Country Switzerland Selected entrant Takasa | Selection date(s) 15 December 2012 Selected song "You and Me" | |
Selection process Die grosse Entscheidungs Show
100% televoting Semi-final result Failed to qualify (13th, 41 points) | ||
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 held in Malmö, Sweden. The Swiss national final took place on 15 December 2012, where each of their regional broadcasters presented a number of songs, with the winner being decided by televoting.
Contents
The national final was won by Heilsarmee with the song "You and Me".
On 17 December 2012, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Heilsarmee must change their band name and uniforms for the Eurovision Song Contest. Heilsarmee is the German title of the Christian denominational charitable organisation The Salvation Army. The rules of the contest forbid promotion of political and religious content. On 14 March 2013, the band changed their name to Takasa.
Selection process
On 27 August 2012, Schweizer Fernsehen (SF) announced that nine entries would join the national final from the Bodensee Arena in Kreuzlingen, five less than the previous year.
Four songs would come from an internet voting of German-language broadcaster SF, three from French-language broadcaster Radio télévision suisse (RTS), and two from Italian-language broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI).
SF selection
The overall SF selection selected four finalists. Candidates could submit entries to the broadcaster from 1 September to 8 October 2012. The first Eurovision winner Lys Assia sent an entry to SF for the second year in a row. Other candidates that sent entries include two time Swiss Eurovision entrant Mariella Farré and Polish Eurovision entrant Magdalena Tul, as well as Dutch group LA The Voices (featuring Gordon Heuckeroth, Dutch Eurovision entrant with De Toppers), German Popstars winner Leo Ritzmann, Swiss Got Talent winner Maya Wirz, and the finalist from Spain's 2011 national final, Melissa. A 50/50 mix of internet voting and the verdict of an expert jury decided on the finalists. The finalists were announced on 12 November 2012.
RSI selection
The overall RSI selection selected two finalists. Artists could submit their entries to RSI from 1 to 30 September 2012. An internal selection committee decided on six qualifiers for the regional heat. Apart from these, the winner of the singing contest "Fattore voce 2012", Sohaila El Shater, got a wildcard and qualified directly to the regional heat. The complete line-up of entries that participated in the regional heat was announced by RSI on 9 October 2012. The regional heat was aired by radio channel RSI Rete Tre from the Lugano Living Room on 23 October 2012. The televoting winner and the favourite of the jury, which happened to be Chiara Dubey and Ally respectively, advanced to Kreuzlingen.
RTS selection
RTS selected three finalists. A selection committee was set up to internally decide on the three finalists. On 5 November 2012, RTS announced Carrousel, Nicolas Fraissinet and Nill Klemm as their three entries for the Swiss final.
National final
The national final was held on 15 December 2012 at the Bodensee Arena in Kreuzlingen, hosted by Sven Epiney. The winner was decided by 100% televoting.
At Eurovision
Switzerland was allocated to compete in the second semi-final on 16 May for a place in the final on 18 May. In the second semifinal, the producers of the show decided that Switzerland would perform 16th, following Georgia and preceding Romania.
Switzerland failed to qualify from the second semi-final of the competition.