Switzerland: Regional selection on 9 November

RSI, the Swiss Italian national broadcaster has announced that it will be holding its regional final for the 2016 Swiss national selection on Monday 9 November.

A special committee consisting of 3 jury members will have the responsibility of evaluating all entries and selecting 3 songs for the 2nd phase of the 2016 Swiss Eurovision national selection. The RSI internal regional selection will be held on Monday 9 November and then the 3 candidates will be announced.

At the live audition 10 candidates from SRF/RTR will meet 6 acts selected by RTS and 3 acts selected by RSI. The jury will select 6 candidates for the next phase ( 3 from SRF/RTR, 2 from RTS and 1 from RSI).

The 2016 Swiss national final is scheduled to be held on Saturday 13 February at Kreuzlingen where a total of 6 acts ( 3 SRF/RTR , 2 RTS and 1 RSI) will battle for the chance to compete in Stockholm. The 2016 Swiss Eurovision entry will be determined via a 50/50 jury televoting deliberation.

Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956, and won it themselves. Switzerland won the contest again in 1988.

Lys Assia won the very first contest in Lugano in 1956 with the song “Refrain”. She returned to place second in 1958. Switzerland would go on to finish third in 1961 with Franca Di Rienzo and 1982 with Arlette Zola, and place second with Esther Ofarim in 1963 and Daniela Simons in 1986, before winning the contest for the second time in 1988 with Celine Dion and the song “Ne partez pas sans moi”. In 1993, Annie Cotton gave the country its eighth top three result, when she placed third.

In the 21st century, Switzerland has only once reached the top ten, in 2005 with the girl band Vanilla Ninja finishing eighth. Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Switzerland has failed to qualify for the final eight times. At the 2014 contest, Sebalter gave the country its second best result of the century, finishing 13th.