Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018


Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation organised a national final in order to select the Swiss entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal.

Background

Prior to the 2018 Contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-eight times since its first entry in 1956. Switzerland is noted for having won the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Refrain" performed by Lys Assia. Their second and, to this point, most recent victory was achieved in 1988 when Canadian singer Céline Dion won the contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Following the introduction of semi-finals for the, Switzerland had managed to participate in the final four times up to this point. In 2005, the internal selection of Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, performing the song "Cool Vibes", qualified Switzerland to the final where they placed 8th. Due to their successful result in 2005, Switzerland was pre-qualified to compete directly in the final in 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, the nation failed to qualify to the final after a string of internal selections. Since opting to organize a national final from 2011 onwards, Switzerland has managed to qualify to the final twice. In 2017, Switzerland failed to qualify to the final, placing 12th in the semi-final with the song "Apollo" performed by Timebelle. The last time they had qualified was in 2014.
The Swiss national broadcaster, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, broadcasts the event within Switzerland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. SRG SSR confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 30 June 2017. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster also announced that the Swiss entry for the 2018 contest would be selected through a revamped national final. Switzerland has selected their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest through both national finals and internal selections in the past. Between 2005 and 2010, the Swiss entry was internally selected for the competition. Since 2011, the broadcaster has opted to organize a national final in order to select their entry.

Before Eurovision

''ESC 2018 – Die Entscheidungsshow''

ESC 2018 – Die Entscheidungsshow was the eighth edition of the Swiss national final format that selected Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

Competing entries

An open submission period ran from 1 September 2017 until 22 September 2017 during which eligible entries could be submitted to SRF. Composers and artists of any nationality were able to submit songs; however, artists that have Swiss citizenship will be given priority. From all songs submitted to SRF, a jury composed of music and media representatives, Eurovision fans and television viewers evaluated the submitted entries, with the finalists being announced on 9 January 2018.

Final

ESC 2018 – Die Entscheidungsshow took place on 4 February 2018 at SRF's Studio 1 in Zürich, hosted by Sven Epiney. The combination of televoting and the votes of seven international juries selected "Stones" performed by Zibbz as the winner.
DrawArtistSongComposerJuryTelevoteTotalPlace
1Zibbz"Stones"Corinne “Coco” Gfeller, Stee Gfeller, Laurell Barker76771531
2Angie Ott"A Thousand Times"Jonas Gladnikoff, Sara Ljunggren, Glen Vella2639655
3Naeman"Kiss Me"Kate Northrop, Eric Lumiere, Ken Berglund, Alejandro Reyes1419336
4Chiara Dubey"Secrets and Lies"Chiara Dubey, Janie Price, Jeroen Swinnen, Darcy Proper, Sally Herbert2244664
5Alejandro Reyes"Compass"Alejandro Reyes, Laurell Barker, Lars Christen72481202
6Vanessa Iraci"Redlights"Borislav Milanov, Joacim Bo Persson, Johan Alkenäs, Jessica Ashley Karpov, Jesse Saint John4225673

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. The European Broadcasting Union split up the competing countries into six different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot. On 29 January 2018, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Switzerland was placed into the first semi-final, to be held on 8 May 2018, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.
Once all the competing songs for the 2018 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Switzerland was set to perform in position 17, following the entry from Armenia and preceding the entry from Ireland.
In Switzerland, three different stations broadcast the contest. Sven Epiney provided German commentary for both semi-finals airing on SRF zwei and the final airing on SRF 1. Clarissa Tami provided Italian commentary for the first semi-final airing on RSI La 2 and the final airing on RSI La 1 joined by 2014 Swiss Eurovision representative Sebalter. Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Taner provided French commentary for the first semi-final airing on RTS Deux and the final airing on RTS Un. The Swiss spokesperson revealing the result of the Swiss vote in the final was Letícia Carvalho.

Semi-final

Voting

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member as well as the nation's televoting results were released shortly after the grand final.

Points awarded to Switzerland

Points awarded by Switzerland

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Swiss jury: