Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country   Switzerland
National selection
Selection process Die Große Entscheidungsshow
Selection date(s) 1 February 2014
Selected entrant Sebalter
Selected song "Hunter of Stars"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Semi-final result Qualified (4th, 92 points)
Final result 13th, 64 points
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Swiss entry was selected through the national final Die Große Entscheidungsshow, organised by the Swiss broadcaster Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR). Sebalter represented Switzerland with the song "Hunter of Stars", which qualified from the second semi-final to compete in the final. Switzerland placed 13th in the final, scoring 64 points.

Die Große Entscheidungsshow

Die Große Entscheidungsshow was the fourth edition of the Swiss national final format that selected Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. 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).[1][2]

Selection process

On 17 July 2013, SRG SSR confirmed Switzerland's participation in the 2014 Contest and published the regulations for the national selection, detailing several changes that modified the procedure of the selection from that of previous years.[3] The selection was split into three stages before the finalists for the live show and ultimately the winner would be selected. The first stage of the competition included SRF/RTR, RTS and RSI each conducting varying selections in order to determine the candidates they would submit 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 took place on 30 November 2013 and 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 Copenhagen.[1]

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. The platform began accepting entries on 30 September 2013 and concluded on 28 October 2013. 159 entries were submitted following the submission deadline, including entries from 2006 Cypriot entrant, Annet Artani and 2011 Croatian entrant, Daria Kinzer.[4][5][6] Internet users had between 4 and 18 November 2013 to vote for their favourite entries.[4] The internet votes were to be combined with the votes from an expert jury and the top nine entries that proceeded to the "Expert Check" were announced on 22 November 2013.[2][7] At the conclusion of the "Expect Check" on 30 November 2013, the three songs and artists that qualified to the national final from the SRF/RTR selection were "Together Forever" performed by 3forAll, "La luce del cuore" performed by Nino Colonna and "I Still Believe" performed by Yasmina Hunzinger.[8]

RTS selection

RTS opened a submission period from 30 September 2013 until 28 October 2013 during which interested artists and composers could submit their entries. Following the submission deadline, RTS received 34 entries that were evaluated by the votes from internet users (50%), who had from 4 to 18 November 2013 to vote for their favourite entries, and the votes of an expert jury (50%).[9][10] The top six entries that proceeded to the "Expert Check" were announced on 21 November 2013.[7] At the conclusion of the "Expect Check" on 30 November 2013, the two songs and artists that qualified to the national final from the RTS selection were "Au paradis" performed by Christian Tschanz and "Une terre sans vous" performed by Natacha & Stéphanie.[8]

RSI selection

RSI opened a submission period for interested artists and composers to submit their entries from 21 July 2013 until the deadline on 30 September 2013.[11] Originally, RSI planned a 7-song regional final that would have been broadcast via radio on RSI Rete Tre from Lugano, however, the broadcaster opted to suspend the regional final and extend the submission deadline to 28 October 2013.[12][13] The winner of the regional singing competition Fattore Voce 2013, Agata Pelloni, was originally to be given a wildcard entry to compete in the regional final.[14] After the submission deadline closed, RSI received 23 entries, which were evaluated by an expert jury consisting of 2008 Swiss entrant Paolo Meneguzzi, Ramona Cerutti and Igor Negrini.[15] The top three entries that proceeded to the "Expert Check" were announced on 13 November 2013.[16] At the conclusion of the "Expect Check" on 30 November 2013, the song and artist that qualified to the national final from the RSI selection was "Hunter of Stars" performed by Sebalter.[8]

Expert Check

The second stage was an "Expert Check" of the selected candidates which was webcast from the SRF studios in Zurich on 30 November 2013 and was hosted by Sven Epiney.[17] 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 two permanent judges, choreographer Rafael Antonio and vocal coach Freda Goodlett, which were joined by other experts that represented the Swiss broadcasters and only judged songs competing in their respective selection.[8] Songs that competed in the SRF/RTR selection were evaluated by the director of strategic marketing at Universal Music Switzerland Moritz Faccin, the RTS candidates were evalauted by director of Option Musique Catherine Colombara and RTS entertainment production manager Emile Felber, and the RSI candidates were evaluated by musician Nicola Locarnini. Three artists and songs qualified from the SRF/RTR selection, two from the RTS selection and one from the RSI selection.

Draw Artist Song Channel Result
1 Yasmina Hunzinger "I Still Believe" SRF/RTR Selected
2 3 for All "Together Forever" SRF/RTR Selected
3 Swissters "Celebration" SRF/RTR Eliminated
4 Lola Sparkes "Baby Can't You See" RTS Eliminated
5 Christian Tschanz "Au paradis" RTS Selected
6 Tanita "Another Day Alone" RTS Eliminated
7 Natacha & Stéphanie "Une terre sans vous" RTS Selected
8 Paula Marengo "J'ai envie de toi" RTS Eliminated
9 Joel Murner "In My Life" RTS Eliminated
10 Jasmine "Higher Love" RSI Eliminated
11 Sebalter "Hunter of Stars" RSI Selected
12 Valentino Alfano "103 parole" RSI Eliminated
13 Gosia "I'm Not Afraid" SRF/RTR Eliminated
14 Nino Colonna "La luce del cuore" SRF/RTR Selected
15 Arxplendida "Mercurii diei" SRF/RTR Eliminated
16 Hot Connection "Music From the Sixties" SRF/RTR Eliminated
17 One Day Remains "Alpha" SRF/RTR Eliminated
18 Martin Kirchberger "Yourope" SRF/RTR Eliminated

National final

Die Große Entscheidungsshow took place on 1 February 2014 at the Bodensee Arena in Kreuzlingen, hosted by Sven Epiney. The show consisted of two parts: in the first part the six candidate songs that were in contention to represent Switzerland were performed and in the second part each candidate performed a cover version of another song. In the second part, Christian Tschanz performed "Aux Champs-Élysées" (originally by Joe Dassin), 3 for All performed "All For Love" (originally by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting), Nino Colonna performed "L'Italiano" (originally by Toto Cutugno), Yasmina Hunzinger performed "Heavy on My Heart" (originally by Anastacia), Natacha & Stéphanie performed "Papaoutai" (originally by Stromae) and Sebalter performed "Wake Me Up" (originally by Avicii).[18] In addition to the performances from the competing artists, Eurovision Song Contest 2013 winner Emmelie de Forest performed as a guest during the show.[19]

The winner was determined by the combination of televoting (50%) and the votes of an expert jury (50%).[2] Sebalter was the winner with the song "Hunter of Stars".[20] The jury panel that accounted for 50% of the votes consisted of Luisa Rossi, Igor Negrini, Stefan Büsser, Catherine Colombara, Thierry Romanens, Pele Loriano, Tamara Steffen, Tanja Dankner, René Spescha and Dominik Flaschka.[21]

Draw Artist Song (English translation) Composer(s) Place
1 Christian Tschanz "Au paradis" (In paradise) Christian Tschanz 4
2 3 for All "Together Forever" Domenico Livrano, Ricardo Sanz, Lars van Everdingen, Rick Laine 3
3 Nino Colonna "La luce del cuore" (The light of the heart) Nino Colonna 5
4 Yasmina Hunzinger "I Still Believe" Marin Subasic, Sven Welter 2
5 Natacha & Stéphanie "Une terre sans vous" (A land without you) Alizé Oswald, Xavier Michel 6
6 Sebalter "Hunter of Stars" Sebastiano Paù-Lessi 1

At Eurovision

Sebalter at the second semi-final dress rehearsal

During the semi-final allocation draw on 20 January 2014 at the Copenhagen City Hall, Switzerland was drawn to compete in the second half of the second semi-final on 8 May 2014.[22] In the second semi-final, the producers of the show decided that Switzerland would perform 12th, following Macedonia and preceding Greece.[23] Switzerland qualified from the second semi-final and competed in the final on 10 May 2014. During the winner's press conference for the second semi-final qualifiers, Switzerland was allocated to compete in the second half of the final.[24] In the final, the producers of the show decided that Switzerland would perform 20th, following Spain and preceding Hungary.[25] At the end of voting, Switzerland finished 13th overall with 64 points, marking the country's best placing in the final since 2005. It was later revealed that Switzerland finished 4th in the second semi-final, the best placing for a Swiss participant in the semi-final era.

On stage, Sebalter was joined by one backing vocalist and four musicians: Patric Scott, Marco Cuzzovaglia, Rocco Casella, Mattia Bordignon and Christoph Pedretti. The Swiss performance featured Sebalter playing the violin and drum on a backdrop of fiery elements projected on the LED screens and the use of pyrotechnic effects.[26]

In Switzerland, three different stations broadcast the contest.[27] Sven Epiney provided German commentary for both semi-finals airing on SRF zwei and the final airing on SRF 1.[28] Sandy Altermatt and Alessandro Bertoglio provided Italian commentary for the second semi-final airing on RSI La 2 and the final airing on RSI La 1.[29] Jean-Marc Richard and Valérie Ogier provided French commentary for the second semi-final airing on RTS Deux and the final airing on RTS Un.[30] The Swiss spokesperson revealing the result of the Swiss vote in the final was Kurt Aeschbacher.[31]

Points awarded to Switzerland

Points Awarded to Switzerland (Semi-Final 2)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
  •  Poland
  •  Germany
  •  Romania
  •  Finland
  •  Slovenia
  •  Lithuania
  •  Austria
  •  Ireland
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
  •  Greece
  •  Israel
  •  Malta
  •  Belarus
  •  Italy
  •  United Kingdom
  •  Macedonia
Points Awarded to Switzerland (Final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
  •  Poland
  •  Portugal
  •  Romania
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
  •  Armenia
  •  Ireland
  •  Montenegro
  •  Greece
  •  Austria
  •  Germany
  •  Malta
  •  Netherlands
  •  Slovenia
  •  Italy
  •  Lithuania
  •  Georgia
  •  Hungary
  •  United Kingdom

Points awarded by Switzerland

Semi-final 2

Points awarded in second semi-final:

12 points Austria
10 points Macedonia
8 points Finland
7 points Romania
6 points Slovenia
5 points Malta
4 points Greece
3 points Poland
2 points Norway
1 point Ireland

Final

Points awarded in the final:

12 points Austria
10 points Netherlands
8 points Spain
7 points Germany
6 points Sweden
5 points Norway
4 points Finland
3 points Denmark
2 points Italy
1 point Hungary

Split voting results

The following five members comprise the Swiss jury:[32]

Semi-final 2

The Swiss votes in the first semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.[33]

Semi-final 2 – Swiss Results
Draw Country M. van Lier M. Freymond I. Broggini S. Bellwald P. Vonlanthen Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Scoreboard (Points)
01  Malta 8 4 9 2 4 4 9 6 5
02  Israel 12 7 7 12 14 11 12 12
03  Norway 11 3 1 1 1 3 11 9 2
04  Georgia 5 8 12 14 13 12 14 13
05  Poland 4 14 5 13 5 9 5 8 3
06  Austria 3 2 6 3 2 2 1 1 12
07  Lithuania 13 11 11 11 12 14 13 14
08  Finland 2 1 2 5 3 1 7 3 8
09  Ireland 10 6 3 8 11 7 10 10 1
10  Belarus 14 13 14 7 7 13 8 11
11  Macedonia 9 9 4 6 6 6 2 2 10
12   Switzerland
13  Greece 7 12 13 9 8 10 4 7 4
14  Slovenia 6 5 8 4 10 5 6 5 6
15  Romania 1 10 10 10 9 8 3 4 7

Final

The Swiss votes in the grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.[34]

Final – Swiss Results
Draw Country M. van Lier M. Freymond I. Broggini S. Bellwald P. Vonlanthen Average Jury Rank Televote Rank Combined Rank Scoreboard (Points)
01  Ukraine 25 20 17 13 12 20 21 22
02  Belarus 23 21 20 20 17 23 22 23
03  Azerbaijan 24 17 21 8 19 22 25 24
04  Iceland 12 12 22 22 13 17 17 17
05  Norway 10 10 2 2 3 4 12 6 5
06  Romania 11 19 18 16 14 15 13 15
07  Armenia 15 9 14 9 11 11 10 12
08  Montenegro 18 18 19 15 18 21 16 20
09  Poland 16 25 9 25 9 18 7 14
10  Greece 13 22 25 24 25 24 9 16
11  Austria 6 1 8 1 1 1 1 1 12
12  Germany 17 5 12 12 8 9 4 4 7
13  Sweden 1 6 7 19 20 8 6 5 6
14  France 3 15 23 23 10 13 23 19
15  Russia 14 24 16 10 21 19 18 21
16  Italy 21 14 4 14 22 14 5 9 2
17  Slovenia 22 16 13 5 23 16 20 18
18  Finland 4 4 3 4 4 2 15 7 4
19  Spain 19 3 6 11 15 10 3 3 8
20   Switzerland
21  Hungary 5 13 10 18 16 12 8 10 1
22  Malta 7 8 15 6 7 6 14 11
23  Denmark 9 11 11 7 5 7 11 8 3
24  Netherlands 8 2 5 3 2 3 2 2 10
25  San Marino 20 23 24 21 24 25 24 25
26  United Kingdom 2 7 1 17 6 5 19 13

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Jiandani, Sanjay (17 July 2013). "Switzerland: Swiss national final on February 1st". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Sarbach, Sven (8 July 2013). "Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Swiss Regulations" (PDF). Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (17 July 2013). "Switzerland: SRF confirms participation in 2014". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  4. 1 2 Brey, Marco (29 October 2013). "Vote, and help picking the Swiss entry!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  5. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (28 October 2013). "Cyprus: Anett Artani sets her eyes on Eurovision again!". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  6. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (28 October 2013). "Croatia: Daria Kinzer wants to go to Eurovision again". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  7. 1 2 Brey, Marco (22 November 2013). "Switzerland: 18 acts proceed to live expert check". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Brey, Marco (30 November 2013). "Six Swiss finalists selected in live expert check". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Eurosong 2014: représentez la Suisse au Danemark". Radio Télévision Suisse (in French). 10 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  10. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (30 October 2013). "Switzerland: RTS internal selection on November 18". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  11. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (21 July 2013). "Switzerland: RSI calls for songs for Swiss Italian regional final". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  12. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (16 October 2013). "Switzerland: Swiss Italian regional final on November 12". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (18 October 2013). "Switzerland: RSI changes format for regional selection". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Scarpone, Christian (18 July 2013). "Anche la Svizzera all'ESC 2014, svelati i meccanismi di selezione". Eurofestival News (in Italian). Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  15. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (13 November 2013). "Switzerland: RSI selects 3 acts via internal regional final". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  16. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (30 October 2013). "Switzerland:RSI internal selection date changed". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
  17. ↑ Knoops, Roy (21 November 2013). "Switzerland: live audition on 30 November online". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  18. ↑ van Lith, Nick (1 February 2014). "Live: Die Große Entscheidungsshow 2014". escXtra.com. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  19. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (30 January 2014). "Switzerland: Emmelie De Forest special guest in national final". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  20. ↑ Brey, Marco (1 February 2014). "It's Sebalter for Switzerland!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  21. ↑ "Wer vertritt die Schweiz? - «ESC 2014 – Entscheidungsshow» live". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (in German). 1 February 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  22. ↑ Escudero, Victor M. (20 January 2014). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  23. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (24 March 2014). "Running order for Eurovision Semi-Finals decided". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  24. ↑ Brey, Marco (8 May 2014). "Second Semi-Final: The Winners' Press Conference". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  25. ↑ Storvik-Green, Simon (9 May 2014). "Running order for the Grand Final revealed!". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  26. ↑ Brey, Marco (30 April 2014). "A lot of positive energy for Switzerland". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  27. ↑ "ESC 2014 – Entscheidungsshow - Sebalter vertritt die Schweiz" (in German). SRF. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  28. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 2014 - Internationales erstes Halbfinal live aus Kopenhagen/Dänemark" (in German). SRF. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  29. ↑ "Intervista esclusiva a Sandy Altermatt e Alessandro Bertoglio (RSI)" (in Italian). Eurofestival News. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  30. ↑ "Le Tessinois Sebalter représentera la Suisse à l'Eurovision" (in French). TDG. 2 February 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  31. ↑ "Nachmacherin: Helene Fischer tuts Kurt Aeschbacher gleich". SRF (in German). 28 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  32. ↑ Brey, Marco (1 May 2014). "Who will be in the expert juries?". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  33. ↑ "Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 First Semi-Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  34. ↑ "Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
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