Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

has participated in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

62 times since making its debut at the first contest in , missing only four contests, in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956 in Lugano, and won it. Switzerland won the contest again in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, with the contest being held in Lausanne. Lys Assia won the first contest in 1956 with the song "

Refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

". She returned to place second in . Switzerland would go on to finish second with Esther Ofarim () and Daniela Simmons () and third with

Franca Di Rienzo The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Once again, the contest was held in the French seaside city of Cannes, having also hosted the . Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ...

() and

Arlette Zola Arlette Zola is a singer who represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982. She was born Arlette Jaquet in the city of Fribourg on 29 April 1949. Her song, "Amour on t'aime Switzerland was represented by Arlette Zola with the song ...

(), before winning the contest for the second time in with Celine Dion and the song " Ne partez pas sans moi".

Annie Cotton Annie Cotton (born July 13, 1975, in Laval, Quebec) is a Canadian actress and singer. Cotton played a role in a TV series called ''Watatatow''. On January 25, 2007, she appeared in the French Canadian long-time daily soap ''Virginie'' as well-kn ...

gave the country its 15th top five result in , when she placed third. Since the introduction of the qualifying round in 1993, Switzerland has entered the top ten only four times. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Switzerland have failed to reach the final in 11 of 19 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 , followed by their 17th top five finish, when Gjon's Tears placed third in .

Absences

Switzerland had been absent from Eurovision four times since their participation began in the first contest. These absences, in

and

were caused by poor results in previous contests that led to relegation.

National selections

A mix of different selection processes have been used to determine Switzerland's entry in each year's contest. Since 2019, SRG SSR 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. In the 1980s, 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.

Participation overview

Switzerland has four official languages,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, 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, 24 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.

''Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest''

Hostings

Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

Related involvement

Conductors

Commentators and spokespersons

Over the years Switzerland has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest on three television stations, SRF (

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

), RTS (

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

) and RSI ( Italian language).

Gallery

File:Eurovisie Songfestival 1962 te Luxemburg, voor Zwitserland Jean Philippe, Bestanddeelnr 913-6591.jpg, Jean Philippe in Luxembourg () File:Eurovision Song Contest 1965 - Yovanna.jpg, Yovanna in Naples () File:Henri Des (Zwitserland), Bestanddeelnr 923-3707.jpg, Henri Dès in Amsterdam () File:Eurovisie Songfestival 76 Den Haag Peter, Sue and Marc (Zwitserland), Bestanddeelnr 928-5029.jpg, Peter, Sue and Marc in The Hague () File:Piero Esteriore - Switzerland 2004.jpg, Piero and the MusicStars in Istanbul () File:2006ch Press Conference.jpg,

Six4one six4one was a six-piece supergroup formed in November 2005 for the sole purpose of representing Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The group was made up of six people who were chosen at a casting session that took place November 25� ...

during a press conference in Athens () File:ESC 2007 Switzerland - DJ Bobo - Vampires are alive.jpg, DJ BoBo in Helsinki () File:Paolo Meneguzzi, Switzerland, Eurovision 2008, 2nd semifinal.jpg,

Paolo Meneguzzi Paolo Meneguzzi (born 6 December 1976, as Pablo Meneguzzo) is a Swiss Italian singer. He is the son of Loredana Pacchiani and Gomez Meneguzzo. Biography In 1996, while the name Paolo Meneguzzi was still unknown in Italy, Paolo won the Viña del ...

in Belgrade () File:Michael von der Heide in Oslo (cropped).jpg, Michael von der Heide in Oslo () File:Switzerland at ESC 2011 (cropped).jpg, Anna Rossinelli in Düsseldorf () File:ESC2013 - Switzerland 06.jpg, Takasa in Malmö () File:ESC2014 - Switzerland 01.jpg,

Sebalter 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 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He performed ...

in Copenhagen () File:20150516 ESC 2015 Mélanie René 0212.jpg, Mélanie René in Vienna () File:ESC2016 - Switzerland 06.jpg, Rykka in Stockholm () File:Eurovision Song Contest 2017, Semi Final 2 Rehearsals. Photo 247.jpg, Timebelle in Kyiv () File:Zibbz (Switzerland 2018).jpg, Zibbz in Lisbon () File:ESC2019-Switzerland (cropped).jpg, Luca Hänni in Tel Aviv () File:Gjons tears-1621721556.JPG, Gjon's Tears in Rotterdam () File:Eurovision 2022 - Semi-final 1 - Switzerland - Marius Bear.jpg, Marius Bear in Turin ()

Notes

References

External links

Points to and from Switzerland
''eurovisioncovers.co.uk'' {{Authority control Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest