SRF, the Swiss national broadcaster has confirmed its participation at the forthcoming 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Portugal. The Helvetic nation will once again opt for a national selection in order to select its Eurovision act and entry. SRF has released the rules and regulations for its ESC selection and set the date for the 2018 Swiss national final.

Save the date! Switzeland will select its Eurovision entry for Portugal on Sunday 4 February 2018 via a 50/50 public televoting/international  expert jury deliberation. The show will be televised live on SRF 2 from the SRF TV Studios in Zurich.

Artists and composers wishing to take part in the competition can send in their applications to SRF from 01-22 September 2017. You can find the 2018 Swiss selection rules here.

There have been several changes in the Swiss national selection in order to revamp the mechanism, an international expert jury consisting of music experts and Eurovision fans has been introduced. Another major change in the selection is that the songs and artists will be selected separately; An external jury will whittle down the submitted songs and then SRF & SRG will be responsible to match the artists with the songs.  At least 6 acts will battle for the golden ticket to Portugal in the national final.

Switzerland is one of the founder members of the Eurovision Song Contest, having debuted in 1956 and has won the competition twice (1956 and 1988).

In 2017 Timebelle flew the Swiss flag at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with Apollo.

The 2018 Swiss Eurovision National Selection Rules and Regulations.

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, together with RTS, RSI and RTR (referred to as “SRG SSR” in the regulations), is looking for the Swiss song for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Portugal. Applications can be submitted from 1 to 22 September 2017 at 8 am.

GENERAL REGISTRATION TERMS

1. SRG SSR is seeking a modern song that complies with international requirements. The lyrics are to have a strong, clear and understandable message.
2. Applications from all parts of the country can be submitted via an SRG SSR platform. This is the sole and exclusive way to submit an application. No alternatives are offered.
3. Songs may only be uploaded as audio files.
4. The application, in the form of the song, may only be uploaded by its legal owners.
5. Commercial, religious or non-profit organisations and foundations are prohibited from participating as a basic principle.
6. By uploading a song, the legal owners acknowledge that all rights required for the contractual creation and use of the work and the production and services of third parties (including neighbouring rights of session musicians, singers, etc.) shall be granted entirely and legally to SRG SSR without any conditions.
7. The legal owners guarantee that the contractual creation and use of the work, production and performances do not conflict with any agreements with third parties such as labels, managers, event organisers or agencies in any way. The legal owners release SRG SSR from all third-party claims without any limitation of time, place and subject matter.
8. When the application is made, all rights to the song (in particular copyrights and intellectual property rights) are transferred to SRG SSR for free use as part of the Eurovision qualifying contest on all platforms (multimedia, radio, TV, internet, CD, DVD, YouTube, etc.) and for any participation in the international final, insofar as these rights are not exercised by a collecting society such as SUISA.
9. Songs submitted may not be withdrawn at a later point in time.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

10. The songs for the national final will be selected by SRG SSR and a jury comprising
around 20 people.
11. The jury shall be made up of music and media representatives, Eurovision fans and
television viewers and will be selected by SRG SSR. The majority of the jury shall be
music and media representatives.
12. All language regions shall be represented in the jury.
13. The jury shall listen to all songs submitted which comply with the regulations and shall
choose the finalists out of all applications during several discussions and decision
rounds.
14. For quality reasons, SRG SSR may award wildcards for the final. However, it is not
obliged to make use of this option.
15. Depending on the quality of the applications, SRG SSR may vary the number of finalists.
16. The names of the 20 jury members will be published on a date specified by SRG SSR.
17. Manipulation, attempts at bribery or irregularities in the jury’s voting may result in
exclusion of the song, artist and jury member.

SONG REGULATIONS

18. By submitting their application, the legal owners confirm that the song submitted
(composition/lyrics) is their own creative work and that it is not plagiarised in any way
whatsoever.
19. Composers and lyrists that are Swiss nationals or are resident in Switzerland will be
given priority. However, nationality is not a deciding factor and does not prohibit
anybody from submitting a song.
20. The song submitted may not be longer than three minutes.
21. The song may not be published in part or in whole before 1 September 2017 (radio, TV,
Internet, public performance, recording media, etc.).
22. Song lyrics may be submitted in any language.
23. The song may not contain any political, racist or violent lyrics.
24. Instrumental versions are not permitted. Every title must contain words that are sung or
spoken.
25. Songs that do not yet have a specified artist may also be submitted. However, in this
case, a demo voice is required for the song.
26. For organisational reasons, SRG SSR will only contact the selected finalists. This will
happen in October/November 2017. Those who have not heard anything from SRG SSR
by the end of November 2017 were not taken into consideration for the selection.
27. Songs that have not been selected for the final will not be published by SRG SSR and will
remain under lock and key.

ARTIST REGULATIONS

28. The artists accept all regulations relating to the Eurovision Song Contest.
29. Artists may not compete for more than one country in the Eurovision Song Contest.
30. Artists that are Swiss nationals or are resident in Switzerland will be given priority.
However, nationality is not a deciding factor and does not prohibit anybody from
singing a song.
31. The artists must be aged at least 16 (on 1 May 2018).
32. As songs with demo singers can also be submitted, whether or not the artist would like
to take part in the competition must also be stated at the time of uploading.
33. Artists of the songs submitted must note that only the song is assessed and selected by
the jury. The artists, thus the voices in the songs, may be replaced by the SRG SSR at any
time for quality reasons. After consultation with the composers and producers, the final
decision as to which artists sing which songs is made by SRG SSR.
34. The final artists for the national live show shall be contacted by the editing team and
their participation shall be regulated in a written contract.
35. By signing the contract, the artists bindingly declare their willingness to perform the
song in the national final on 4 February 2018 in Zurich. If they win, the artists bindingly
declare their willingness to perform the song at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 and
thus represent Switzerland. The international semi-final and the international final are
scheduled to be held in Portugal in May 2018.

THE NATIONAL LIVE SHOW

36. The national final will be in the form of a live show in Zurich on 4 February 2018.
37. SRG SSR bears sole decision-making rights in terms of staging the finalists. Staging
includes clothing, choreography, lighting and set design, among other things.
38. The artists that have qualified shall perform their song live in the final show.
39. The song shall be performed by one or more singer(s)/musician(s); however only a
maximum of six people (including dancers/backing singers, singers/musicians) are
allowed on the stage.
40. No animals are allowed on stage.
41. Political, racist or violent statements, gestures or symbols are not permitted.
42. The artists that have qualified declare their willingness to be available for a few days
between 7 November 2017 and 4 February 2018 for television recordings and any
promotional events.

THE FINAL DETERMINATION OF THE WINNER

43. The winner will be chosen 50% by the audience by means of televoting and 50% by an
international expert jury.
44. If the jury does not vote for technical reasons, the decision shall be made exclusively by
the televotes.
45. If televoting does not take place for technical reasons, the decision shall be made
exclusively by the jury.
46. In the event of a tie, the televotes shall carry a greater weighting than the jury vote.
47. Attempts at manipulation or irregularities in the televoting or jury voting can result in
exclusion of the song and artist.