Switzerland at Eurovision: the colourful hits and misses

Luca Hänni performs at the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv in 2019 KEYSTONE

Is this the year? Will Nemo win the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland and break a 36-year drought? In anticipation of victory, here’s a look at some of Switzerland’s highs and less highs at the kaleidoscopic competition.

On Thursday 24-year-old rapper Nemo was chosen to represent Switzerland in the Swedish city of Malmö. Nemo’s entry, The Code, a feisty mixture of rap, drum’n’bass, opera and artcore, has been well received, and British bookmakersExternal link reckon it’s got a chance (at the time of writing Croatia seems the tune to beat).

Whether The Code will convince voters in around 140 countries in the semifinal on May 9 and then, hopefully, the final on May 11 remains to be seen, but we wish Nemo well.

Mind you, it’s probably best not to get your hopes up too high. Apart from when Switzerland won the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano in 1956 and Céline Dion’s victory for Switzerland in 1988, it’s only been downhill and disappointment. In 1956 Lys Assia won with Refrain and represented Switzerland again in 1957 and 1958. She also submitted songs in 2011 and 2012 (aged 87-88) but the Swiss selectors chose other artists (one judge said her song was like “cruise ship” fodder, triggering a bizarre row).

Lys Assia with French singer André Claveau at the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest. Claveau won, Assia came second. KEYSTONE

For the first decade or so, Switzerland welcomed non-Swiss acts, whether it was from neighbouring Germany, France or Italy or from further afield, for example Esther Ofarim from Israel in 1963 and Yovanna from Greece two years later.

It initially appeared that Ofarim had won the competition with her song T’en va pas (Don’t leave), but Norway then (allegedly) changed their votes to give victory to Denmark, who pipped Switzerland by two points. Grr. Not that it prevented Ofarim from going on to have a successful career and, with her husband Abi, scoring a massive international hit, including reaching No 1 in the UK, with Cinderella Rockefella in 1968.

Israeli singer Esther Ofarim in Geneva in 1963 KEYSTONE

After that came 20 years of Swiss singers and 20 years without success (although Daniela Simmons was runner-up in 1986). This included the Pepe Lienhard Band, who in 1977 headed to London to perform Swiss Lady, a jaunty bit of Schlager – catchy, sentimental pop – which came a creditable sixth and was a big hit in Switzerland. Not bad for a song that started with an alphorn solo.

Despite the title, the lyrics were all in German, complying with a Eurovision demand in place between 1977 and 1999 that a song must be performed in one of the national languages of the country participating. For Switzerland that meant German, French, Italian or Romansh (Switzerland’s sole entry in RomanshExternal link was in 1989).

The Pepe Lienhard Band (Pepe Lienhard is on the far left, with flute) take part in the Swiss qualifying competition in Zurich in 1977 KEYSTONE

And then came a 20-year-old girl from Canada. Ne partez pas sans moi, sang Céline Dion live in front of a television audience of 600 million in 1988. Don’t leave without me. The juries in 20 other countries didn’t care whether it was about pleading with a lover or running for a bus, they knew talent when they heard it.

Apart from the jury of historic rival Austria, that is, which gave the Swiss “nul points” (Switzerland returned the favour and Austria finished last). Neighbouring France also felt the Swiss effort was worth only one point. Germany, on the other hand, along with Portugal and Sweden, awarded Switzerland the maximum 12 points. Geopolitics à la Eurovision.

Céline Dion sings ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’, with which she won Eurovision for Switzerland in 1988 KEYSTONE

Switzerland sat out the 2001 contest (OK, it was relegated for coming in the bottom six in 2000), and in 2002 returned with Dans le jardin de mon âme (In the garden of my soul) written and performed by Schlager singer Francine Jordi. Even a disappointing 22nd place couldn’t wipe the perma-smile off Jordi’s face. She would go on to have a successful career as a singer and television presenter.

Francine Jordi sang for Switzerland in Estonia in 2002 KEYSTONE

We now enter the Dark Ages for Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest, when the country rarely qualified for the finals – and if it did, it usually ended up in the middle of the pack. The Swiss were so keen to do well that in 2007 the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company) chose bona fide dance music star and household name in Switzerland René Baumann, better known as DJ BoBo, to represent the country. “It’s a shame for Swiss taxpayer money from the TV licence fees to go to fund a foreign act, and the people should resist that,” BoBo reckoned.

Hopes were high – BoBo had shifted more than ten million records worldwide – but Vampires Are Alive flopped, failing to make the final. Even a controversy involving Christians who complained about satanism failed to generate any interest or buzz.

DJ BoBo tried his best KEYSTONE

The surprise choices continued in 2013, when a Salvation Army band, featuring 95-year-old Emil Ramsauer on double bass, was named the Swiss entry. Things didn’t start well when they were told they couldn’t compete under the name “Heilsarmee” (German for Salvation Army) or wear their uniform because of rules forbidding political and religious content. They then did a PrinceExternal link and became Takasa (The Artists Known As Salvation Army). Not that it helped – they too failed to qualify for the final. Ramsauer, still the oldest Eurovision participant, died in 2021 aged 103.

Heilsarmee/Takasa on stage in Switzerland in 2013 KEYSTONE

The disappointments continued until 2019, when telegenic bricklayer-turned-pop singer Luca Hänni, who had won the German version of Pop Idol in 2012, came fourth with She Got Me. It was Switzerland’s first top-five finish since 1993.

Gjon Muharremaj, known professionally as Gjon’s Tears, then went one better at the next contest in 2021 (Covid-19 put the kibosh on 2020) with Répondez-moi (Answer me).

Nemo will be following Remo Forrer, whose Watergun, a power ballad about conflicts and feeling powerless, failed to trouble the scoreboard in Liverpool last year. Ukraine had actually won the previous year but was unable to host the event for obvious reasons. It seems that Forrer, a fine singer, went for serious politics at a time when people possibly wanted a bit of flamboyance and escapism. If that is still the case, things could be looking good for Nemo.

Mersey boy: Remo Forrer with the Swiss flag in Liverpool in 2023 KEYSTONE/Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

[A previous version of this article incorrectly said the first Eurovision took place in Geneva. It was held in Lugano.]