It’s the Eurovision pioneer that has been struggling in recent years. But now Switzerland is taking steps on getting their groove back with their revamped national final. Entries are now open for the contest that aims to get Switzerland back in the grand final.
Entries for the revamped Entscheidungsshow opened on September 1 and will close on 22 September.
In June, Swedish Melodifestivalen and Eurovision heavyweights Christer Björkman and Martin Österdahl held a one-day workshop with the Swiss team. They shared their expert knowledge, which led to a number of changes to the Swiss national final format.
Like Melodifestivalen, the primary emphasis is on songs first. Songwriters are able to enter songs either with a specific singer associated with it, or just as a demo for the song to be later matched with a suitable singer.
Last year the competition had a strict Swiss criteria, while this year the contest is again open to artists from any country. However, organisers note that entries from Swiss nationals and residents will be given priority.
The entries will be assessed by a 20-person expert panel, who will represent the different regions of Switzerland and different aspects of the music and television world, including Eurovision fans.
The panel will select approximately six songs for the national final, though producers also reserve the right to add a wildcard entry if they feel there’s a song of value the panel may have overlooked.
Once the songs for the final have been selected, the producers will then work at matching them with the best singers and staging scenarios.
The six finalists will then compete at the grand final on 4 February. There the winner will be chosen via a 50/50 televote and jury vote. And, if all goes to plan, Switzerland will have a strong entry that will get them back into the final in Lisbon.
What do you think? Will the new Swiss national final get them back in the ESC grand final? Is focusing on song quality the right decision? Share your thoughts below!
I don’t think the songs were the main problem in the last three years. 2015: Mélanie René had a strong song (catchy melody, good arrangement) but her performance was very stiff/static (even more than in the national final). 2016: A pretty nice (albeit a little naive) song. Rykka’s vocals were very weak during the national final, but the Monroe-style performance (“The weight of the world is lying on my shoulders even if I’m just a little girl”) worked pretty well with the message of the song. The Stockholm performance was just bonkers, but it wasn’t crazy enough to attract a… Read more »
Have been rooting for a good Swiss result for a while. I was also very disappointed that Rykka didn’t make it through, and that she shouldn’t have come so low in the competition. Also, Switzerland must be one of the richest countries in Eurovision, yet they probably need to invest more money into staging. Nicoline Refsing (their Creative Director this year) has produced some good work in the past (Dami Im), yet their stage design this year I felt was a bit too childish, which shows that they’re heading in a good direction. There has been some great songs in… Read more »
Sorry, accidental post-only just noticed.
I feel like they are trying too hard to be mainstream.
They need to be bold and take risks- like they did with Sebalter.
The majority of Swiss entries in recent years have been terribly dull. What is needed is better songs, not a new format for the pre-selection.
Agreed 100%
I hope they qualify! TBH, I think the staging has been has been the problem. The last two year’s songs are amazing. “The Last Of Our Kind” is so underrated. Rykka’s squatting aside… I loved that entry.
Completely agree. Have been rooting for a good Swiss result for a while. Like you, I was also very disappointed that Rykka didn’t make it through, and that she shouldn’t have come so low in the competition. Also, Switzerland must be one of the richest countries in Eurovision, yet they probably need to invest more money into staging. Nicoline Refsing (their Creative Director this year) has produced some good work in the past (Dami Im), yet their stage design this year I felt was a bit too childish. There has been some great songs in the past which made the… Read more »
I would advise songwriter’s thinking of sending a track to very very carefully read the conditions of entering a song. Different countries have differing rules apart from the general Eurovision requirements.
Send Sebalter again!
Amen!
They can revamp the format all they want, but without a good song they’re going nowhere. Look at Moldova’s messy near-zero-budgeted national final that barely anyone watched and compare it to their Eurovision result.
As long as the winning song sticks with a staging that actually worked in Lisbon then all is well.
I still mourn the loss of #RedDressandPetals.
The problem about Switzerland, isn’t the format. It’s the song. It was painfully too obvious that Timebelle would win the national final. If they had better staging, they would qualify. It’s always about the staging that ruins them actually. The last of our kind could end up a lot higher, if Rykka didn’t do her training routine on stage instead of gym.
True. They would’ve qualified under the old system and if they had their NF staging, they probably would’ve under the new one as well. The juries were likely keen on the song, but they would’ve been put off ranking it higher due to the childish and confusing staging.
Both Timebelle and Rykka had bland, boring songs, no staging could have saved them… Even if they had qualified, they would have ended up bottom 3 in the grand final.
The purest form of bland and boring, Anja Nissen’s Where I Am, qualified, so…
Indeed. I would have preferred Timebelle instead of Anja in the final.
I would have preferred ‘Kui tooled poorduvad’ in the final in 2014…but that didn’t happen either!! stupid Estonian(and ESC) juries
Aye! The bookies had Sandra Nurmsalu winning Eesti Laul 2014 with “Kui Tuuled Pöörduvad”, with Lenna Kuurmaa and her band 2nd with “Supernoova”. Funny thing is, Lenna beat Tanja (who won) AND the Super Hot Cosmos Blues Band (who wound up in the showdown with Tanja) in the 1st semi, and Sandra won her semi.
Only the Estonians can choose the ?will not qualify over a sure shot top 10!! Aargh!!
So what’s your point? One bad song went through (and crashed in the final, btw), so all the other bad songs should have gone through as well?
The point is, that one bad song went through, meaning that it took one spot for other song. There were better songs to qualify in that semi. And Timebelle wasn’t bad to begin with. It’s a pretty good song.
And Rykka wasn’t that bad as well. It wasn’t a winner for sure, but it could be a qualifier. Especially since Georgia qualified.
This year was a step up in quality for Switzerland, bringing very near qualification – they’re on the right track, and I believe we could see them in the final very soon.
Oh God not the whole “let’s match a singer with a random song” shtick. Look forward to non qualification #4
What is Cray? Crayfish?
Crazy.
Ah..ok..the missing z had me going crazy over the meaning
Over here in the U.S., they’ll say “cray-cray”.
This looks the thing Tyra banks would say!!
Judging by the quality of last year’s NF song Switzerland was literally trying to ‘die’ .
They need to choose the best possible song. A great song even with a mediocre singer has more chances to do well/win than a mediocre song even with a great vocalist.
Game on!
Gimme Stefanie Heinzmann! She’ll get the Swiss back in the Grand Final with little trouble.