Switzerland has been represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 66 times since its debut at the first contest in , missing only four contests because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year: , , , and . Switzerland hosted the inaugural contest in 1956 in Lugano, where it also won. The country claimed its second victory in , 32 years after the first, and its third in , 36 years after the second win. The Swiss participating broadcaster in the contest is the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR).
"" performed by Lys Assia won the inaugural contest in 1956 for Switzerland; she returned to place second in with "Giorgio". The country achieved second place with "" by Esther Ofarim () and "" by Daniela Simmons (), and third place with "" by Franca di Rienzo () and "" by Arlette Zola (). It won for the second time in 1988 with "" performed by Céline Dion. "" by Annie Cotton secured Switzerland's 15th top-five finish by placing third in .
Since the introduction of the qualifying round in 1993, Switzerland has reached the top ten six times. Since the semi-final round's inception in 2004, the country has failed to reach the final in 12 of 19 contests, finishing last in the semi-final on four occasions.Since , qualified for the final every year until , when it did not qualify. Switzerland returned to the top five after 26 years when "She Got Me" by Luca Hänni finished fourth in , achieving the country's 16th top-five result. This was followed by "" by Gjon's Tears placing third in , marking the 17th top-five finish. Switzerland won the contest for the third time in 2024, with "The Code" by Nemo. The country has also finished last in the semi-finals four times since 2004, with "Celebrate" by Piero and the MusicStars (), "" by Michael von der Heide (), "Time to Shine" by Mélanie René (), and "The Last of Our Kind" by Rykka ().
Participation overview + Table key 1 First place 2 Second place 3 Third place ◁ Last place ◇ Entry selected but did not compete † Upcoming event
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points Lys Assia "" German rowspan="2" colspan="2" rowspan="38" "" French 1 Lys Assia "" French 8 5 Lys Assia "Giorgio" German, Italian 2 24 Christa Williams "" German 4 14 Anita Traversi "" Italian 8 5 "" French 3 16 Jean Philippe "" French 10 2 Esther Ofarim "" French 2 40 Anita Traversi "" Italian 13 ◁ 0 Yovanna "" French 8 8 "" French 6 12 Géraldine "" French 17 ◁ 0 Gianni Mascolo "" Italian 13 2 Paola "" German 5 13 Henri Dès "" French 4 8 Peter, Sue and Marc "" French 12 78 Véronique Müller "" French 8 88 Patrick Juvet "" French 12 79 Piera Martell "" German 14 ◁ 3 Simone Drexel "Mikado" German 6 77 Peter, Sue and Marc "Djambo Djambo" English 4 91 Pepe Lienhard Band "Swiss Lady" German 6 71 "" French 9 65 Peter, Sue and Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri "" German 10 60 Paola "" French 4 104 Peter, Sue and Marc "" Italian 4 121 Arlette Zola "" French 3 97 Mariella Farré "" Italian 15 28 "" German 16 30 Mariella Farré and "" German 12 39 Daniela Simons "" French 2 140 Carol Rich "" French 17 26 Céline Dion "" French 1 137 Furbaz "" Romansh 13 47 Egon Egemann "" German 11 51 Sandra Simó "" Italian 5 118 "Mister Music Man" French 15 32 Annie Cotton "" French 3 148 colspan="2" Duilio "" Italian 19 15 colspan="2" Kathy Leander "" French 16 22 8 67 "" Italian 22 5 colspan="2" rowspan="4" Gunvor "" German 25 ◁ 0 Jane Bogaert "" Italian 20 14 Francine Jordi "" French 22 15 Piero and the MusicStars "Celebrate" English colspan="2" 22 ◁ 0 Vanilla Ninja "Cool Vibes" English 8 128 8 114 six4one "If We All Give a Little" English 16 30 colspan="2" DJ BoBo "Vampires Are Alive" English colspan="2" rowspan="4" 20 40 Paolo Meneguzzi "" Italian 13 47 Lovebugs "The Highest Heights" English 14 15 Michael von der Heide""French 17 ◁ 2 Anna Rossinelli "In Love for a While" English 25 ◁ 19 10 55 Sinplus "Unbreakable" English colspan="2" rowspan="2" 11 45 Takasa "You and Me" English 13 41 Sebalter "Hunter of Stars" English 13 64 4 92 Mélanie René "Time to Shine" English colspan="2" rowspan="4" 17 ◁ 4 Rykka "The Last of Our Kind" English 18 ◁ 28 Timebelle "Apollo" English 12 97 Zibbz "Stones" English 13 86 Luca Hänni "She Got Me" English 4 364 4 232 Gjon's Tears ◇ "" ◇ French ◇ colspan="4" Gjon's Tears "" French 3 432 1 291 Marius Bear "Boys Do Cry" English 17 78 9 118 Remo Forrer "Watergun" English 20 92 7 97 Nemo "The Code" English 1 591 4 132 Zoë Më "Voyage" French 10 214 colspan="2" Veronica Fusaro "Alice" English colspan=2 11 108 colspan="7" align="center"
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
Artist Song Language At Congratulations At Eurovision Final Points Semi Points Year Place Points Céline Dion "" French colspan="2" 10 98 1 137
Trivia The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) is a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has participated in the contest representing Switzerland since the in 1956.
Switzerland has four official languages, French, German, Italian, and Romansh. For intermittent periods prior to its abolition in 1999, the rules stated that the song had to be performed in an official language, which gave SRG SSR leeway as it could submit entries in any of the four languages. Out of its 65 appearances in the contest, it has sent 66 songs, 25 of which were in French, 12 in German, 18 in English, 10 in Italian, and one in Romansh. The first two of Switzerland's winning songs were sung in French, with the third being sung in English.
Selection methods
SRG SSR has used a mix of different selection processes to determine its entry in each year's contest. Since 2019, it has used an internal selection process, although televised national finals were used in previous years, held under various names including Concours Eurovision from the 1950s to 2000s, and Die Grosse Entscheidungsshow between 2011 and 2018. Starting in 1986, the Swiss national finals tended to have ten participating songs each year: three in French, three in German, three in Italian, and one in Romansch.
SongsSelection methodsYears42 Artist and song with national selections, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 24 Artist and song with internal selections, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Internally selection among songs from national selection after being held
Songs by language
SongsLanguageYears26French, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 19English, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 12German, , , , , , , , , , , 11Italian, , , , , , , , , , 1Romansh
Hostings
Year Location Venue Presenter(s) Lugano Teatro Kursaal Lohengrin Filipello Lausanne Palais de Beaulieu Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux Basel St. Jakobshalle Hazel Brugger, Sandra Studer and Michelle Hunziker
Awards Marcel Bezençon Awards
YearCategorySongComposer(s)PerformerFinalPointsHost city"Tout l'univers"Gjon Muharremaj, Xavier Michel, Wouter Hardy & Nina Sampermans (m & l)Gjon's Tears3432Composer AwardArtistic Award""Benjamin Alasu, Lasse Midtsian Nymann, Linda Dale, & Nemo Mettler (m & l)1591 MalmöComposer Award"Voyage"Emily Middlemas, Tom Oehler, & Zoë Anina Kressler (m & l)Zoë Më10214 Basel
Related involvement Conductors YearConductorNotesFernando Paggi Willy BerkingPaul Burkhard Franck PourcelCédric DumontFernando PaggiCédric Dumont Eric RobinsonFernando PaggiMario Robbiani Jean RoderesHans MoeckelMario Robbiani Henry Mayer Bernard GérardHardy Schneiders Jean-Pierre Festi Hervé Roy Pepe EdererPeter JacquesMario RobbianiPeter Jacques Daniel Janin Rolf ZuckowskiPeter Reber Rolf Zuckowski Joan AmilsRobert WeberMario RobbianiAnita Kerr Atilla Şereftuğ Atilla Şereftuğ Benoît KaufmanBela Balint Flaviano CuffariRoby SeidelMarc Sorrentino Valeriano Chiaravalle Rui dos Reis Pietro Damiani
Heads of delegation Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others. YearHead of delegation–Reto Peritz–Yves SchifferleDaniel MeisterYves Schifferle
Commentators and spokespersons SRG SSR has broadcast the contest in Switzerland on its three television stations: German-language Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), French-language Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), and Italian-language Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI). Additionally, the final of the 2025 contest was broadcast on Romansh-language Radio RTR.