Best of the Bunch: Switzerland

Switzerland has participated in Eurovision an incredible 57 times since the debut of the contest. Within those 57 times, the nation has won twice, the first time in the debut year of 1956, and then again in 1988. Now, let’s take all the songs between 2006 and 2015 to decide which Swiss song is the Best of the Bunch!

In 2006, we saw the six-piece group six4one perform the song If We All Give a Little. The six members of the group were truly international, with only one member of the six actually born in Switzerland. The pop-ballad sung by the group was automatically qualified to the final due to a top 11 finish the previous year. However, the song ended up in 16^th place with 30 points.

The following year, Switzerland sent an interesting act, that being, DJ BoBo with the song Vampires are Alive. We don’t think this is Switzerland’s finest moment, and it showed in the results, reaching 20th place in the semi-final with 40 points.

In 2008, Paolo Meneguzzi was chosen to represent Switzerland with the song Era Stupendo. It was the first time since 2000 where Italian was the chosen language for a Swiss song, however unfortunately it still wasn’t enough to reach the final – ending up in 13^th place in the semi-final with 47 points.

The struggle continued in 2009, where the band Lovebugs took to the stage with the song The Highest Heights, hoping to finally take Switzerland to a final. The band received 15 points, ending up in 14^th place.

The unsuccessful attempts at reaching the final did not stop in 2010, where Michael von der Heide performed the song Il Pleut de L’or. This was the first time we had heard French in a Swiss entry since 2002, but like in 2008, mixing up the language didn’t seem to help at all. Michael ended up in last place in the semi-final, with only 2 points.

In 2011, Switzerland sent the gorgeous Anna Rossinelli, and finally, Switzerland reached the final. The song was In Love for a While. Audiences were in love with Anna for a while, but in the final, it flopped to last place with 19 points.

In 2012, the brother duo known as Sinplus were chosen to represent the nation with the song Unbreakable. The alternative rock entry missed out on the final by a hair, reaching 11^th place in the semi-final with 45 points.

The following year, Switzerland decided upon six Salvation Army soldiers, originally called Heilsarmee, but then changed to Takasa for the contest. The song was called You and Me, and featured bassist Emil Ramsauer, who was at the time 95 years old, who definitely stole the show! The song however missed out on the final at 13^th place with 41 points in the semi-final.

In 2014, the Swiss public selected Sebalter with the song Hunter of Stars. Weather it was his good looks, or the song itself, who knows, but whatever it was, it worked. Sebalter ended up in the final, after qualifying in 4^th spot. In the final, the result was equally as impressive, at 13^th place, the best result since 2005, where Vanilla Ninja ended up in 8^th place.

Switzerland struggled to keep that success running in 2015, where Melanie Rene was chosen by the public with the song Time to Shine. The previous year, Sebalter qualified in 4^th place in the final, but in 2015, unfortunately Switzerland only received 4 points, meaning they were last in the semi-final.

Switzerland hasn’t had the best of luck in recent years, however we still love some of the songs – even if they didn’t end up in the final! Now it’s your turn to tell us who you think is the Best of the Bunch! Vote for one, or vote for all, it’s up to you!