Switzerland holds a special place in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, as one of the founding members of the competition and the host of the very first contest in Lugano, 1956. Switzerland also made history by winning the first-ever contest with “Refrain” performed by Lys Assia. Sadly, Lys Assia passed away in 2018, but she had been a guest of honour at almost every Eurovision Song Contest held thereafter. During the first contest, only seven countries participated, and each country had two songs in the race. As there was no established voting system at that time, there was only a winner, with all other songs coming in second place.

Switzerland did not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, in 1999 and 2001, due to their poor performance in previous years. At the time, the rules were slightly different, and countries had to take a break from the competition if they performed poorly.

Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Swiss entries have struggled to qualify for the Grand Finals, having only passed the qualification round seven times. Out of Switzerland’s 63 participations in the Eurovision Song Contest, the country has made it to the Grand Final 52 times, with 29 of those times resulting in a Top 10 placement. Statistically speaking, Switzerland has a 46% chance of reaching the Top 10. It appears that the enthusiasm for the competition in Switzerland is not as high as in other countries, and recent national finals have not brought the desired success. In recent years, Switzerland has abandoned the national final format in favour of other methods, which have proven to be more successful.

Swiss entries have historically been sung in French and German, with Italian and Romansch being less common, but in recent years English has also been used. In 2019, Switzerland was able to break its losing streak with Luca Hänni’s “She Got Me,” which earned a wonderful 4th place in the Grand Final in Tel Aviv. This success was surpassed by Gjon’s Tears with “Tout l’Univers,” which achieved a remarkable and well-deserved 3rd place in the Grand Final in Rotterdam.

Céline Dion is perhaps the most famous name associated with the ESC, alongside ABBA. She represented Switzerland in 1988 with “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.” The Franco-Canadian singer won by just one point, narrowly beating the UK. At the time, Céline was a relative newcomer, but her career took off the following year when she performed “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” to open the 1989 ESC in Lausanne.

Nowadays she has her own show in Las Vegas, sells millions of albums and is one of the biggest stars in the world. She is often being taken as role model for young singers. Switzerland and also Luxembourg have often taken singers from other countries. Other famous singers for Switzerland were Esther Ofarim, Paola and DJ Bobo. Not to forget the trio Peter, Sue and Marc, who have represented Switzerland three times: 1971, 1976 and 1979, in the meanwhile they have their own musical.