Eurovision 2021 Reviews – Switzerland

Switzerland was one of the first 7 countries to participate in the debut year of the Eurovision Song Contest, and went on to win that same contest with the legendary Lys Assia. Their history since then has been mixed, achieving just one additional win since their debut. Could this be the year that Switzerland achieves their third Eurovision win? The nation will be represented by Gjon’s Tears and his song, Tout l’Univers.

Anita (Eurovision Union) 

Song and Vocals 

Switzerland was bound to be a strong competitor in last year’s contest, with Gjon’s Tears debuting with a stunning French Language ballad. Knowing what he delivered to the competition last year (which unfortunately didn’t go ahead), fans were eager to see what the nation had in store this year. Not only has Switzerland upped their game from an already strong entry last year, but the nation is absolutely in contention to win this year. 

Tout l’Univers is easily one of the most stunning songs of the year. We are blessed with another French language song, which sets him apart from a majority of the competitors who opted for English. Not only does it add a bit of linguistic diversity to the line-up, but the French language manages to give this song a very haunting atmosphere. From the opening moments, we are introduced to the stunning voice of Gjon and it’s immediately a goosebumps moment. The verses lead well into the powerful choruses, where Gjon gets to flex the bigger and higher notes that he delivers with ease. The backing vocals support Gjon so well, especially in those final moments of the song, and hopefully that will be replicated in the live performance. 

I have seen a number of comments about whether this song is too reminiscent of the Dutch winning song from 2019, Arcade, and while they share a songwriter in common, I don’t see this as a carbon copy of Arcade. They do share a number of things in common, such as strong melodies and good production, but is that enough to stop people from voting for this entry, and ultimately prevent Switzerland from winning? Absolutely not. 

Performance and Act 

While I don’t agree that the songs are copies of each other, there is a risk that the performance of Tout l’Univers and Arcade will be too similar to one another. Realistically, this is a song that would be best performed behind a piano in a similar fashion to Duncan Laurence. I would strongly hypothesise that Gjon will be behind a piano, however I would think that the Swiss team has taken a different direction in the rest of the staging. Arcade featured a simple background, while perhaps the Swiss team will take inspiration from their music video which featured twisting and turning camera angles

Conclusions

Switzerland is a huge competitor in my eyes. I see this being a very strong favourite in the jury vote simply due to the quality of the composition and the stunning vocals that we are bound to hear. If they don’t win this year, surely a Top 5 finish is certain. 

Rating 

10/10

Dennis (ESCDaily)

Song and Vocals

The composer of Arcade also penned down this French song with Switzerland, being seen as one of the main candidates to win Eurovision 2021. It has a great build-up, opening small, lighting up a powerful chorus and getting a big climax. The vocals of Gjon’s Tears are perfect and in a live performance he could even give it some extra power, to persuade a whole big part of Europe and the world to vote for him.

Performance and Act

I haven’t seen a live performance of Tout l’Univers yet, but based on his piano performance of Répondez-Moi last year, I have high expectations. The staging could be done in the same way as Duncan Laurence did it. A dark stage, lighting up during the chorus with a globe in the backdrop? Either way, the focus needs to be on Gjon, as he is carrying the song throughout the full three minutes. A very strong live performer, being loved by the camera. I see a lot of winner appeal in him. 

Conclusions

Switzerland could finally win the Eurovision Song Contest again, having done so for the last time in 1988 with Céline Dion. Gjon’s Tears is a gifted vocalist and performer and I’m sure his song makes a lot of impact. The only thing he has against him is that is a bit similar to the last winner and we often see the winning song contrast with their predecessor.

Rating

10/10

Additional Scores from Eurovision Union and ESCDaily editors: 

Steef:: 7.5/10

Joshua: 7.5/10

Selim: 9/10

Heath: 10/10

Kaitlin: 9.5/10

Average Score:  9.1/10

What do you think of Tout l’univers? Follow our Eurovision 2021 reviews here.. You can support your favourite acts in our Eurovision 2021 poll, which you can find here.