The Swiss Expert Check round is due to take place tomorrow, where the 19 shortlisted songs will be assessed by a panel of experts, with six lucky acts progressing to the national final on 13 February. We’ve been running a poll asking who your favourites are to advance to the final. The winner, with 23.91% of the vote is Spanish rock diva Maika.
The poll results show how wiwi readers ranked the 19 contestants – but it’s not quite as straightforward as that. The Expert Check panel won’t just be picking the six best songs. Rather, they’ll be selecting the three best candidates from German-Swiss broadcaster SRF, two from French-Swiss RTS and one from Italian-Swiss RSI. So that leaves us with these six:
1. Maika – “The Reason” (SRF)
Maika made a name for herself in Spain as one of the contestants on the first series of La Voz (The Voice), where she was known for her gravelly rock vocals. She has a legion of supporters in Spain, but is less known in Switzerland.
2. Rykka – “The Last of Our Kind” (SRF)
https://youtu.be/BIlEcu140Ew
Swiss-Canadian singer-songwriter Rykka divides her time between Vancouver and Zürich. Rykka has recently been touring in Germany.
3. Stanley Miller – “Feel the Love” (SRF)
https://youtu.be/ZwLHaJ02Ze0
Stanley Miller, also known as Chipper Cooke, is an American singer now based in Spain. He was a contestant on Spanish talent show Operación Triunfo where he placed third in 2008.
4. Elias Bertini – “Elephant” (RSI)
Elias is a London-based Swiss musician and was the former frontman of the Swiss group Zero On In. This will be Elias’ second time at the Expert Check — last year Zero On In made an appearance with their song “Your Perfume”.
5. Loïc Schumacher – “Génération demain” (RTS)
Belgian singer Loïc Schumacher has the only non-English song in the wiwi poll top six.
6. Bella C – “Another World” (RTS)
https://youtu.be/vcPwb0NjO9M
Bulgarian-born singer-songwriter Bella C moved to Switzerland in the early 2000s to further her career as a professional musician. She’s released one album.
Poll results: Who should advance to Switzerland’s final from Expert Check?
1. Maika – “The Reason” 23.91% (330 votes) – SRF
2. Rykka – “The Last of Our Kind” 17.46% (241 votes) – SRF
3. Stanley Miller – “Feel the Love” 8.77% (121 votes) – SRF
4. Elias Bertini – “Elephant” 6.09% (84 votes) – RSI
5. Patric Scott feat. Abdullah Alhussainy – “No Boundaries” 6.01% (83 votes) – SRF
6. Evelyn Zangger – “Have a Little Faith In Me” 5.36% (74 votes) – SRF
7. Vincent Gross – “Half a Smile” 4.78% (66 votes) – SRF
8. Platzhirsch – “Holz vor dr Hütta” 4.64% (64 votes) – SRF
9. Nathalie – “Share Love” 4.28% (59 votes) – RSI
10. Loic Schumacher – “Génération demain” 4.13% (57 votes) – RTS
11. Sunanda – “Ooops!?!” 3.33% (46 votes) – SRF
12. Bella C – “Another World” 2.61% (36 votes) – RTS
13. Theo – “Because of You” 2.39% (33 votes) – RSI
14. Gina von Glasow – “Left With An Idiot” 1.59% (22 votes) – RTS
15. Kaceo – “Disque d’or” 1.52% (21 votes) – RTS
16. Stéphanie Palazzo – “Perché mi guardi cosi?” 1.45% (20 votes) – RTS
17. Stéphanie Sandoz – “Flashback” 0.8% (11 votes) – RTS
18. Samuel Tobias Klauser – “Asking Me Why” 0.72% (10 votes) – SRF
19. Erica Arnold – “Ich bin ich” 0.14% (2 votes) – SRF
Watch the live stream
The Expert Check round is where the panel assess the performers for qualities such as live performance skills, voice quality and stage presence. The performances will be streamed live on Sunday, 6 December, starting from 13:00 CET. You can watch the webstream live at SRF. And if the previous years’ Expert Checks are anything to go by, expect to be surprised in many different ways.
Do you agree with the top six from the wiwi poll? Who do you think will make it through the rigours of Expert Check? Share your thoughts below.
I highly doubt both Spanish artists will make it, as I said Maika’s entry feels like a bad Bon Jovi cover and I feel nothing special with Stanley’s entry. Rykka is nothing but a Sia clone and I don’t get all this hype over her
Switzerland got good result with female singers from Canada 1988 Celine Dion who won the conest in final with 21 countries , and in 1993 with Annie Coton she finished on 3rd place with 25 countries in final
Canadian female singer gave good result for Luxembourg 1986 Sherisse Laurence 3 rd place, and for France 2001 Natasha St Pier she finished on 4 place.
Maybe is time for Rykka to represent Switzerland at Eurovision 2016.
@Robyn: They’ll find a way. At selected points in the song, she can do one dance move, then at the next point move on to another (never repeating a dance move as the song goes on), until the end. He did say he would bring her to Stockholm if he wins. Sometimes a performance needs a little entertainment, provided that neither the song nor the entertainment is too dopey to ever unleash.
imo spanish fans got maika on top because of her connection to la voz so I’m going to discount the validity of her position there
if you switch her and Feel the Love with No Boundaries and Evelyn Zangger my opinion perfectly matches the poll (for once)
also hype for the expert check tomorrow
does anyone have a livestream link
Elephant is the best, by a fair margin, IMO.
Deniz don’t worry
We all thought the same when whe met her in The Voice.
I’m Spanish and she’s not my favourite.
Great voice, we all know that, but the song is boring.
To be honest, I think that Switzerland has no chance to make the final… They don’t have a a hit.
I’m not a fan of any of the songs, but Maika’s voice is REALLY outstanding. She has little chances as last year’s hot favourite Timbelle, for not being actually Swiss. Anyway, good luck to her, and I hope she qualifies for the national final.
My finalists:
Rykka – “The Last of Our Kind” SRF
Evelyn Zangger – “Have a Little Faith In Me” SRF
Platzhirsch – “Holz vor dr Hütta”SRF
Nathalie – “Share Love” RSI
Kaceo – “Disque d’or” RTS
Stéphanie Sandoz – “Flashback” RTS
Sure, Maika is my least favourite this year…
And I thought it was a man, well ooops I just screwed up (get it? Anyone? No?)
@Robyn: Indeed. From my standpoint, RTS didn’t put together a competitive roster. For what it’s worth, here is how I graded them, according to 5 audio criteria: SRF (3 to qualify) 9.40 Vincent Gross 9.36 Patric Scott and Abdullah Alhussainy 9.34 Stanley Miller —— 9.32 Rykka 9.24 Evelyn Zangger 9.22 Samuel Tobias Klauser 9.22 Maika 9.20 Platzhirsch 8.92 Erica Arnold 8.82 Sunanda RTS (2 to qualify) 9.24 Stéphanie Sandoz 9.22 Kaceo —— 9.20 Bella C. 9.14 Stéphanie Palazzo 9.00 Gina von Glasow 8.84 Loïc Schumacher RSI (1 to qualify) 9.40 Elias Bertini —— 9.22 Theo 9.16 Nathalie My qualifiers: 9.40… Read more »