify for the final for the first time since 2006. But there followed the next disappointment, because the song In Love for a While took the last place in the final, which was the seventh last place in Switzerland. In 2012 and 2013, the Swiss entries missed the final again. In 2014, however, the singer Sebalter placed fifth in the semifinals, bringing the country back to the final for the first time in three years. In the final, he finished 13th and thus got the best Swiss result since 2005. It should be noted, however, that with pure televoting he would even have placed in the top ten. In 2015, Switzerland wanted to build on the success of 2014, but clearly missed this goal. Mélanie René ended up in last place in the semi-finals. In 2016, too, the Swiss contribution landed in last place in the semi-finals, making Switzerland ninth from last place. In 2017 the band Timebelle should qualify for the final again, but missed this goal with 12th place in the semifinals. The duo ZiBBZ also failed to bring Switzerland back to the final in 2018. Only in 2019 did another success for the country follow.

In 2019, Switzerland finally returned to an internal selection. The singer Luca Hänni was selected with the song She Got Me and took fourth place in the semi-finals, making Switzerland back in the final for the first time since 2014. In the final, Luca Hänni got the best position since 1993 and the new millennium and the second best since the victory in 1988. In addition, with this contribution Switzerland got the highest number of points in its Eurovision history.

A total of 25 of the 60 entries ended up in the left half of the table. With nine last places, four of them with zero points, Switzerland is one of the countries that came last most frequently. With only five finals since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004, Switzerland is also the country that has been eliminated most often (eleven times) in the semi-finals. Nevertheless, the country has so far been able to achieve two wins, three times second place and three times third place. With 60 participants, Switzerland is also one of the countries with the most frequent participations. After all, the Alpine state has never voluntarily waived participation, but had to stop in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003 because of poor placements in the previous year. Nevertheless, Switzerland is one of the average successful countries in terms of competition.

List of posts

- 1st place. - 2nd place. - 3rd place. - Equal points with last place. - Eliminated in the semifinals / in the qualification / in the Eastern European preliminary decision. - no participation / not qualified. - Cancellation of the Eurovision Song Contest.     

year	Interpreter	Title Music (M) and Text (T)	language	translation	final		Semi-final / qualification		National preliminary decision	Charts (CH)
					space	Points	space	Points
1956	Lys Assia	Refrain M: Géo Voumard ; T: Émile Gardaz	French	-	1  / 14th	k. A.	Direct participation		Concours Eurovision 1956	-
1956	Lys Assia	The old M / T carousel : Georg Benz Stahl	German	-	k. A. / 14	k. A.				-
1957	Lys Assia	L'enfant que j'étais M: Géo Voumard; T: Émile Gardaz	French	The kid that I was	8/10	5			1957 Eurovision Concours	-
1958	Lys Assia	Giorgio M: Paul Burkhard ; T: Fridolin Tschudi	German, Italian	-	2/10	24			internal selection	-
1959	Christa Williams	Somewhere M / T: Lothar Löffler	German	-	4/11	14th			Concours Eurovision 1959	-
1960	Anita Traversi	Cielo e terra M / T: Mario Robbiani	Italian	Heaven and Earth	8/13	5			Concours Eurovision 1960	-
1961	Franca di Rienzo	Nous aurons demain M: Géo Voumard; T: Émile Gardaz	French	Tomorrow we will have	3/16	16			Concours Eurovision 1961	-
1962	Jean Philippe	Le retour M: Géo Voumard; T: Émile Gardaz	French	The return	10/16	2			internal selection	-
1963	Esther Ofarim	T'en vas pas M: Géo Voumard; T: Émile Gardaz	French	Do not go	2/16	40			Concours Eurovision 1963	-
1964	Anita Traversi	I miei pensieri M: Giovanni Pelli; T: Sanzio Chiesa	Italian	My thoughts	13/16	0			Concours Eurovision 1964	-
1965	Yovanna	Non, à jamais sans toi M: Bob Calfati; T: Jean Charles	French	Forever without you	8/18	18th			Concours Eurovision 1965	-
1966	Madeleine Pascal	Ne vois-tu pas? M: Pierre Brenner; T: Roland Schweizer	French	Do not you see?	6/18	12			Concours Eurovision 1966	-
1967	Géraldine	Quel cœur vas-tu briser? M: Daniel Faure; T: Gérard Gray	French	Whose heart are you going to break now?	17/17	0			Concours Eurovision 1967	-
1968	Gianni Mascolo	Guardando il sole M: Aldo D'Addario; T: Sanzio Chiesa	Italian	Looking at the sun	13/17	2			Concours Eurovision 1968	-
1969	Paola del Medico	Bonjour, bonjour M: Henry Mayer; T: Jack Stark	German a.	Good afternoon Good afternoon	5/16	13			1969 Eurovision Concours	7th
1970	Henri Dès	Return M / T: Henri Dès	French	return	4/12	8th			Concours Eurovision 1970	-
1971	Peter, Sue & Marc	Les illusions de nos vingt ans M: Peter Reber ; T: Maurice Tézé	French	The illusions of our youth	12/18	78			internal selection	-
1972	Véronique Müller	C'est la chanson de mon amour M: Véronique Müller ; T: Catherine Desage	French	This is the song of my love	8/18	88			Concours Eurovision 1972	-
1973	Patrick Juvet	Je vais me marier, Marie M: Patrick Juvet ; T: Pierre Delanoë	French	I'm getting married, Marie	12/17	79			1973 Eurovision Concours	-
1974	Piera Martell	My call for you M / T: Pepe Ederer	German	-	14/17	3			1974 Eurovision Concours	-
1975	Simone Drexel	Mikado M / T: Simone Drexel	German	-	6/19	77			Concours Eurovision 1975	2
1976	Peter, Sue & Marc	Djambo, Djambo M / T: Peter Reber	English	Djambo, Djambo (name of a clown)	4/18	91			1976 Eurovision Concours	6th
1977	Pepe Lienhard Band	Swiss Lady M / T: Peter Reber	German b.	-	6/18	71			Concours Eurovision 1977	1
1978	Carole Vinci	Vivre M: Alain Morisod; T: Pierre Alain	French	Life	9/20	65			Concours Eurovision 1978	-
1979	Peter, Sue & Marc + Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri	Trödler & Co M / T: Peter Reber	German	-	10/19	60			Concours Eurovision 1979	-
1980	Paola	Cinéma M: Peter Reber; T: Peter Reber, Véronique Müller	French	movie theater	4/19	104			Concours Eurovision 1980	7th
1981	Peter, Sue & Marc	Io senza te M: Peter Reber; T: Peter Reber, Nella Martinetti	Italian	Me without You	4/20	121			Concours Eurovision 1981	5
1982	Arlette Zola	Amour on t'aime M: Alain Morisod; T: Pierre Alain	French	Love we love you	3/18	97			Concours Eurovision 1982	-
1983	Mariella Farré	Io so non ci sto M: Thomas Gonzenbach, Remo Kessler; T: Nella Martinetti	Italian	I don't like it like that	15/20	28			Concours Eurovision 1983	12
1984	Rainy Day	What color is the sunshine? M / T: Günter Loose	German	-	16/19	30th			Concours Eurovision 1984	-
1985	Mariella Farré & Pino Gasparini	Piano, piano M: Anita Kerr ; T: Trudi Müller-Bosshard	German	Quiet quiet	12/19	39			Concours Eurovision 1985	-
1986	Daniela Simons	Pas pour moi M: Atilla Şereftuğ ; T: Nella Martinetti	French	Not for me	2/20	140			Concours Eurovision 1986	-
1987	Carol Rich	Moitié, moitié M / T: Jean-Jacques Egli	French	Fifty - fifty	17/22	26th			Concours Eurovision 1987	-
1988	Celine Dion	Ne partez pas sans moi M: Atilla Şereftuğ; T: Nella Martinetti	French	Do not go without me	1  / 21st	137			Concours Eurovision 1988	11
1989	Furbaz	Viver senza tei M / T: Marie Louise Werth	Romansh	Live without you	13/22	47			Concours Eurovision 1989	23
1990	Egon Egemann	Music sounds out into the world M / T: Cornelia Lackner	German	-	11/22	51			Concours Eurovision 1990	-
1991	Sandra Simó	Canzone per te M / T: Renato Mascetti	Italian	Song for you	5/22	118			Concours Eurovision 1991	-
1992	Daisy Auvray	Mister Music Man M / T: Gordon Dent	French b.	-	15/23	32			Concours Eurovision 1992	-
1993	Annie Cotton	Moi, tout simplement M: Christophe Duc; T: Jean-Jacques Egli	French	Just me	3/25	148			Concours Eurovision 1993	-
1994	Duilio	Sto pregando M / T: Giuseppe Scaramello	Italian	I pray	19/25	15th	Qualified directly for the final		internal selection	-
1995	Not qualified
1996	Kathy Leander	Mon coeur l'aime M / T: Régis Mounir	French	My heart loves him	16/23	22nd	8/29	67	internal selection	-
1997	Barbara Berta	Dentro di me M / T: Barbara Berta	Italian	Inside of me	22/25	5	Qualified directly for the final		internal selection	-
1998	Gunvor Guggisberg	Let him M / T: Gunvor , Egon Egemann	German	-	25/25	0			Concours Eurovision 1998	-
1999	Not qualified
2000	Jane Bogaert	La vita cos'è M: Brigitte Schöb, Bernie Staub; T: Thomas Marin	Italian	What is life?	20/24	14th	Qualified directly for the final		Concours Eurovision 2000	98
2001	Not qualified
2002	Francine Jordi	Dans le jardin de mon âme M / T: Francine Jordi	French	In the garden of my soul	22/24	15th	Qualified directly for the final		Concours Eurovision 2002	49
2003	Not qualified
2004	Piero Esteriore & The MusicStars	Celebrate! M / T: Greg Manning	English	Celebrate!	Eliminated		22/22	0	Concours Eurovision 2004	11
2005	Vanilla ninja	Cool Vibes M: David Brandes , Jane Tempest; T: Bernd Opinion	English	Cool Vibes (name of a tiger)	8/24	128	8/25	114	internal selection	17th
2006	six4one	If We All Give a Little M: Ralph Siegel ; T: Bernd Opinion	English	If we all give a little	17/24	30th	Qualified directly for the final		internal selection	86
2007	DJ BoBo	Vampires Are Alive M / T: DJ BoBo , Axel Bendung	English	Vampires live	Eliminated		20/28	40	internal selection	3
2008	Paolo Meneguzzi	Era stupendo M: Pablo Meneguzzo; T: Vincenzo Incenzo	Italian	It was wonderful	Eliminated		13/19	47	internal selection	11
2009	Lovebugs	The Highest Heights M / T: Florian Senn, Thomas Rechberger, Adrian Sieber	English	The highest heights	Eliminated		14/18	15th	internal selection	25th
2010	Michael von der Heide	Il pleut de l'or M: Michael von der Heide , Pele Lorriano; T: Heike Kospach	French	It's raining gold	Eliminated		17/17	2	internal selection	65
2011	Anna Rossinelli	In Love for a While M / T: David Klein	English	In love for a while	25/25	19th	10/19	55	The big decision show 2011	3
2012	Sinplus	Unbreakable M / T: Sinplus	English	Indestructible	Eliminated		11/18	45	The big decision show 2012	36
2013	Takasa	You and Me M / T: Georg Schlunegger	English	You and me	Eliminated		13/17	41	The big decision show 2013	21st
2014	Sebalter	Hunter of Stars M / T: Sebastiano Paulessi	English	Star hunters	13/26	64	5/15	92	The big decision show 2014	6th
2015	Mélanie René	Time to Shine M / T: Mélanie René	English	Time to shine	Eliminated		17/17	4th	The big decision show 2015	73
2016	Rykka	The Last of Our Kind M / T: Christina Maria Rieder , Mike James, Jeff Dawson, Warne Liversey	English	The last of our kind	Eliminated		18/18	28	The big decision show 2016	-
2017	Timebelle	Apollo M / T: Elias Näslin, Nicolas Günthardt, Alessandra Günthardt	English	Apollo	Eliminated		12/18	97	The big decision show 2017	37
2018	ZiBBZ	Stones M: Laurell Barker , Corinne "Co" Gfeller , Stefan Gfeller ; T: Laurell Barker, Corinne "Co" Gfeller	English	Stones	Eliminated		13/19	86	The big decision show 2018	62
2019	luca Haenni	She Got Me M / T: Laurell Barker , Mac Frazer, Luca Hänni , Jon Hällgren, Lukas Hällgren	English	She makes me do it	4/26	364	4/18	232	internal selection	1
2020	Gjon's Tears	Répondez-moi M / T: Gjon Muharremaj , Xavier Michel, Alizé Oswald, Jeroen Swinnen	French	Answer me	Cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the EBU				internal selection	100
2021	Gjon's Tears								internal selection

^a. with French title

^b. with English title

National preliminary decisions

Some Swiss contributions were selected internally by Swiss television, namely in the years 1969 to 1971, 1980, 1994 to 1997, 2005 to 2010 and 2019. In all other years there was a national preliminary decision, with the selection process changing:

1956 to 1962

1956 to 1960 three singers took part in the preliminary round and presented a total of eleven songs from 1956 to 1958; In 1959 each presented three songs, in 1960 each four. In 1961 the singers presented a total of nine songs. The number of participants in 1962 is unknown.

1963 to 1968 and 1972

Between 1963 and 1968, three songs were presented in the preliminary round, two of them in French, two in German and two in Italian. Until 1966 five singers took part, in 1967, 1968 and 1972 six each.

1972 to 1979, 1981

In each of these years there was a “classic” preliminary decision with a different number of participants (between seven and nine) and a different linguistic composition. It was now common for each singer to only introduce one song.

1982 to 1989

1982 to 1988 there were always nine songs to choose from in the preliminary round, one each in Romansh and three each in two of the other languages ​​and two in the remaining language. The titles were selected separately by language in the context of regional preliminary rounds held on the radio. The host role changed annually between the Welsch Switzerland , the German-speaking Switzerland and Italian-speaking Switzerland . In 1989 the number of songs was increased to ten.

1990 to 1993, 1998 to 2004

In these years the preliminary decision took place again in an unregulated linguistic composition; the number of participants was between six and twelve.

2011 to 2016

After the Swiss participant had been selected directly by the Swiss television company SRG SSR between 2005 and 2010 , a preliminary decision broadcast on television called The Great Decision Show took place in 2011 . The twelve starting places were awarded by the Swiss radio station DRS 3 and three television stations in different national languages. The German-language television station SF got seven places; he was the first to use the Internet to find his candidates. The Italian language broadcaster RSI had a seat; he searched for his candidate through a combination of internet, SMS and jury voting. The French-language broadcaster TSR also had a seat, which it occupied through an internal decision. The radio station DRS 3 selected the candidates for its three spots on the Internet. The winner of the preliminary decision was determined in December 2010 by televoting . For the preliminary decision for the 2012 contest, the number of participants was increased to 14. RSI and RTS each got one more starting place. In return, the total number was reduced to six in 2013: three contributions came from SF, two from RTS and one RSI. Although RSI proportionally has the lowest chance of winning, participants from Ticino were able to win the preliminary round in 2012 and 2014.

2017

On June 15, 2016, SRG SSR announced that it wanted to change its preliminary decision concept. Instead of the previous regional selection , only a non-publicly accessible internet platform will now serve as an application to select the contribution. 21 candidates were invited to a “live check” on December 4, 2016, from which six artists qualified for the final on February 5, 2017 in Zurich- Oerlikon .

On February 5, 2017, six candidates competed in the two-hour program Eurovision Song Contest 2017 - Decision Show . The show was produced in SRF Studio 1 in Zurich . Sven Epiney was the moderator . During the broadcast, the singer Sebalter , who represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 , performed with his song Weeping Willow . The majority of the Swiss television audience opted for the band Timebelle with their song Apollo via televoting . However, they could not qualify for the final.

2018

On July 13, 2017, SRG SSR presented its new preliminary decision concept. It was already known in advance that the preliminary decision concept would be conceived by the producers of Melodifestivalen, Christer Björkman and Martin Österdahl. SGR SSR invited interested musicians to submit their songs from September 1, 2017 to September 22, 2017. In addition to Swiss citizens or those who have a place of residence in Switzerland, international songwriters were also allowed to submit their works. However, it was mentioned in the SRG SSR regulations that the former are preferred, depending on the work. In 2018 the focus should be on the songs and only then should the perfect voices be found later. In order to give songwriters the chance to submit their song without a voice, an independent jury of 20 selected the six best songs in the first round of the selection process. This jury consisted of music and media professionals, «ESC» fans and television viewers. These six songs were then tested with different voices to find the perfect interpretation for each song. That's why the live check was also dropped from 2018. The six artists ultimately selected met with their songs on February 4, 2018. The corresponding program was broadcast live from the television studio in Zurich. In the end, 50 percent of the television audience decided via televoting and 50 percent by an international jury of experts who represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Portugal in 2018. In the end, the sibling duo ZiBBZ won with the song Stones . However, they did not reach the final of the Song Contest either.

languages

Distribution of the national languages ​​in Switzerland (January 1, 2020)

German

French

Italian

Romansh

Due to its multilingualism, no other country has appeared in as many languages ​​as Switzerland. Before the abolition of the language regulation in 1999, the contributions were mostly in German , French or Italian , once (1989) in Romansh . In 1976, as in previous years, there were also contributions in English .

overview

language	number	Years
French	24	1956 (2), 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992 †, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2010, 2020
English	15th	1976, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
German	12	1956 (1), 1958 *, 1959, 1969 †, 1974, 1975, 1977 †, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1998
Italian	10	1960, 1964, 1968, 1981, 1983, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2008
Romansh	01	1989

* Although the article from 1958 contains many Italian words, the article is assigned to German in these statistics: On the one hand, the text follows the German syntax; the Italian words are only "interspersed", on the other hand most of the words are also in international use ("risotto", "Chianti" ...) or inserted as quotations.

† Despite the French and English headlines, the contributions from 1969, 1977 and 1992 were sung in German and French respectively.

Many of Switzerland's contributions were also sung in other languages. In the case of French-language contributions, this was often German. English was also very popular. Bonjour, Bonjour from 1969 were also recorded in Spanish and Portuguese , Retour from 1970 in Spanish. Pas pour moi , the representative from 1986, was also sung in Dutch and Moitié-Moitié from the following year in Portuguese. Otherwise, all other language versions were in English or in another national language.

Commercial success

Many Swiss contributions were not great commercial successes, especially not the two winning titles: Ne partez pas sans moi only came in at number eleven in the single charts, while at the time of the winning title, refrain by Lys Assia, no Swiss single charts existed. In total, only 26 of the 60 entries reached the charts, ten of them the top 10. The most commercially successful entry in 1977 was the entry Swiss Lady by the Pepe Lienhard Band, which until 2019 was the only one to reach number one in the Swiss singles charts. Simone Drexel was also very successful in 1975 with Mikado in second place, followed by DJ BoBo in 2007 with Vampires Are Alive and Anna Rossinelli in 2011 with In Love for a While , both Top 3. In 2014, Sebalter came in at number 6 in the charts with Hunter of Stars . This was only exceeded again in 2019 when Luca Hänni landed at number one in the charts - the first number one hit since 1977.

Hosted competitions

In 1956, Switzerland was chosen to host the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition took place in Lugano . Lohengrin Filipello moderated the program completely in Italian, depending on the venue. After the second victory in 1988, the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Switzerland for the second time in 1989. This time Lausanne was chosen as the venue . The moderators were Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux , who moderated the competition in English, French, Italian and German. With this edition of the event, Switzerland set a record, namely that of the longest opening sequence: it took a total of 20 minutes for the first contribution to be presented.

year	city	venue	Moderation
1956	Lugano	Kursaal Theater	Lohengrin Filipello
1989	Lausanne	Palais de Beaulieu	Lolita Morena & Jacques Deschenaux

Commentators

Switzerland broadcasts the Eurovision Song Contest on the television channels SRF (German), RTS (French) and RSI (Italian).

Year (s) Swiss German commentators 1958 - 1983 Theodor Haller 1984 - 1991 Bernard Thurnheer 1992 Mariano Tschuor 1993 - 1994 Bernard Thurnheer 1995 Heinz Margot 1996 Sandra Studer 1997 - 1998 Roman Kilchsperger Heinz Margot 1999 - 2002 Sandra Studer 2003 Roman Kilchsperger 2004 - 2006 Sandra Studer 2007 Bernard Thurnheer 2008 - 2013 Sven Epiney 2014 - 2016 Sven Epiney Peter Schneider Gabriel Vetter 2017 Sven Epiney Stefan Büsser Micky Beisenherz 2018 Sven Epiney Stefan Büsser Johnny Fischer 2019 Sven Epiney 2020 Competition canceled

Year (s) French speaking commentators 1956 - 1976 Georges Hardy 1977 - 1989 Serge Moisson 1990 - 1991 Lolita Morena 1992 Ivan Frésard 1993 - 1995 Jean-Marc Richard 1996 - 1997 Pierre Grandjean 1998 - 2001 Jean-Marc Richard 2002 Phil Mundwiller 2003 - 2004 Jean-Marc Richard 2005 Jean-Marc Richard Marie-Thérèse Porchet 2006 Jean-Marc Richard Alain Morisod 2007 Jean-Marc Richard Henri Dès 2008 - 2018 Jean-Marc Richard Nicolas Tanner 2019 Bastian Baker 2020 Competition canceled

Year (s) Italian speaking commentators 1962 - 1983 Giovanni Bertini 1984 - 1989 Ezio Guidi 1990 - 1993 Emanuela Gaggini 1994 Wilma Gilardi 1995 - 1996 Joanne Holder 1997 - 2002 Jonathan Tedesco 2003 Daniele Rauseo 2004 Daniele Rauseo Claudio Lazzarino 2005 Daniele Rauseo 2006 - 2007 Sandy Altermatt Claudio Lazzarino 2008 - 2010 Sandy Altermatt 2011 Jonathan Tedesco 2012 Clarissa Tami Paolo Meneguzzi 2013 Alessandro Bertoglio 2014 Alessandro Bertoglio Sandy Altermatt 2015 Clarissa Tami Paolo Meneguzzi 2016 Clarissa Tami Michele Carobbio 2017 Clarissa Tami Sebalter 2018 Clarissa Tami 2019 Clarissa Tami Sebalter 2020 Competition canceled

Points speaker

year	Points speaker	Known as
1957	Manni Weber	Moderator
1958
1959	Boris Acquadro	journalist
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964	Alexandre Burger	journalist
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1974	Alexandre Burger	journalist
1975	Michel Stocker	journalist
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994	Sandra Simó	Presenter, singer
1996	Yves Ménestrier	Journalist
1997	Sandy Altermatt	Presenter, journalist
1998	Regula Elsener	Journalist, author and presenter
2000	Astrid Von Stockar	Journalist
2002	Diana Jörg	Journalist
2004	Emel Aykanat	singer
2005	Cécile Bähler	moderator
2006	Jubaira Bachmann	moderator
2007	Sven Epiney	Moderator
2008	Cécile Bähler	moderator
2009
2010	Christa Rigozzi	moderator
2011	Cécile Bähler	moderator
2012	Sara Hildebrand	moderator
2013	Mélanie Freymond	Journalist, presenter
2014	Kurt Aeschbacher	Moderator
2015	Laetitia Guarino	Model
2016	Sebalter	Singer
2017	luca Haenni	Singer
2018	Leticia Carvalho	singer
2019	Sinplus	Music duo
2020	Competition canceled

Scoring

The following countries received the most points from or awarded the most points to Switzerland (as of 2019):

Most of the points awarded in the final space country Points 1  United Kingdom 207 2  Italy 195 3  Germany 187 4th  France 186 5  Ireland 182

Most in the final received points space country Points 1  United Kingdom 168 2  Netherlands 146  Austria 146 4th  Belgium 129 5  Ireland 126

Most of the points awarded space country Points 1  Sweden 219 2  Ireland 217 3  United Kingdom 206 4th  Italy 195 5  Israel 192

Most total obtained points space country Points 1  Austria 190 2  United Kingdom 183 3  Germany 172 4th  Ireland 168 5  Netherlands 166

Award of the highest rating

Since 1975, Switzerland has awarded the maximum number of points in the final to 21 different countries, including Ireland six times. In the semifinals, on the other hand, Switzerland awarded the maximum number of points to 14 different countries, four of them to Serbia.

Highest rating (final) year country Place (final) 1975  Finland 7th 1976  United Kingdom 1 1977  France 1 1978  Israel 1 1979  Spain 2 1980  Ireland 1 1981  France 3 1982  Germany 1 1983  Netherlands 7th 1984  Ireland 2 1985  Turkey 14th 1986  Sweden 5 1987  Ireland 1 1988  Luxembourg 4th 1989  Greece 10 1990  France 2 1991  Spain 4th 1992  France 8th 1993  Ireland 1 1994  Ireland 1 1995 Not qualified 1996  Ireland 1 1997  United Kingdom 1 1998  Germany 7th 1999 Not qualified 2000  Germany 5 2001 Not qualified 2002  Spain 7th 2003 Not qualified 2004  Serbia and Montenegro 2 2005  Serbia and Montenegro 7th 2006  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 2007  Serbia 1 2008  Serbia 6th 2009  Turkey 4th 2010  Germany 1 2011  Bosnia and Herzegovina 6th 2012  Albania 5 2013  Italy 7th 2014  Austria 1 2015  Sweden 1 2016  Australia (J) 2  Serbia (T) 18th 2017  Portugal (J&T) 1 2018  Germany (J) 4th  Serbia (T) 19th 2019  North Macedonia (J) 7th  Italy (T) 2 2020 Competition canceled

Highest rating (semi-finals) year country Place (semifinals) 2004  Serbia and Montenegro 1 2005  Portugal 17th 2006  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 2007  Serbia 1 2008  Portugal 2 2009  Turkey 2 2010  Ireland 9 2011  Serbia 8th 2012  Albania 2 2013  Hungary 8th 2014  Austria 1 2015  Sweden 1 2016  Australia (J) 1  Serbia (T) 10 2017  Bulgaria (J) 1  Serbia (T) 11 2018  Estonia (J) 5  Austria (T) 4th 2019  Netherlands (J) 1  Albania (T) 9 2020 Competition canceled

various

In 2013, Switzerland did not make it to the final with Takasa in the second semi-final. Emil Ramsauer took part in their appearance, at 95 years of age he is the oldest participant in the ESC of all time. In Switzerland the band is not called Takasa, but Salvation Army . The youngest participant in the band was Sarah Breiter at the age of 20. According to the telephone vote, Switzerland would easily have made it into the final in fifth place, but this was prevented by the juries that put Switzerland in 16th place.

Impressions

• 

  Lys Assia 1958

• 

  Jean Philippe 1962

• 

  Yovanna 1965

• 

  Henri Des 1970

• 

  Piero Esteriore 2004

• 

  Six4one 2006

• 

  DJ BoBo 2007

• 

  Paolo Meneguzzi 2008

• 

  Michael von der Heide 2010

• 

  Anna Rossinelli 2011

• 

  Takasa 2013

• 

  Sebalter 2014

• 

  Mélanie René 2015

• 

  Rykka 2016

• 

  Timebelle 2017

• 

  Zibbz 2018

• 

  Luca Hänni 2019

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chart placements in Switzerland
2. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest" 2017: Swiss contribution wanted
3. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest" 2017 - Acts selected for live check
4. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ diggiloo.net
6. ↑ diggiloo.net
7. ↑ diggiloo.net