All Swiss Entries - A Retrospective!
Switzerland have been a part of the Eurovision Song Contest since 1956, both hosting, and then winning, the first ever contest - Lys Assia with “Refrain”. Throughout the years, Switzerland has only missed 4 contests, because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year: 1995, 1999, 2001, and 2003. Up to now, Switzerland has competed 64 times, and won three - 1956 (as mentioned), 1989, with Celine Dion’s “Ne Partez pas sans Moi”, and of course, in 2024 with “The Code” by Nemo.
Switzerland have entered the contest 64 times! When the semi-finals were introduced, they have failed to qualify 11 out of 20 attempts… However since 2018 (a tragedy Zibbz did not qualify perhaps), they have qualified at every contest, coming 4th in 2019 with Luca Hanni and “She Got Me”, 3rd in 2021 when Gjon’s Tears returned from the 2020 cancellation with “Tout l’Univers”, and their win at the last contest!
What is this about?
Given the contest returns to Switzerland in 2025, we are looking back on their entries over the years, to vote for who we think, as a club, are our favourites. But we will be doing this differently to the usual Retrospective system to provide more equity across the songs. That is, so that all songs are given an equal opportunity to be rated higher, rather than only the more recent songs (which is the trend across most polls). It also allows us to break down our favourites by decade. :)
Please note: We have chosen to include the fabulous “Repondez-moi” by Gjon’s Tears, the Eurovision 2020 entry that succumbed to the cancellation of the contest due to the global pandemic. This makes the list a whopping 66 songs long (as Lys Assia performed 2 songs in the first competition in 1956)!
What does that mean for our members and friends?
Well… in this activity, we will be asking that you provide a rating out of 10 for each of the 66 songs. That is, you rate the song out of 10, with 10 points being the highest score, and 1 point being the lowest. There will be no 0 points option, and no decimal/fraction option. E.g. you may love their 1956 winner, "Refrain", and give that 10 points, as well as their 2022 Song, “Boys Do Cry”, while their 1986 entry may also receive 10 points. If you really weren’t a fan of their 2011- entry, "In Love for a While", you may choose to give this only 1 point. You can give as many songs the same points as you feel is accuate for you.
How do you participate?
We have set up a YouTube (only) playlist of the entries (as it should be based on their live performance, not the studio version, where available). You can choose to watch all the performances yourself, or join a watch party to engage with other members across our amazing club to discuss together as we view the songs. That is up to you. Details are below. Then, click on the “Score the Songs Now” button below to complete the voting form, giving each entry a score out of 10.
Click here for the running order.
Click here for the YouTube playlist of the 66 entries.
WATCH PARTIES VIA WATCH2GETHER:
To access these at the specified date and time below, click here!!!
Sunday 19 January - 7pm AEDT - Australian Eastern Daylight Time
Sunday 19 January - 3pm EST - Eastern Standard Time (USA)
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet everyone’s wishes, but we will do everything we can. You can check the time in your timezone by clicking here.
Remember - you must give every song a score out of 10.
YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDDAY CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME (CET) JANUARY 26,
TO CAST YOUR VOTES.
Please Note: This is a significant undertaking… scoring EVERY Swiss Eurovision entry out of ten requires a lot more investment. As such, 20 points will be awarded for this activity.