The stats are without appeal: in the last ten editions of the Eurovision Song Contest Switzerland only qualified twice.
In 2011, Anna Rossinelli and her In love for a while earned the Grand Final but arrived in a deceiving last position. It went better for SEBalter with Hunter of stars in 2014.
Fourth in the semi-final and thirteenth in the final. This is by far the best result for the country since the eight place in 2005 of iconic entry Cool vibes of the girl band Vanilla Ninja.
Changes in the selections process
After three non-qualifiers in a row, the Swiss broadcaster SRF has completely reviewed its strategy for the forthcoming competition; many are the changes in the national selection.
The submitted songs cannot be listened on the online platform any more. The lyrics of the songs will have the priority over the performer(s). And most importantly, the next Swiss entry to the Eurovision will be chosen with votes from the televote and from international juries intervening at the Entscheidungsshow, the national final.
A bootcamp to boost the chances
Despite the poor results in the recent past, the flame of the Eurovision seems to be alive and kicking in the land-locked country. Not less than 670 songs have been submitted to the SRF, a record for the Swiss national selection.
This is in part due to a songwriter camp organised by the Swiss broadcaster. For the first time 25 music professionals, of which 13 from Switzerland, met in the Swiss Alps to produce a total of 18 songs.
In recent times Swiss producers have been looking for international cooperations to produce a song that could appeal to a broad European audience. Particularly strict has been the work with Swedish producers, who were behind the lyrics of 2017’s entry Apollo and who massively took part to the bootcamp.
Has the SRF found the magic formula?
Pele Loriano, composer, producer, music director and organiser of the Songwriting-Camp, specified that the goal of such meeting is “to increase the chances to create a special chemistry in a team to boost the inspiration”. “The best part of teamworking is that you come up with better ideas than if you would have worked alone”, he continued.
The main mission for the SRF for this year is to find the perfect lyrics to be combined with the perfect voice. The next Swiss entry should not only please the Swiss audience, but most importantly it should be appreciated from an international audience.
The Entscheidungsshow, the national final, will take place on Sunday, 4 February 2018 in Zurich. Six acts should participate to the show, though the SRF may decide to present more songs.
Thirty years after the last victory with Céline Dion, there seems to be a real commitment from SRF to catch the golden pass for the Grand Final. The many changes to the selection process are only the premises to create the best conditions for the winning song.
Have the Swiss found the magic formula to put the participation record on a better track?
Listen to the top-10 entries from Switzerland here:
