Estonian tabloid SLÕhtuleht wrote today that Switzerland wants to give the Estonian girl-group Vanilla Ninja a chance to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev. This sudden offer means that, if the band accepts the proposal, they would be assured of going straight through to the Eurovision Song Contest qualifying round without facing competitors.

A member of the band Piret Järvis confirmed that they have indeed received such a proposal. “The Swiss have offered us to be their guaranteed performers at the next Eurovision Song Contest“, Järvis said.

“We would perform some songs in the Swiss preselection, and people would choose their favourite. We wouldn't have any competitors,” the singer added.

The producer of the band David Brandes recently went to Switzerland to discuss the terms with people in the music industry. That is the reason, why everything is not 100% certain.

At the same time Järvis couldn't mention a single reason why they shouldn't take the offer. “It would be a great promotion for our band“, the singer thinks. “Because hundreds of millions of viewers would see us live“.

The most popular hit of Vanilla Ninja was “Club Kung-Fu” from the 2003 Estonian preselection, which ended up as the public favourite, but failed to impress the international jury.

Switzerland has won the Eurovision Song Contest twice – the first contest in 1956 and again in 1988, when Celine Dion, an unknown singer at that time, won.

Switzerland will participate in the qualifying round of the Eurovision Song Contest on 19th May, 2005 in Kiev.