Thirty-nine countries are competing with the aim to lift the trophy in Malmö. The seventeenth country to be introduced is Switzerland. The country won the Eurovision Song Contest twice and this year Takasa will fly the Swiss flag in Sweden.

Basic information

Performers: Takasa
Song: You and me
Language: English
Music: Georg Schlunegger, Roman Camenzind, Fred Herrmann
Lyrics: Georg Schlunegger, Roman Camenzind, Fred Herrmann

The song

The rocky-tempo Swiss entry entitled You and me describes the tensions in today’s society and how the “you and me” relationship between individuals is the only real way to resolve them.

Hey, hey, hey

When the times are getting rough
Gold and silver turn to dust
People build their barricades
Out of jealousy and hate

But there’s one thing
They could never
Never ever separate

Aaahh

Let it hear from near and far
This is how it’s meant to be
We’re together you and me

The performers

Takasa is a unique band, made up of six individuals who share their passion for music. Their ages range from 21-year-old Sarah Breiter to 95-year-old Emil Ramsauer, who will set a new record for being the oldest ever musician to perform on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. Takasa is made up of six individuals for whom music is a passion. Sarah is 21 years young, and Emil celebrated his 95th birthday in February. They are brought together by a shared love of music and belief in God. Katharina, Sarah, Emil, Michel, Christoph and Jonas are as happy playing their music on the street as they are in church, as comfortable in a prison as they are in the Federal Parliament Building. On 17 December 2012, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the band would not be permitted to compete under the name Heilsarmee (German for ‘Salvation Army’) at the Eurovision Song Contest, in accordance with the rules of the contest forbidding political and religious content.

The songwriters

This year’s Swiss entry was written and produced by Georg Schlunegger for HitMill Records. Georg Schlunegger, Roman Camenzind and Fred Herrmann worked closely with Anna Rossinelli on her album Bon voyage released two years ago.

The national selection

Nine acts competed in the Swiss national. The Swiss group won the tele-voting and thus got the right to represent Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Switzerland took part in the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and has never deliberately missed an edition since, but was relegated in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Lys Assia won in 1956 on home ground and it would take another 33 years until Celine Dion managed to bring the victory to Switzerland again. Since 1993, when the country achieved its last top three placing to date, they were in the top ten only once. Since 2007, Switzerland was eliminated in the semi-finals except in 2011, however last year Sinplus nearly made it to the final as they came 11th in the first semi-final held in Baku.

Statistics

This will be Switzerland’s 54th participation in the Eurovision Song Contest. It will be only the third time that the country is being represented by a group. Last time that Switzerland presented a group was in 2006 when six4one performed If we all give a little in Athens.

Swiss vote in Eurovision

Throughout its long history in the Eurovision Song Contest Switzerland voted most for Ireland while the United Kingdom awarded most points to the Swiss. If the semi-final points are taken into account, the Swiss voted more for Albania while Malta voted more for Switzerland.

The betting odds

According to oddschecker.com, Switzerland is currently standing at number 24 to win the Eurovision Song Contest. According to the odds, Switzerland will not qualify to the final as it is the thirteenth favourite to qualify from semi-final two.

Wir wünschen der Schweiz und Takasa viel Glück und eine gute Platzierung in Malmö!
Nous souhaitons bonne chance à la Suisse et à Takasa Marquez un bon résultat à Malmö!
Auguriamo alla Svizzera e a Takasa buona fortuna ed un buon risultato a Malmö!
Nus giavüschains a la Svizra ed al Takasa bgera furtüna ed ün bun resultat a Malmö!

Videos

Preview clip

National final performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAjjH3GdsQ4

Interview with lead singer Christoph Jakob on esctoday.com

Tomorrow the last country will be introduced (hint – a big five country that forgot what is a Eurovision victory!)

Have your say

You can rate the Swiss entry by voting in our poll

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You can view previous parts of this series by clicking here