Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
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Switzerlanddie Entscheidungsshow
| Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2018 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) | |||
| Country | Switzerland | |||
| Selection process | ESC 2018 – die Entscheidungsshow | |||
| Selection date | 4 February 2018 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Stones" | |||
| Artist | Zibbz | |||
| Songwriters |
| |||
| Placement | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (13th) | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
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Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Stones" written by Corinne "Coco" Gfeller, Stee Gfeller and Laurell Barker. The song was performed by the duo Zibbz. The Swiss entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal was selected through the national final ESC 2018 – die Entscheidungsshow, organised by the Swiss broadcaster Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR). Songwriters that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply during a submission period organised by SRG SSR. Six entries were selected to advance to the televised national final, and the six finalists performed during the national final on 4 February 2018 where a combination of international jury voting and public voting ultimately selected "Stones" performed by Zibbz as the winner.
Switzerland was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2018. Performing during the show in position 17, "Stones" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final. It was later revealed that Switzerland placed thirteenth out of the 19 participating countries in the semi-final with 86 points.
Prior to the 2018 contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-eight times since its first entry in 1956.[1] Switzerland is noted for having won the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Refrain" performed by Lys Assia. Their second and, to this point, most recent victory was achieved in 1988 when Canadian singer Céline Dion won the contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Switzerland had managed to participate in the final four times up to this point. In 2005, the internal selection of Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, performing the song "Cool Vibes", qualified Switzerland to the final where they placed 8th. Due to their successful result in 2005, Switzerland was pre-qualified to compete directly in the final in 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, the nation failed to qualify to the final after a string of internal selections. Since opting to organize a national final from 2011 onwards, Switzerland has managed to qualify to the final twice out of the last seven years. In 2017, Timebelle and their song "Apollo" failed to qualify Switzerland to the final placing 12th in their semi-final.
The Swiss national broadcaster, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), broadcasts the event within Switzerland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. SRG SSR confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on 30 June 2017. Along with their participation confirmation, the broadcaster also announced that the Swiss entry for the 2018 contest would be selected through a national final.[2] Switzerland has selected their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest through both national finals and internal selections in the past. Between 2005 and 2010, the Swiss entry was internally selected for the competition. Since 2011, the broadcaster has opted to organize a national final in order to select their entry.
Before Eurovision
ESC 2018 – die Entscheidungsshow
ESC 2018 – die Entscheidungsshow was the eighth and final edition of the Swiss national final format that selected Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The show took place on 4 February 2018 at the SRF Studio 1 in Zürich, hosted by Sven Epiney. The show was televised on SRF zwei, RSI La 2 with Italian commentary by Clarissa Tami and RTS Deux with French commentary by Nicolas Tanner and Jean-Marc Richard. The competition was also streamed online at the respective official website of each Swiss broadcaster.[3][4][5]
Competing entries
SRG SSR opened a submission period between 1 September 2017 and 22 September 2017 for interested composers to submit their songs via an online platform.[6] Songwriters of any nationality were able to submit songs; however those with a Swiss passport or residency were given priority.[7] A songwriting camp was also held in Maur during which 18 songs were created and 16 of which were submitted for the competition.[8] 670 entries were submitted following the submission deadline. A 20-member jury panel consisting of music and media experts, Eurovision fans and television viewers evaluated the received submissions and selected six songs, which were then tested by their music producers with various artists. The six artists and songs that qualified for the national final were announced on 9 January 2018.[9]
| Group | Members |
|---|---|
| Experts |
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| Eurovision fans |
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| Television viewers |
|
| Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Alejandro Reyes | "Compass" | Alejandro Reyes, Laurell Barker, Lars Christen |
| Angie Ott | "A Thousand Times" | Jonas Gladnikoff, Sara Ljunggren, Glen Vella |
| Chiara Dubey | "Secrets and Lies" | Chiara Dubey, Janie Price, Jeroen Swinnen, Darcy Proper, Sally Herbert |
| Naeman | "Kiss Me" | Kate Northrop, Eric Lumiere, Ken Berglund, Alejandro Reyes |
| Vanessa Iraci | "Redlights" | Borislav Milanov, Joacim Bo Persson, Johan Alkenäs, Jessica Ashley Karpov, Jesse Saint John |
| Zibbz | "Stones" | Corinne "Coco" Gfeller, Stee Gfeller, Laurell Barker |
Final
The final took place on 4 February 2018. The six candidate songs in contention to represent Switzerland were performed and the combination of televoting (50%) and the votes of seven international juries (50%) selected "Stones" performed by Zibbz as the winner. The viewers and the juries each had a total of 252 points to award. Each jury group distributed their points as follows: 6, 8, 10 and 12 points. The viewer vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved. For example, if a song gained 10% of the viewer vote, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 252 points rounded to the nearest integer: 25 points.[11] In addition to the performances from the competing artists, Swiss Eurovision Song Contest 2017 entrants Timebelle opened the show with "Apollo", while singer Leticia Carvalho and the group Appenzeller Sängerfreunde performed the Portuguese Eurovision Song Contest 2017 winning song "Amar pelos dois" as the interval act.[12]
| R/O | Artist | Song | Jury | Televote | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zibbz | "Stones" | 76 | 77 | 153 | 1 |
| 2 | Angie Ott | "A Thousand Times" | 26 | 39 | 65 | 5 |
| 3 | Naeman | "Kiss Me" | 14 | 19 | 33 | 6 |
| 4 | Chiara Dubey | "Secrets and Lies" | 22 | 44 | 66 | 4 |
| 5 | Alejandro Reyes | "Compass" | 72 | 48 | 120 | 2 |
| 6 | Vanessa Iraci | "Redlights" | 42 | 25 | 67 | 3 |
| R/O | Song | Albania |
Armenia |
France |
Germany |
Iceland |
Israel |
Italy |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 | |||
| 1 | "Stones" | 12 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 76 |
| 2 | "A Thousand Times" | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 26 | |||
| 3 | "Kiss Me" | 6 | 8 | 14 | |||||
| 4 | "Secrets and Lies" | 6 | 8 | 8 | 22 | ||||
| 5 | "Compass" | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 72 |
| 6 | "Redlights" | 10 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 42 | ||
| International Jury Spokespersons | |||||||||
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| Country | Members |
|---|---|
| Albania |
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| Armenia |
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| France |
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| Germany |
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| Iceland |
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| Israel |
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| Italy |
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Promotion
Zibbz made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Stones" as the Swiss Eurovision entry. Between 8 and 11 April, Zibbz took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel and performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Rabin Square.[13] On 14 April, Zibbz performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Edsilia Rombley and Cornald Maas.[14] On 17 April, Zibbz performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[15] On 21 April, Zibbz performed during the ESPreParty event on 21 April which was held at the Sala La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain and hosted by Soraya Arnelas.[16]
