Swiss broadcasters SRF, RTS, RSI and RTR worked together on the process of choosing the entries for their national final, Die Entscheidungsshow. They had already chosen the Top 6 entries and today these battled it out for the ticket to Kyiv!

In the beginning there were 160 songs.The broadcasters cut them down to the final six entries and today was the time for the final show of the national final Die Entscheidungsshow. Nadya, Ginta Biku, Michèle, Frechta, Shana Pearson and Timebelle were the six hopefuls wishing to wave the Swiss flag during the second semifinal on 9th May 2017 in Kyiv.

The Songs

Nadya – The Fire In The Sky (live final performance)

Nadya studies classical opera singing and we could hear it in the postcard before her performance. She also sings in a band. Nadya’s song is a dark ballad that brings to mind tunes from the James Bond movies. The Fire In the Sky could very easily be used for the next one. Nadya has a strong voice that gives the song the power that it needs. During her performance, she was alone in the middle of the stage dressed in black. Her vocal performance was flawless and very powerful. In the end, the stage turned to orange like the sun – ‘the fire in the sky’.

Ginta Biku – Cet Air Là (live final performance)

Ginta has the only song in the final that is not 100% in English. It is a mixture of English and French – the verses are in English and the refrains follow in French. The song is catchy and mid-tempo and it makes you want to dance, mostly during the refrains and interludes. Ginta Biku was different from Nadya colour-wise, too – dressed in a short white dress. She used 3D LED graphics in her performance and was accompanied by two dancers. Thanks to the technology used, it seemed as if there were more dancers with Ginta on the stage. In the end, the title of the song – Cet Air Là – appeared in the background. Ginta sang in English and French but spoke Italian during the show.

Michèle – Two Faces (live final performance)

Two Faces is a slow song, but it also contains modern rhythms. The lyrics in the refrain lack originality as they rely on the vocals with almost no text at all. Michèle’s vocals are not as strong as Nadya’s for example. Michele wore a black top and skirt. In the background, she used colourful LED graphics. Onstage there were also two male dancers and three female vocalists who supported her a lot.

Frechta – Gold (live final performance)

In the postcard we learnt that Frechta sings not only as a soloist but also in a band. Gold is a very unusual song. Mostly thanks to Frechta’s characteristic voice, which is very low and sometimes sounds as if it belonged to a male vocalist. This unique voice together with the lyrics of the ballad make this song unforgettable, even though it is a low-tempo piece. Frechta wore a simple long black dress and was alone onstage. The background looked like a star-lit sky and there appeared an eagle made of gold – just like the title of the song. In the end, one of the most typical Eurovision stage effects – the golden rain – was also used.

Shana Pearson – Exodus (live final performance)

Exodus is vocally the worst song out of the six. It is a mid-tempo dance song that, generally, sounds very cheap. This is not something that would break the non-qualifier Swiss curse in the semi-finals. Shana was dressed in a short white dress. White was also the dominant colour in the background graphics. The other colours she used were red and pink. On the stage there was only Shana and three female backing vocalists. She is a francophone artist and spoke French during the show.

Timebelle – Apollo (live final performance)

Compared to Exodus, Apollo is just the opposite. Timebelle’s lead singer Miruna Manescu has a powerful voice and, being from Romania, this can bring some additional points in the second semi-final where Romania will also be competing. In addition to that, Apollo is not just a four-chord song but a very Eurovision-style pop song actually. This can work really well in Kyiv. During the performance, Miruna was the middle of the stage and the other two members of Timebelle were playing the piano and drums. Ir regards to frock colours, Miruna from Timebelle was the only performer to opt for red. At the end of the performance, there were also red rose petals falling across the stage.

In the green room, Miruna made a joke that she eats honey because she needs to sing sweetly. As she is Romanian, she spoke English during the show. This is not the first time that the act was participating in the Swiss national final. They had already tried in 2015 and had finished second, so maybe this would be their time.

The Show

In the begining of the show, we saw footage of Switzerland winning the Eurovision Song Contest, the joy and cheering everywhere in the streets, all TV channels broadcasting the news and Switzerland hosting next year’s contest. But then the night’s host Sven Eppiney woke up from this Eurovision dream and had to start the show. The six final acts then expressed their opinions about Eurovision 2016. In the green room, there was a second host with the artists and also the show’s guest performer – Sebalter.

One of the past Swiss representatives – Peter Reber from the trio Peter, Sue and Marc who represented Switzerland four times in 1971, 1976, 1979 and 1981 – appeared and talked about his experience from the Eurovision Song Contest. The televoting opened after all six participants had performed their songs. Then there was the usual recap and ad break. There followed a second recap before the televoting was closed by a countdown carried out by the participants in the green room.

The special guest performer was Sebalter, who performed his Eurovision entry Hunter of Stars and his new song Weeping Willow. The singer represented Switzerland in 2014 and, to date, is the last entrant to have qualified for the Eurovision grand final. There was also a video message from Jamala, who welcomed Switzerland to Kyiv in May. The last and most important part followed – the results. The winner – Timebelle – performed the winning song again.

The Results

ARTIST	SONG	RESULT
Nadya	The Fire in the Sky	2nd (18.02%)
Ginta Biku	Cet Air Là	4th (8.31%)
Michèle	Two Faces	3rd (11.44%)
Frechta	Gold	6th (6.79%)
Shana Pearson	Exodus	5th (7.56%)
Timebelle	Apollo	WINNER (47.88%)

Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest

Switzerland is one of the founders of the Eurovision Song Contest and has taken part 57 times. Out of them, they have managed to win only twice: in the very first year of 1956 with Lys Assia and then in 1988 with Céline Dion. Both of these artists belong to the most well known winners of the Eurovision Song Contest. In more recent years, Switzerland has been out of luck however. Both in 2015 and 2016 they ended up at last place in their semifinals. The country now hopes that 2017 will be the year when it will qualify again after these two years of bad luck.

You can watch last year’s Swiss representative Rykka performing her enty Last of Our Kind in the following video.