Switzerland
Member station	SRG SSR
National selection events	Die Grosse Entscheidungsshow (2011-present) Concours Eurovision (former)
Appearances
Appearances	53
First appearance	1956
Best result	1st: 1956, 1988
Worst result	Last: 1964, 1967, 1974, 1998, 2004 SF, 2010 SF, 2011
External links
SF page
Switzerland's page at Eurovision.tv

Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest every year since it began, except 1995, 1999, 2001, and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956, and won it themselves. Switzerland won the contest again in 1988. A third victory in 1963 could have been possibly had Katie Boyle not recalled the Norwegian for their votes again.^{[citation needed]}

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 Céline Dion won the contest for Switzerland, in 1993 Annie Cotton finished third, and in 2005 the girl band Vanilla Ninja finished 8th. Esther Ofarim's 1963 second-place finish helped establish her as an international success.

Despite a fourth consecutive semi-final failure, as well as increasing pressure to withdraw from the Contest SRG SSR has confirmed that they have no current plans to withdraw from the contest, claiming that "the Eurovision Song Contest costs the broadcaster less than some entertainment shows".^[1] However, the country eventually qualified again for the final in the 2011 contest, with only one more point than Malta and Armenia.

  Absences

Switzerland had been absent from Eurovision four times since their participation began in the first contest. These absences, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003 were caused by poor results in previous contests that relegated Switzerland from the contest.^[2][3][4][5]

  Contestants

  Piero and the MusicStars performing "Celebrate" at Istanbul (2004)

  Vanilla Ninja performing "Cool Vibes" at Kiev (2005)

  DJ BoBo performing "Vampires Are Alive" at Helsinki (2007)

  Paolo Meneguzzi performing "Era stupendo" at Belgrade (2008)

  Anna Rossinelli performing "In Love for a While" at Düsseldorf (2011)

Switzerland has four official languages, French, 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 51 appearances in the Contest, Switzerland has sent 52 songs, 24 of which were in French, 12 in German, nine in Italian, six in English, and one in Romansh. Both of Switzerland's winning songs have been sung in French.

In the table below, wins are highlighted with a gold background colour, 2nd places with silver, and 3rd places with bronze. Last placements are in red.

• XX on Semi Finals denotes auto-qualification. This could be due to two reasons. If a country won the previous year, they did not have to compete in Semi Finals, or back in the early 2005-2007 era, countries who done well did not have to compete in Semi Finals the following year. The top ten non-Big four along with the Big four countries automatically qualified, for example, if Germany and France placed inside the top 10, the 11th and 12th spots were advanced to next year's Grand Final along with everyone within the top 10.
• XX on Finals denotes an unsuccessful attempt to qualify to the final.

  Voting history (1975-2012)

Switzerland has given the most points to...

Rank	Country	Points
1	Ireland	156
2	France	145
3	Spain	141
4	United Kingdom	140
5	Israel	122

Switzerland has received the most points from...

Rank	Country	Points
1	United Kingdom	122
2	Netherlands	99
3	Belgium	98
=	Finland	98
4	Austria	90
5	Norway	88

NOTE: The totals in the above tables include only points awarded in Eurovision finals, and not the semi-finals since 2004.

  Since introducing the semi-finals in 2004 until 2012

Switzerland has given the most points to...

Rank	Country	Points
1	Albania	79
2	Turkey	69
3	Portugal	65
4	Bosnia and Herzegovina	61
5	Serbia	58
6	Germany	50
7	Croatia	40
8	Macedonia	39
9	Greece	37
10	Spain	33

  Since introducing the semi-finals in 2004 until 2012

Switzerland has received the most points from...

Rank	Country	Points
1	Malta	35
2	Latvia	23
3	Finland	21
4	Cyprus	19
5	Germany	14
	Estonia	14
	Lithuania	14
	Monaco	14

NOTE: The tables with points from 2004 include points awarded in both finals and semi-finals where the highest point from the final/semi-final is picked.

  Hostings

Year	Location	Venue	Presenter
1956	Lugano	Teatro Kursaal	Lohengrin Filipello
1989	Lausanne	Palais de Beaulieu	Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux

  Commentators and Spokespeople

This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2012)

Over the years Switzerland has broadcasted the Eurovision Song Contest on three television stations, SRF (German language), RTS (French language) and RSI (Italian language).

  Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

  References

  External links

• Points to and from Switzerland eurovisioncovers.co.uk

Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012   Artists 1950s Lys Assia Lys Assia Lys Assia Christa Williams 1960s Anita Traversi Franca Di Rienzo Jean Philippe Esther Ofarim Anita Traversi Yovanna Madeleine Pascal Géraldine Gianni Mascolo Paola del Medico 1970s Henri Des Peter, Sue and Marc Veronique Mueller Patrick Juvet Piera Martell Simone Drexel Peter, Sue and Marc Pepe Lienhard Band Carole Vinci Peter, Sue, Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri 1980s Paola Peter, Sue and Marc Arlette Zola Mariella Farré Rainy Day Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini Daniela Simmons Carol Rich Céline Dion Furbaz 1990s Egon Egemann Sandra Simó Daisy Auvray Annie Cotton Duilio 1995 Kathy Leander Barbara Berta Gunvor 1999 2000s Jane Bogaert 2001 Francine Jordi 2003 Piero and the MusicStars Vanilla Ninja six4one DJ BoBo Paolo Meneguzzi Lovebugs 2010s Michael von der Heide Anna Rossinelli Sinplus   Songs 1950s "Das alte Karussell" "Refrain" "L'enfant que j'étais" "Giorgio" "Irgendwoher" 1960s "Cielo e terra" "Nous aurons demain" "Le retour" "T'en va pas" "I miei pensieri" "Non, à jamais sans toi" "Ne vois-tu pas?" "Quel coeur vas-tu briser?" "Guardando il sole" "Bonjour, Bonjour" 1970s "Retour" "Les illusions de nos vingt ans" "C'est la chanson de mon amour" "Je vais me marier, Marie" "Mein Ruf nach dir" "Mikado" "Djambo, Djambo" "Swiss Lady" "Vivre" "Trödler und Co" 1980s "Cinéma" "Io senza te" "Amour on t'aime" "Io così non ci sto" "Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein?" "Piano, Piano" "Pas pour moi" "Moitié, moitié" "Ne partez pas sans moi" "Viver senza tei" 1990s "Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus" "Canzone per te" "Mister Music Man" "Moi, tout simplement" "Sto pregando" 1995 "Mon coeur l'aime" "Dentro di me" "Lass' ihn" 1999 2000s "La vita cos'è?" 2001 "Dans le jardin de mon âme" 2003 "Celebrate" "Cool Vibes" "If We All Give a Little" "Vampires Are Alive" "Era stupendo" "The Highest Heights" 2010s "Il pleut de l'or" "In Love for a While" "Unbreakable" (Note : Entries scored out are when Switzerland did not compete)