In previous years, Switzerland has stood by their national final format, where anyone from around the world can enter their songs online in order to have a chance to represent Switzerland however for the next edition of Eurovision, things are changing slightly.
Next year, televoting will solely decide on the winner of the national final, and all entrants must have a connection to Switzerland. Songs will again be entered through an online platform, but this platform won’t be visible to the public like in previous years.
Any artists interested in entering their songs can apply between the 26th of September and the 24th of October. After the submission period is closed, a jury will evaluate the songs in two rounds. First, the best 20 acts will be called in to sing live in order to check their live vocal abilities. Then, the jury will pick approximately 8 acts to go on to sing in the national final on the 5th of February. The jury will comprise of around 20 industry experts.
All entries that are submitted must prove their connection to Switzerland, meaning that at least one person from the team, either singer or songwriter must be a citizen or resident of the nation. For the first time in many years, there will be no segmentation between the four national broadcasters, as all entries will be entered through the same online platform.
Will this be the change that is needed to bring success to Switzerland once again?
Here is the national final performance from 2016 representative, Rykka:
