The second rehearsal reveals a fun and cheerful Swiss entry completely in a world of its own. That’s the overall impression the performance from the brother and sister duo – see for yourself in our gallery.

Switzerland is competing in the first semi-final in position 17. They are represented by Zibbz and their song Stones, which is written by the two siblings, Corrine and Stefan Gfeller with Laurell Barker.

Complete the sentence interview

Gallery

Second rehearsals

Opinions expressed during our second rehearsal coverage are personal from the mentioned writers.

Pedro, Portugal (in the press center) – It’s unfair for Switzerland to be in this position. Not only the song is a grower but their performance doesn’t need any type of gimmicks to standout despite a very sexy female body that is solely a bonus for the viewers. On top of that, Corrine’s stage presence is out of this world, she doesn’t need choreography to have all eyes on her or to even own it. She is fierce, she is good and she sounds great. Poor Stefan, though, no one will be talking about him. The only thing I am unsure of is the public interaction, this is not a festival but a TV competition.

Michael, United Kingdom (in the arena) – Good lord that first drum crash just about bursts your eardrum. The mix in this is so loud it’s uncomfortable. The duo though ooze star quality and the song gets you bopping along. A perfect pop song doomed to stay in the semis despite being a real radio hit. Love it!

First Rehearsals

A large bridge extending across the stage is the first thing you notice about the Swiss performance. Wearing a red cowboy hat and looking kind of like Britney Spears, Corrine struts around making full use of the stage. An early shout out to the audience is not a good thing, as may fall flat if the audience don’t fully know the song.

Brother Stefan has a little less to do, other than bang his drums as the backing track plays behind the duo.

The live vocals are exactly like the recorded version so there were no problems there. The duo have to be commended for filling up the large stage, despite just being the two of them. As an extra bonus Corrine heads right down to the edge of the stage to get as close to the audience as she can. Phenomenal stage presence, will it be enough to take Switzerland back to the final.

How Zibbz was selected

On the 4th of February, Swiss TV kicked off for their Die Entscheidungsshow. Six songs, all in English competed to represent the country at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

With a combination of public vote and the use of an international jury representing seven countries, the duo Zibbz won a very clear victory with 153 points ahead of runner up Alejandro Reyes who scored 120 points.

Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest

When the Eurovision Song Contest started in 1956, Switzerland was one of the founding countries – and with now late Lys Assia they won the very first edition. The country won again in 1988 with Canadian super star Celine Dion and the song Ne partez Pas Sans Moi.

As semi-finals were introduced in 2004, things started to get tough for Switzerland. They have missed the final ten times, and with the four songs that did make it, only once did the country score a top 10 result. That came when Vanilla Ninja represented them with the song Cool Vibes in 2005 and came eight.

In Copenhagen, Denmark in 2014, Sebalter’s Hunter Of Stars scored a 13th place. The following three years, Switzerland didn’t manage to reach the final.