Sebastiano Paù-Lessi, (born 1 July 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 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. He performed the song "

Hunter of Stars "Hunter of Stars" is a song by Swiss singer Sebalter. It was chosen to represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Denmark. The song was released in Switzerland as a digital download on December 2, 2013, as the lead single from h ...

" in the final on 10 May 2014, finishing 13th with 64 points. Sebalter was born in the Italian-speaking canton of

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

. Prior to Eurovision he worked as a business lawyer, putting his law career on hold to focus on his music career.

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 Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. From 2002 to 2012, Sebalter played the fiddle in a Swiss

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

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. 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.

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

In November 2013, "

" 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

, 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 ''Day of Glory'' is the debut studio album by Swiss singer and fiddle player Sebalter. It was released in Switzerland on 9 January 2015, through Phonag Records. The album has peaked to number 9 on the Swiss Albums Chart. The album includes the sin ...

'', which includes the singles "

" 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. 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 has been a commentator during the grand final for the Swiss-Italian broadcaster RSI along with Clarissa Tami since the 2017 contest. 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 Luca Hänni (born 8 October 1994) is a Swiss pop singer and television personality. He rose to fame in 2012 after winning the ninth season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'', the German version of the ''Idol'' franchise. He was the first n ...

as their representative.

Discography

Albums

Singles

With The Vad Vuc

*''Il monastero dei folli'' (2004) *''Trans Roonkaya Express'' (2006) *''La parata dei secondi'' (2009)

References

{{Authority control Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Switzerland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2014 Living people People from Bellinzona District 1985 births 21st-century Swiss lawyers Swiss-Italian people Folk-pop singers 21st-century Swiss male singers