He won the third season of The Voice of Switzerland, wowing the crowds with covers of “Someone You Loved” and “Say You Won’t Let Go”. And now Remo Forrer hopes to keep his winning streak alive as he represents Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool.
Twenty-one-year-old Remo, who is also a trained sports goods salesman, won’t release his Eurovision song until 7 March. But he already understands the significance of what lies ahead.
“For a Swiss musician there is nothing greater than the Eurovision Song Contest,” he says in the official SRF statement. “For me it’s the music ‘Champions League’ and an enormous honour.”
“The ESC is the biggest music event there is, and I find it incredibly inspiring to be in a place where all the participants share the same passion for music.”
Remo Forrer: Switzerland’s Eurovision 2023 singer
A talented multi-instrumentalist, Remo first learned the accordion but has since moved on to the piano.
“Music means everything to me. It gives me strength and fills me with great satisfaction. It’s with me all the time.”
Judges on The Voice praised his exceptional voice, which balances power and tenderness. That may explain his affinity for musicians like Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran and James Arthur.
Remo’s appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest comes following an intense selection process at home. The Swiss broadcaster used two panels: One consisting of 100 television viewers from Switzerland, another consisting of twenty music industry professionals from around the world.
SRF says:
“The viewers’ panel was designed to simulate the phone-in voting process used by the almost forty countries in the competition as accurately as possible. The entries and the performers were assessed in a multi-stage process. As in the international ESC final, the votes of each group counted for 50%.”
Switzerland will compete in Semi-Final 1 on May 9.
Do you like the sound of Remo’s back catalogue? What type of song do you expect him to perform in Liverpool? Let us know in the comments box down below!
Fun fact, Remo lives in a rural area in Estern Switzerland, not far, where Marius Bear comes from.
I also found out he has the same birthday as Alessandra and Alika (September 5), but is one year older than the other two (he was born in 2001, both girls were born in 2002)
This guy is clearly talented, and has lots of potential. Is he singing in English? I was hoping not, but maybe a mixture!
Not really my type of music, but I wish him the best of luck!
Can somebody tell me why Poland is climbing in the odds?
Because Alicja will sing a song about ukrainian refugees.
Do you know when that song will be realeased?
On friday, it’s strange to release a song only 2 days before NF you’re taking part in
Gotta be Never Back Down by Felivers.
No to the Swiss.
OT, but Ronela Hajati (winner of FiK 2022, and Albania’s ESC representative), Alfie Arcuri (Australia Decides 2019), Nicole Hammett (MESC 2022), MeriCler (UVPSM 2022), and Kurt Cassar (UVPSM 2022) are officially in the line-up for this year’s UVPSM. Sadly, no Elettra Lamborghini. It starts TODAY at 22.00 PM, and lasts until midnight. Every day about 25 people will perform their hopeful entries (overall 106 of them, so good luck!). The finals is at Saturday, after UMK. The difference for this year is that *everyone* performs in the semis, Ronela included. No different categories, so the best songs qualify for the… Read more »
Eiffel 65 will be there too. Should be interesting, if not necessarily good. They did Sanremo twenty years ago.
The winner of Sanremo that year was Alexia, of “Uh La La La” fame.
My non-logical guess is that Switzerland will win esc 2023.
Is he of Italian origin or? He does not have a Swiss scull/features
Having a swiss skull is not written in the rules, as far as I know.
I know. Switzerland is full of immigrants. I just wondered where he is originally from.
He is Swiss-Swiss. And his father plays even traditional Swiss folk music.
They should have sent his father instead.
Why though?
Remo is definitely Italian. Forrer, sounds in the same area as other Italian names- Ferrero, Ferrara.
But it’s not like Switzerland doesn’t have a lot of Italian-speaking people of their own.
It’s ok if you don’t know Swiss family names. But you don’t have to share it.
If they’re questioning this guy’s Swiss-ness, I don’t wanna know what they thought/think about Mélanie René xd
Champion’s League is the sport Eurovision, not the other way around.
The first ever season of the Champions League (called the European Cup back in those days) started in autumn 1955, so it does actually precede the ESC. The first ever final took place nearly one month after Lugano 1956 tho.
The Eurovision Song Contest is based on the Sanremo festival, which started in 1951. I believe it was around 1954 when the EBU first set the Europe-wide version in motion. Anyway, the Champions League is for men only, so they’re not really the same thing at all. What I was really trying to say is that sport is not the highest form of human activity, which so many people seem to think.
Hos about qe dont read into it literally, he just meant thats how big and important the contest is,dont forget theres lots of people who watch the champions league who may not be aware of esc, its meant as a compliment
how about we*
I’m not taking it seriously, I just always find it annoying how revered sport is, so much more than art and culture. That’s all. It’s nice that Remo sees them as equal. A song contest can’t have bad music, but a football tournament can have bad football and still people worship it.
There’s morons out there who downvote everything I ever say. I see you, you can stop now.
I’m with you Jonas, everything seems to come down to men’s football. The opening of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest was ruined for me when some random footballer featured in the opening sequence. As if we all should know who he was.
If Sam Ryder was a soccer player, he would probably have a knighthood by now.
Goldenballs has not got one and probably won’t. Are we not allowed to love football and MGP, two only of my greatest passions? I never downvote anything btw.
Of course you can appreciate both. All I was saying is that society, as a whole, does not.
Sure. Wasn’t that chap from Belgium last year a footballer “in real life”? As was a member of VIP from Hungary in 1997 but perhaps before your time. Hope I am not disturbing your viewing of Champions League!
Nicky Byrne was a soccer player for Leeds, I think.
Eurovision is big but I do think perhaps ye underestimate how big football is as a sport.
Sport is considered important. Culture is not. We can see this from government spending for example. Or news bulletins. That’s all I mean.
I get your point, I’ve always been a follower but not one to “worship” footballers or something like that. To be fair tho, the Champions League does actually feature the best that the sport has to offer, for the most part. As for the ESC, there is talent and merit involved in plenty of the entries that get submitted each year, but does it actually feature the “best” that European music has to offer, for the most part? The answer is simply no, that’s just how it is.
I don’t think soccer players are always at their best. World Cup tournaments decided by penalty shoot-outs. 0-0 draws. Nobody ever seems to lose respect for these gods, though.
A penalty shootout isnt necessatily a bad thing, like in the recent world cup, there were plenty of goals before it went to penalties. Even eith 0-0 games, it depends far more on the wuality of a match than the scoreline. A match can finish 1-0 and still have lots of chances, dramatic saves and incidents.
Mexico’s matches were boring and lame as hell, though
Not gonna lie I nearly fell asleep while listening to his the Voice performance. lmao. But he has a good voice.
His affinity for people like Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi doesn’t fill me with confidence as that type of music bores me to tears…
plenty of people like it a lot. (not that you cant have an opinion,ofc you can, but this type of music has a market)
This does not exactly scream televote magnet to me, then again Sacha J-B might kit him out in a diamond encrusted thong and one of those see- through vests which seem to be very popular.
Yaaas! Very excited for Remo. Plus, presumably, more piano! 🙂
Switzerland I desperately require your assistance.
I like his voice and I am very curious to hear his song
I was really hoping for Gjon. It’s his destiny to win Eurovision.
Why do people want the same artists to come back? I much prefer new artists to be given a chance.
I mean, true, he does deserve it, and Tout l’univers is my favorite Eurovision entry of all time
…But come on, he had two back-to-back entries, then Switzerland picked another artist, and you ALREADY want Gjon back?
Give him at least 5 years, make it mean something if he does decide to come back
I don’t want him to look desperate
Was pretty certain it was going to be somebody involved with The Voice. Seems to be Switzerland’s go-to more often than not nowadays.
You are aware only Gjon has participated in The Voice before Fero? No other Swiss contestant has performed there. So your statement it is more often than not is completely wrong.
And Gjon participated in the French version not the Swiss one like Remo.
This young man has an unexpected strong voice. I have seen a few performances from him before and there is obvious great potential here. I think with a good song (maybe a ballad, as we do not have too many yet) and professional support he could do well at Eurovision.
According to Remo: “The song means a lot to me. It definitely has catchy tunes and has been following me for months. It demands everything from my voice. It goes from very low to very high”
So could this song be a bop or something ‘catchy’ as the quote says?
Not expecting any yass queen vibes somehow
I mean hey, stick to what works. The last time a male act failed to qualify for Switzerland was 2012, and the last time a female act qualified for Switzerland was 2011, so why fix what’s not broken?
As if sex had to do with anything
Since the contest began 67 years ago, 41 of the winners have been solo women. Only eleven men have done the same.
On average, women are just better and more interesting performers, plus women have better stage fashion, so this fact is not surprising at all.
WTF
Coincidence. Anyway, Apollo and Stones should have qualified before Boys Do Cry.
Apollo & Stones should have qualified period : )
Except last year Marius got pre-last in televoting in the semi final… As there is no jury vote this year, countries have to be more careful and focus on what public loves. Good voice and a nice ballad may not cut it, if the public does not connect to it.
In general, I agree, but I actually think that foreign *harcore fans* care more about who gets to represent Switzerland than some average viewers who don’t even follow Eurovision. I agree that the voters should be *mostly* from the country, but there’s always good to have a foreign input, especially from the people who are more passionate for the subject than most of your audiences usually are.
I understand, but I don’t fully agree with that. I am always in favor of more different sources assessing something, because it’s the best mode. Televoters, fans, juries, and different experts have different strengths and weaknesses. Also, I believe that Eurovision is also about exchange of ideas and interaction. Every country should involve local singers, songwriters, juries, and audiences, but not exclusively at all times. Some ideas get better with more input. That’s my honest opinion. I’m not for 100% anything when it comes to crafting a song or voting for it. There should always be some balance.
Creative input from the performers themselves and the songwriters should always come first. Trust your instincts! If they don’t have a matching idea, it’s usually a bad sign. It paid off to Conchita, as it’s a good song.
Most of the time, singers being involved in the songwriting process is a big plus, but it’s not a rule set in stone. There have been great songs written by other people, as long as they actually reflect the feelings and thoughts of the singer. Not all singers are equally skilled lyricists or instrumentalists. But it is important that they are somehow involved in the creative process, even if by conversing and spinning ideas. What I call ”artificial” doesn’t mean that it’s been written by other people. It means that it feels like it doesn’t reflect the performer at all.… Read more »
That’s a pretty fair take. On average, I also much prefer when singers and songwriters collaborate from the beginning. And yes, like yourself, I still rate the final product on its own right, but some selection methods are in general better than others.
While I didn’t pay that much attention to it in most of previous years, retroactively looking, as a rule of thumb I do find that more of my top favorite songs have been co-written by their performers than not.
WOW! Not I actually went to check my 2022 playlist of my top 16, and the *only* entry there not to be co-written by the artist herself is SloMo. Yet, Chanel has been so involved in the development of this song and its choreo that the two are synonymous now. But yeah, most of them time, the performer co-writing it pans out. 🙂
100% agree with everything said here.
I actually really like Heroes, and I’d put it as an example of ”written by someone else, but perfectly reflects Mans as a performer”. On the other hand, I’d put Malta 2022, France 2020, and Azerbaijan 2018 as examples of songs that don’t feel natural to their performer, and thus, do feel ”artificial”. If Sweden picks Maria Sur, it will be another such example.
Agreed. I was originally wary on attacking the song, because I don’t dislike all of the Barker / Wrethov entries, and sometimes I find them under more scrutiny than other authors, especially Barker… However, this song feels so artificial and tailored for ESC that I have no other but to agree and say that it shouldn’t win.
And I retract what I said. I have no emotions whatsoever towards Heart of Steel, but it’s still a better song than Never Give Up.
Is it any coincidence that my 3 fave entries of Russia before its war on Ukraine were 2008, 2012 and 2021, all authentic to, and written by, their respective acts, rather than the always shallow “peace ballads” of 2013-2015 and the Yulia songs, which were nice but always felt inauthentic?
Not at all. I’ll even go further. My favorite Russian entries are 1997, 2020, 2021, all with strong individual identities and performers who are against the regime. I cooled off of 2013, never really liked 2014, and really started *hating* 2015, considering how this woman supports genocide while pretending to sing about peace.
I think the worst thing about 2015, which was a case of the song made before being given to the singer, was that she got so much abuse just for being pictured with Queen C yet still was loyal to the leadership whose elements attacked her so virulently. I think that not many Russian entries were own songs before 2020, and most entries relied a lot on monied overseas producers. I also think that a feared repeat of 2015 was why Russia needed to be disqualified, despite 2020 and 2021 proving they could send acts that weren’t subservient.
Absolutely. Alla is a Queen, and she was *robbed*. She’s my 1997 winner, but I’d be happy if she had finished within top 5, even within top 10. This is just a poor judgment on the juries’ part.
So much to unpick there…..
To make it clear, I’d make a local televote still count for 60%-70%, but I feel like more input is usually needed in a larger scale competition.
Anyone can write a good or a bad song, local or foreign. And I wouldn’t want *any* singer picking a song that’s not up to their liking and compatible with their thoughts and taste. It comes off as awkward.
The second time, not the first (Destiny).
Interesting! The positive is that his voice is perfect and will suit almost any song, the negative is that I’m not sure if he has a certain style or artistic vision compared to ex-The Voice Switzerland contestants like Gjon’s Tears.
I hope we’re all pleasantly surprised on 7 March!
I like his voice. This could be interesting; reminds me of the way the Belgian French-language broadcaster has selected its entrants in recent years, which as we all know can work out very well.
Switzerland again with a jury-effective voice. Hopefully this time also effective for the audience.
But what I see on yt I find everything very convincing
This is interesting
Hopefully something on the 2019-2021 level for Switzerland
Starving for a strong contender
PLEASE give us an accordion bop!
Unless he comes with a song in one of Switzerland’s languages, I’m not interested. Sorry, not sorry.
It’s gonna be in english, unfortunately… (’cause obviously german would be too risky and in my opinion not the best choice for a song)… but I’d love a song in italian for once… but for that they would have picked a swiss italian artist…
Nothing wrong with singing in English…The artists can choose what languages they wanna sing in.
A wish a warm welcome to this young man. A suggestion for Switzerland – German or Italan. It would be a nice change of pace.
True. As far as I know, not a lot of people actually speaks it, and its status has been mostly affirmed to say that they *do have* a language of their own, and avoid the German occupation in the 30s, unlike what happened to Austria. But if they do come with a song in Romansh, I’d be very excited!
I agree. I’d really like that. 🙂 It’s been 11 years since we’ve heard German on ESC, and we have three German-speaking countries here. It’s about time!
and Ronela is apparently back for San Marino…
A source close to me says that Elettra Lamborghini is as well. UVPSM could be quite exciting if both of these are true. Also, who knows who else is in the game…
Who still remembers when she ruined her original song, which was okay, with that horrendous revamp?
The problem was the staging, not the revamp. The revamp was overseen by the people who produced Fester Skank. If SJB oversaw the staging, it would have made the final (but would have placed 18th-21st region)
The problem was the staging AND the revamp. They ruined the song.
Revamp was great, the issue was literally everything about that performance.
No. The revamp was atrocious. The original song wasn’t as bad.
That’s your opinion. I liked the revamp.
That’s quite funny.
I’m more curious about Eiffel 65 tbh
Eiffel 65 are trying out for San Marino?? I’m very curious about that.
Desperate, but not surprising at all. Haven’t we already had enough of trashy Ronela last year?