Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 with the song "", composed by Atilla Şereftuğ, with lyrics by Nella Martinetti, and performed by Daniela Simons. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), selected its entry for the contest through a national final.

Before Eurovision Regional selections The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) held a national final to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1986. The broadcaster had its divisions independently use their own selection methods, which would end with a final round featuring all of the songs selected by each regional division.

Swiss-French broadcaster (TSR) and Swiss Italian broadcaster (TSI) internally selected their entries, while Swiss German and Romansh broadcaster (SF DRS) held a preliminary round to select its songs, with (SR DRS) holding a separate selection to enter a Romansh song to this preliminary round. Eligible songs were required to have been composed by songwriters from Switzerland or Liechtenstein, and the deadline for the song registration was on 15 October.

German-Romansh preliminary round

SR DRS held a selection to enter a Romansh song in the German-Romansh preliminary round. The first edition of was not related to Eurovision, but the second edition, which was held from 12–17 August 1985 at the Circus Nock Tent in Disentis, selected an entry for the preliminary round. Nineteen groups participated. The winner is presumed to have been and Shefali Banerjee.

Among the other participating groups were with their song "", Retuorn 85, Remedy, Prisma, and Hades.

1986 SF DRS held its preliminary round on 14 December 1985. About 80 songs were submitted, with nine songs being selected, to which the Romansh song was added, forming a lineup of ten total songs. Radio listeners of DRS1 submitted their votes via phone call.

Three songs advanced to the Swiss final, including the Romansh entry, becoming the first Romansh song to qualify to a Swiss national final. Known information is listed in the chart below. Among the competing acts was "Mit Musik bin ich niemals allein" written by Hazy Osterwald and and sung by Anetta Philip, which later went on to compete in the Swiss national final again in .

+ 1986 — 14 December 1985Artist(s)SongSongwriter(s)Result Composer Lyricist Anetta Philip "" Hazy Osterwald Beatrice Wälle "" colspan="2" rowspan="4" Benedict Stecher "" Chris Lorenz "" "" Lily Lilas "Lily Lilas" Véronique Müller Qualified and Shefali Banerjee "" Qualified "" Steve Ray Rosita Rengel Qualified Swiss Singers "" colspan="2" "" Ralph Ottinger

Italian internal selection On 6 November, TSI held an internal selection. A committee had selected the songs— "" by Paolo Monte, "" by Gruppa Pocafera, and "" by Simonetta. Details on the other submissions are unknown, including the artists, titles, and number of total submissions.

French internal selection TSR held an internal selection at the end of 1985. About 300 songs were submitted and presented to a committee. On 13 December 1985, it was first reported that the three selected songs were "" by Scarlet, "" by the group Test, and "" by Daniela Simons.

1986 SF DRS staged the national final on 25 January 1986 at 21:15 CET, at its studios in Zurich. It was hosted by singer Paola del Medico, who had represented and , with the Gipsy Line Dancers making a guest appearance. Nine songs competed in the national final, with three songs in French and Italian, two in German, and one in Romansh. Among the participants was Véronique Müller, who had represented , and competed here as a member of Lily Lilas.

+Participating entriesBroadcasterArtist(s)SongSongwriter(s)Language Composer LyricistRTSI Simonetta "" Mario Robbiani Italian Gruppo Pocafera "" Andi Netzer Paolo Monte "" Nella MartinettiSF DRS Lily Lilas "Lily Lilas" Véronique Müller German, French, Italian and Shefali Banerjee "" Romansh "" Steve Ray Rosita Rengel GermanTSR Scarlet "" Clarie-Lise Harris Tom Dorche French Test "" Marc Olivier Jean-Marie Rolle Daniela Simons "" Atilla Şereftuğ Nella Martinetti

The voting consisted of regional public votes which were sent to the three divisions of SRG SSR (SF DRS, TSR, TSI: German-Romansh, French, and Italian speaking, respectively), a press jury, and an "expert" jury. The winner was the song "", composed by Atilla Şereftuğ with lyrics from Nella Martinetti and performed by Daniela Simons. +Final — 23 January 1986 Artist(s) Song Regional Juries PressJury ExpertJury Total Place DRS TSR TSI 1 Scarlet ""58668333 2 ""41231119 3 Simonetta ""33444186 4 Test ""67752275 5 and Shefali Banerjee ""75576304 6 Gruppo Pocafera ""12317147 7 Lily Lilas "Lily Lilas"24125147 8 Paolo Monte ""861083352 9Daniela Simons""101081010481

At Eurovision At the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, held at the in Bergen, the Swiss entry was the tenth entry of the night following and preceding . The Swiss conductor at the contest was Atilla Şereftuğ, who composed the song. At the close of voting, Switzerland had received 140 points in total; finishing in second place out of nineteen countries, marking their highest score since and the third time they finished second.

Voting Each participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel with at least eleven members. The jurors awarded 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their top ten songs.

+ Points awarded to Switzerland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Switzerland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

References