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Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest - Wikiwand

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).

Quick Facts Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest, Participating broadcaster ...

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"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).

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.

Selection methods

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. Starting in 1986, 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.

Pie chart of selection methods Switzerland used to select its entry for the contest

  1. National selection 64.62 (63.6%)
  2. Internal selection 35.39 (34.9%)
  3. Internal selection among songs from national selection 1.52 (1.50%)

More information Songs, Selection methods ...

Songs Selection methods Years
42 Artist and song with national selections 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
23 Artist and song with internal selections 1958, 1962, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1980, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
1 Internally selection among songs from national selection after being held 1992

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Table key
1 First place
2 Second place
3 Third place
◁ Last place
X Entry selected but did not compete
† Upcoming event

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Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

More information Artist, Song ...

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

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Marcel Bezençon Awards

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Conductors

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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.[6]

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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).

More information Year, Swiss German (SRF) ...

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  1. The selected Swiss entry for the cancelled 2020 contest was also sung in French.

  2. The 1956 contest had secret voting and, apart from the winner, no results were released.

  3. 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.

  5. Voted by the national commentators.

  6. All conductors are of Swiss nationality unless otherwise noted.

  7. Also conducted the Dutch and German entries.

  12. Conducted at the national final by Hans Moeckel

  13. Also conducted the Luxembourgish entry and half of the Danish entry.

  14. Commentary provided by France's RTF

  15. Commentary provided by Italy's RAI

  16. Commentary provided by Germany's ARD