Switzerland is one of the founding seven nations of the Eurovision Song Contest, having staged and participated in the very first contest in 1956 in Lugano which was won by Lys Assia. The country has participated in every contest except 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003 (all due to relegation).
After a qualification in 2011, they had not been able to qualify a song for the final until 2014, when SeBalter brought the Swiss their best finish in the final since 2005. They then failed to qualify again from 2015 to 2018, before Luca Hänni equaled the country's best placement in the semifinals in 2019. In 2021, Gjon's Tears broke that record by winning his semifinal and finishing 3rd in the grand final, equaling Annie Cotton's placement in 1993.
Although most of the Swiss representatives are national acts not known outside of the country, many internationally successful artists have represented the country. In 1988, Canadian Celine Dion won the contest for Switzerland, in 1993 Annie Cotton (also Canadian) finished third, and in 2005 the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja finished 8th in both the semi and the final. Esther Ofarim's 1963 second-place finish helped establish her as an international success.
Gallery[]
Participants[]
Year | Artist | Song | Language | Place | Points | Semi | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Lys Assia | Refrain | French | 1 | N/A | No Semi Finals | |
Das alte Karussell | German | 2 | |||||
1957 | L'enfant que j'étais | French | 8 | 5 | |||
1958 | Giorgio | Italian, German | 2 | 24 | |||
1959 | Christa Williams | Irgendwoher | German | 4 | 14 | ||
1960 | Anita Traversi | Cielo e terra | Italian | 8 | 5 | ||
1961 | Franca di Rienzo | Nous avons demain | French | 3 | 16 | ||
1962 | Jean Philippe | Le retour | 10 | 2 | |||
1963 | Esther Ofarim | T'en vas pas | 2 | 40 | |||
1964 | Anita Traversi | I miei pensieri | Italian | 13 | 0 | ||
1965 | Yovanna | Non, à jamais sans toi | French | 8 | 8 | ||
1966 | Madeleine Pascal | Ne vois-tu pas? | 6 | 12 | |||
1967 | Géraldine | Quel cœur vas-tu briser? | 17 | 0 | |||
1968 | Gianni Mascolo | Guardando il sole | Italian | 12 | 2 | ||
1969 | Paola del Medico | Bonjour, Bonjour | German, French | 5 | 13 | ||
1970 | Henri Dès | Retour | 4 | 8 | |||
1971 | Peter, Sue & Marc | Les illusions de nos vingt ans | 12 | 78 | |||
1972 | Véronique Muller | C'est la chanson de mon amour | 8 | 88 | |||
1973 | Patrick Juvet | Je vais me marier, Marie | 12 | 79 | |||
1974 | Piera Martell | Mein Ruf nach dir | German | 14 | 3 | ||
1975 | Simone Drexel | Mikado | 6 | 77 | |||
1976 | Peter, Sue & Marc | Djambo, Djambo | English | 4 | 91 | ||
1977 | Pepe Lienhard Band | Swiss Lady | French | 6 | 71 | ||
1978 | Carol Vinci | Vivre | 9 | 65 | |||
1979 | Peter, Sue & Marc ft. Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri | Trödler und Co | German | 10 | 60 | ||
1980 | Paola del Medico | Cinéma | French | 4 | 104 | ||
1981 | Peter, Sue & Marc | Io senza te | Italian | 4 | 121 | ||
1982 | Arlette Zola | Amour, on t'aime | French | 3 | 97 | ||
1983 | Mariella Farré | Io così non ci sto | Italian | 15 | 28 | ||
1984 | Rainy Day | Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein | German | 16 | 30 | ||
1985 | Mariella Farré & Pino Gasparini | Piano, Piano | Italian | 12 | 39 | ||
1986 | Daniela Simons | Pas pour moi | French | 2 | 140 | ||
1987 | Carol Rich | Moitié-Moitié | 17 | 24 | |||
1988 | Celine Dion | Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi | 1 | 137 | |||
1989 | Furbaz | Viver Senza Tei | Romansh | 13 | 47 | ||
1990 | Egon Egemann | Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus | German | 11 | 51 | ||
1991 | Sandra Simó | Canzone per te | Italian | 5 | 118 | ||
1992 | Daisy Auvray | Mister Music Man | French | 15 | 32 | ||
1993 | Annie Cotton | Moi, tout simplement | 3 | 148 | |||
1994 | Duilio | Sto pregando | Italian | 19 | 15 | ||
1995 | Relegation from participating | ||||||
1996 | Kathy Leander | Mon cœur l'aime | French | 16 | 22 | 8 | 67 |
1997 | Barbara Berta | Dentro di me | Italian | 23 | 5 | No Semi Finals | |
1998 | Gunvor | Lass Ihn | German | 25 | 0 | ||
1999 | Relegation from participating | ||||||
2000 | Jane Bogaert | La vita cos'è | Italian | 20 | 14 | No Semi Final | |
2001 | Relegation from participating | ||||||
2002 | Francine Jordi | Dans le jardin de mon âme | French | 22 | 15 | No Semi Final | |
2003 | Relegation from participating | ||||||
2004 | Piero and The Music Stars | Celebrate | English | -- | -- | 22 | 0 |
2005 | Vanilla Ninja | Cool Vibes | 8 | 128 | 8 | 114 | |
2006 | Six4One | If We All Give A Little | 16 | 30 | Top 10 in 2005 | ||
2007 | DJ BoBo | Vampires Are Alive | -- | -- | 20 | 40 | |
2008 | Paolo Meneguzzi | Era stupendo | Italian | -- | -- | 13 | 47 |
2009 | Lovebugs | The Highest Heights | English | -- | -- | 14 | 15 |
2010 | Michael von der Heide | Il pleut de l'or | French | -- | -- | 17 | 2 |
2011 | Anna Rossinelli | In Love for a While | English | 25 | 19 | 10 | 55 |
2012 | Sinplus | Unbreakable | -- | -- | 11 | 45 | |
2013 | Takasa | You and Me | -- | -- | 13 | 41 | |
2014 | SeBalter | Hunter of Stars | 13 | 64 | 4 | 92 | |
2015 | Mélanie René | Time to Shine | -- | -- | 17 | 4 | |
2016 | Rykka | The Last of Our Kind | -- | -- | 18 | 28 | |
2017 | Timebelle | Apollo | -- | -- | 12 | 97 | |
2018 | Zibbz | Stones | -- | -- | 13 | 86 | |
2019 | Luca Hänni | She Got Me | 4 | 364 | 4 | 232 | |
2020 | Gjon's Tears | Répondez-moi | French | Contest cancelled | |||
2021 | Tout l'univers | 3 | 432 | 1 | 291 | ||
2022 | Marius Bear | Boys Do Cry | English | 17 | 78 | 9 | 118 |
2023 | Remo Forrer | Watergun | 20 | 92 | 7 | 97 | |
2024 | Nemo | The Code |