Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country	Switzerland
National selection
Selection process	ESC 2015 – Die Entscheidungsshow
Selection date(s)	31 January 2015
Selected entrant	Mélanie René
Selected song	"Time to Shine"
Selected songwriter(s)	Mélanie René
Finals performance
Semi-final result	Failed to qualify (17th, 4 points)
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015 • 2016►

Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Time to Shine", written and performed by Mélanie René. The Swiss German broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) organised the national final ESC 2015 – Die Entscheidungsshow in order to select the Swiss entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. After narrowing down hundreds of candidate songs to a field of six entries, the votes of jury panel and a public televote selected "Time to Shine" performed by Mélanie René as the winner. In the second of the Eurovision semi-finals, Switzerland failed to qualify to the final, placing seventeenth and last out of the 17 participating countries with 4 points.

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-five 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 most recent victory was achieved in 1988 when Canadian singer Céline Dion won the contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Since the introduction of a semi-final to the format of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004, Switzerland has managed to participate in the final four times. 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 four years. In 2014, Switzerland earned their highest result in the contest since 2005, qualifying to the final and placing 13th with the song "Hunter of Stars" performed by Sebalter.

On 19 May 2014, Swiss broadcaster Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) confirmed Switzerland's participation in the 2015 Contest and announced that a national final would once again select the Swiss entry.^[2] The regulations and procedures for the selection were published on 18 July 2014.^[3]

Before Eurovision

ESC 2015 – Die Entscheidungsshow

ESC 2015 – Die Entscheidungsshow was the fifth edition of the Swiss national final format that selected Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. The national final was a collaboration between four broadcasters in Switzerland: the Swiss-German broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) and the Swiss-Romansh broadcaster Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR).^[4] The show was broadcast on SRF 1, RTS Deux, RSI La 2 as well as webcast online by SRF.^[5]

Selection process

The selection process took place in three stages before the finalists for the live show and ultimately the winner are selected. The first stage of the competition included SRF/RTR, RTS and RSI each conducting varying selections in order to determine the candidates they submitted for the second stage of the competition. SRF/RTR submitted nine candidates, RTS submitted six candidates and RSI submitted three candidates. The second stage was an "Expert Check" of the selected candidates which featured live performances of the eighteen songs that qualified from their respective broadcaster selections. A jury panel selected three artists and songs to qualify from the SRF/RTR selection, two from the RTS selection and one from the RSI selection. The six artists and songs proceeded to the third stage, the televised national final, where the winning artist and song was selected to represent Switzerland in Vienna.^[4]

SRF/RTR selection

The SRF/RTR selection involved an online internet voting platform where interested artists could submit their songs and have them listed for public listening.^[4] The platform began accepting entries on 29 September 2014 and concluded on 27 October 2014. 210 entries were submitted following the submission deadline,^[6] including entries from former The X Factor UK participant, Kitty Brucknell and former The Voice UK participant, Kirsten Joy.^[7][8] Internet users had between 3 and 17 November 2014 to vote for their favourite entries. The internet votes were combined with the votes from an expert jury and on 25 November 2014, the top nine entries for the "Expert Check" were announced.^[9] The three candidates ultimately selected from the SRF/RTR selection for the national final were "Only Human" performed by Tiziana, "Hey Now" performed by Andy McSean and "Singing About Love" performed by Timebelle.^[10]

RTS selection

The RTS selection involved interested artists submitting their entries to the broadcaster between 9 September 2014 and 27 October 2014. At the close of the deadline, 26 entries were received.^[6] Ten of the candidates were invited to perform live during a radio show at RTS Studio 15 in Lausanne on 23 November 2014 where a jury panel that consisted of Catherine Colombara, Laurent Pavia, Emile Felber, and Nicolas Tanner selected the six candidates for the "Expert Check".^[11][12] The two candidates ultimately selected from the RTS selection for the national final were "Fly" performed by Licia Chery and "Time to Shine" performed by Mélanie René.^[10]

RSI selection

RSI opened a submission period between 16 July 2014 and 15 October 2014 for interested artists and composers to submit their entries.^[13] On 4 November 2014, a jury panel consisting of 2008 Swiss contest entrant Paolo Meneguzzi, Iris Moné and Simone Tomassini evaluated the 28 entry submissions received and selected the three candidates that proceeded to the "Expert Check".^[14] The candidate ultimately selected from the RSI selection for the national final was "Take Me Back to 23" performed by Deborah Bough.^[10]

Expert Check

The "Expert Check" of the eighteen selected candidates was webcast from SRF Studio 5 in Zürich on 7 December 2014 and was hosted by Clarissa Tami.^[4][15] The candidates performed their songs in front of an expert panel which assessed the performers on criteria such as live performance skills, voice quality and stage presence. The expert panel consisted of choreographer Rafael Antonio, vocal coach Freda Goodlett, the director of strategic marketing at Universal Music Switzerland Moritz Faccin (representative of SRF), the director of Option Musique Catherine Colombara (representative of RTS), and musician Nicola Locarnini (representative of RSI).^[10] Three artists and songs qualified from the SRF/RTR selection, two from the RTS selection and one from the RSI selection.^[10]

National final

ESC 2015 – Die Entscheidungsshow took place on 31 January 2015 at the Bodensee Arena in Kreuzlingen, hosted by Sven Epiney.^[17] The show consisted of two parts: in the first part the six candidate songs in contention to represent Switzerland were performed and in the second part each artist performed a cover version of another song. In the second part, Deborah Bough performed "Shake It Off" (originally by Taylor Swift), Timebelle performed "Rude Boy" (originally by Rihanna), Licia Chery performed "All About That Bass" (originally by Meghan Trainor), Andy McSean performed "Chasing Cars" (originally by Snow Patrol), Mélanie René performed "Chandelier" (originally by Sia) and Tiziana performed "The Power of Love" (originally by Frankie Goes to Hollywood).^[18] In addition to the performances from the competing artists, Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Conchita Wurst also performed "Rise Like a Phoenix" as an interval act.

The combination of televoting (50%) and the votes of an expert jury (50%) selected "Time to Shine" performed by Mélanie René as the winner.^[4][5][19] The jury consisted of ten members representing the four Swiss broadcasters. The four representatives of SRF included: Peter Ramon Baumann (ESC Fanclub), Lilly Behling (music editor for Die grössten Schweizer Talente), Dano Tamasy (music editor for Radio SRF 3) and Mark B. Lay (vocal coach); the three representatives from RTS included: Grazia Covre (choreographer), Valerie Ogier (journalist/columnist) and Nic Maeder (lead singer for Swiss band Gotthard); the two representatives from RSI included: Sebalter (singer; represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014) and Simone Tomassini (singer); and the one representative from RTR was Alice Bertogg (RTR television host; singer).^[20]

At Eurovision

Mélanie René at a press meet and greet

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.^[21] The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) split up the competing countries into five different pots based on voting patterns from previous contests, with countries with favourable voting histories put into the same pot.^[22] On 26 January 2015, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in. Switzerland was placed into the second semi-final, to be held on 21 May 2015, and was scheduled to perform in the second half of the show.^[23]

Once all the competing songs for the 2015 contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. Switzerland was set to perform in position 14, following the entry from Sweden and before the entry from Cyprus.^[24]

In Switzerland, three broadcasters aired the contest. Sven Epiney provided German commentary for both semi-finals airing on SRF zwei and the final airing on SRF 1. German commentary was also provided by Peter Schneider and Gabriel Vetter for the final on Radio SRF 3 and via dual channel audio on SRF 1.^[25] Clarissa Tami and Paolo Meneguzzi provided Italian commentary for the second semi-final airing on RSI La 2 and the final airing on RSI La 1.^[26] Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner provided French commentary for the first semi-final online via RTS.ch, for the second semi-final on RTS Deux and the final on RTS Un.^[27] The Swiss spokesperson, who announced the Swiss votes during the final, was Laetitia Guarino.^[28]

Semi-final

Mélanie René at a dress rehearsal for the second semi-final

Mélanie René took part in technical rehearsals on 14 and 16 May,^[29][30] followed by dress rehearsals on 20 and 21 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.^[31]

The stage show featured Mélanie René in a long ivory dress with a transparent black cape standing on a pedestal at the centre of the stage. René was flanked by backing vocalists who wore black costumes with fringes and played large drums. The background LED screens displayed forest scenery. The performance also utilised special effects in the form of a wind machine, CO₂ jets blowing from the ground and "falling star" pyrotechnics.^[29][30] On stage, Mélanie René was joined by four backing vocalists: Anissa Condemi Montemouhin, Idyl Nahla, Flavie Crisinel Cheuwa and Natacha Karine Montille.^[32]

At the end of the show, Switzerland failed to qualify to the final and was not announced among the top ten nations.^[33] It was later revealed that Switzerland placed seventeenth and last in the semi-final, receiving a total of 4 points.^[34]

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.^[35]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Switzerland had placed seventeenth with the public televote and fourteenth with the jury vote in the second semi-final. In the public vote, Switzerland scored 6 points, while with the jury vote, Switzerland scored 15 points.^[36]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Switzerland and awarded by Switzerland in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:^{[34][37][38][39]}

Points awarded to Switzerland

Points awarded by Switzerland

Semi-final 2 12 points  Sweden 10 points  Norway 8 points  Latvia 7 points  Israel 6 points  Portugal 5 points  Cyprus 4 points  Slovenia 3 points  Lithuania 2 points  Poland 1 point  Montenegro

Final 12 points  Sweden 10 points  Norway 8 points  Australia 7 points  Russia 6 points  Italy 5 points  Serbia 4 points  Latvia 3 points  Israel 2 points  Belgium 1 point  Spain

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the Swiss jury:^[35]

• Georg Schlunegger – Chairperson – producer and co-owner of Hitmill Productions, wrote Takasa's song for the 2013 contest
• Simu Moser – radio journalist and presentator of the morning show
• Andrea Pärli – Marketing Director International Labels Musikvertrieb
• Gabriel Broggini – singer, represented Switzerland in the 2012 contest as part of Sinplus
• Rafaela Spitzli – Promotion Manager Universal Switzerland

Split voting results from Switzerland (Semi-final 2)
Draw	Country	G. Schlunegger	S. Moser	A. Pärli	G. Broggini	R. Spitzli	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Lithuania	12	1	9	5	3	5	12	8	3
02	Ireland	4	7	12	7	8	6	14	13
03	San Marino	16	16	13	16	16	16	15	16
04	Montenegro	9	13	14	11	11	15	5	10	1
05	Malta	5	10	4	2	5	4	16	14
06	Norway	2	6	2	1	4	2	3	2	10
07	Portugal	13	14	15	10	6	14	1	5	6
08	Czech Republic	11	15	6	13	9	12	8	11
09	Israel	6	2	16	6	12	9	4	4	7
10	Latvia	1	4	5	4	1	1	10	3	8
11	Azerbaijan	10	9	7	12	15	11	11	15
12	Iceland	15	8	8	3	7	7	13	12
13	Sweden	8	3	3	9	2	3	2	1	12
14	Switzerland
15	Cyprus	3	12	10	14	13	10	7	6	5
16	Slovenia	7	11	1	8	14	8	9	7	4
17	Poland	14	5	11	15	10	13	6	9	2

Split voting results from Switzerland (Final)
Draw	Country	G. Schlunegger	S. Moser	A. Pärli	G. Broggini	R. Spitzli	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Slovenia	10	17	5	5	21	11	22	18
02	France	11	9	13	12	12	9	21	15
03	Israel	9	5	25	9	10	10	10	8	3
04	Estonia	7	22	16	16	7	13	15	13
05	United Kingdom	17	6	2	19	11	8	25	19
06	Armenia	26	26	27	27	27	27	23	27
07	Lithuania	12	3	7	4	4	4	26	16
08	Serbia	19	14	8	20	16	16	3	6	5
09	Norway	2	1	1	1	3	1	6	2	10
10	Sweden	3	4	3	3	2	3	4	1	12
11	Cyprus	4	19	19	22	24	19	24	25
12	Australia	5	8	14	10	8	6	5	3	8
13	Belgium	14	20	11	7	6	12	9	9	2
14	Austria	8	12	22	8	5	7	16	11
15	Greece	22	25	15	21	18	23	19	22
16	Montenegro	18	24	21	25	13	24	13	21
17	Germany	23	18	17	17	20	21	11	17
18	Poland	24	11	24	23	26	25	18	24
19	Latvia	1	2	6	2	1	2	17	7	4
20	Romania	25	10	26	15	14	20	14	20
21	Spain	21	16	9	18	9	15	8	10	1
22	Hungary	15	15	20	14	23	17	12	14
23	Georgia	16	21	18	13	19	18	27	26
24	Azerbaijan	13	23	10	24	25	22	20	23
25	Russia	6	7	4	6	17	5	7	4	7
26	Albania	27	27	23	26	22	26	1	12
27	Italy	20	13	12	11	15	14	2	5	6

References

Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Artists 1950s Lys Assia Lys Assia Lys Assia Christa Williams 1960s Anita Traversi Franca Di Rienzo Jean Philippe Esther Ofarim Anita Traversi Yovanna Madeleine Pascal Géraldine Gianni Mascolo Paola Del Medico 1970s Henri Des Peter, Sue and Marc Veronique Mueller Patrick Juvet Piera Martell Simone Drexel Peter, Sue and Marc Pepe Lienhard Band Carole Vinci Peter, Sue, Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri 1980s Paola Peter, Sue and Marc Arlette Zola Mariella Farré Rainy Day Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini Daniela Simmons Carol Rich Céline Dion Furbaz 1990s Egon Egemann Sandra Simó Daisy Auvray Annie Cotton Duilio 1995 Kathy Leander Barbara Berta Gunvor 1999 2000s Jane Bogaert 2001 Francine Jordi 2003 Piero and the MusicStars Vanilla Ninja six4one DJ BoBo Paolo Meneguzzi Lovebugs 2010s Michael von der Heide Anna Rossinelli Sinplus Takasa Sebalter Mélanie René Rykka
Songs 1950s "Das alte Karussell" "Refrain" "L'enfant que j'étais" "Giorgio" "Irgendwoher" 1960s "Cielo e terra" "Nous aurons demain" "Le retour" "T'en va pas" "I miei pensieri" "Non, à jamais sans toi" "Ne vois-tu pas?" "Quel cœur vas-tu briser?" "Guardando il sole" "Bonjour, Bonjour" 1970s "Retour" "Les illusions de nos vingt ans" "C'est la chanson de mon amour" "Je vais me marier, Marie" "Mein Ruf nach dir" "Mikado" "Djambo, Djambo" "Swiss Lady" "Vivre" "Trödler und Co" 1980s "Cinéma" "Io senza te" "Amour on t'aime" "Io così non ci sto" "Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein?" "Piano, Piano" "Pas pour moi" "Moitié, moitié" "Ne partez pas sans moi" "Viver senza tei" 1990s "Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus" "Canzone per te" "Mister Music Man" "Moi, tout simplement" "Sto pregando" 1995 "Mon coeur l'aime" "Dentro di me" "Lass' ihn" 1999 2000s "La vita cos'è?" 2001 "Dans le jardin de mon âme" 2003 "Celebrate" "Cool Vibes" "If We All Give a Little" "Vampires Are Alive" "Era stupendo" "The Highest Heights" 2010s "Il pleut de l'or" "In Love for a While" "Unbreakable" "You and Me" "Hunter of Stars" "Time to Shine" "The Last of Our Kind"
(Note : Entries scored out are when Switzerland did not compete)