Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Prior to the 2008 contest, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Switzerland forty-eight times since their first entry in . It won that first edition of the contest with the song "" performed by Lys Assia. Its second victory was achieved with the song "" performed by Canadian singer Céline Dion. Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Switzerland managed to participate in the final twice. In , the internal selection of "Cool Vibes", performed by Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, qualified and placed 8th in the final. Due to their successful result in 2005, Switzerland was pre-qualified to compete directly in the final in . Switzerland did not manage to make it to the final in with "Vampires Are Alive" by DJ BoBo. As part of its duties as participating broadcaster, SRG SSR organises the selection of its entry in the Eurovision Song Contest and broadcasts the event in the country. ==Before Eurovision==

Internal selection SRG SSR opened a submission period between 20 July 2007 and 22 October 2007 for interested artists and composers to submit their entries. Eligible artists were those that have had television and stage experience (live performances), have made at least one video and have released at least one CD which placed among the top 50 in an official chart. In addition to the public submission, the broadcaster was also in contact with individual composers and lyricists as well as the music industry to be involved in the selection process. On 25 November 2007, Swiss newspaper Blick claimed that "" performed by Paolo Meneguzzi would be the Swiss entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, which was subsequently confirmed by SRG SSR on the same day. Both the artist and song were selected by a jury panel consisting of representatives of the three broadcasters in Switzerland: the Swiss-German broadcaster (SF), the Swiss-French broadcaster (TSR) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster (TSI), as well as the radio station from and the music channel VIVA Switzerland. Among the artists that submitted a song included Gimma, Jürgen Drews, and Peach Weber. In regards to his selection as the Swiss entrant, Meneguzzi stated: "I'm very happy and honoured to represent my homeland at Eurovision 2008. I'm anxious to go to the stage and to perform my song. I hope to meet new friends, new fans from many different nationalities who will vote for me and many new feelings we'll live together. [...] See all of you in Belgrade!". "", which was written by Paolo Meneguzzi together with Mattias Brånn and Vincenzo Incenzo, was presented to the public on 12 January 2008 during the annual SwissAward show broadcast on SF1, TSR 2, and TSI 2. The official music video of the song was released on 18 March 2008. Controversy After the release of the song, there was speculation that "" was a plagiarism of "It Can Only Get Better" by Swedish singer Amy Diamond who was competing in the 2008 Swedish national final Melodifestivalen 2008. Accusations arose that the beginnings of both songs were too similar to be a coincidence, however the song was not disqualified by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organiser of the contest. Promotion ahead of the contest. Promoting his song, Meneguzzi appeared on a Eurovision special on Maltese NET Television in April 2008. A CD single featuring the song was published, which peaked at number 11 on the Swiss Singles Chart in June 2008. ==At Eurovision==

The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 took place at the Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. It consisted of two semi-finals held on 20 and 22 May, respectively, and the final on 24 May 2008. According to the Eurovision rules at the time, all participating countries, except the host nation and the "Big Four", consisting of , , , and the , were required to qualify from one of the two semi-finals to compete for the final; the top 10 countries from the respective semi-finals would proceed to the final. On 28 January 2008, an allocation draw was held that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, with Switzerland being placed into the second semi-final. The 2008 contest was the first to feature two semi-finals, a change intended to reduce the problems of neighbourly and diaspora voting that occurred in years past. Countries that normally would vote for each other were placed into separate semi-finals. Once all of the competing songs for the Eurovision Song Contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the delegation heads of the 43 participating countries of the contest rather than through another draw; the nation was assigned position seven, following and preceding the . The commentators at the event were Sven Epiney for SF, Sandy Altermatt for RTSI, and Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner for TSR. SRG SSR appointed Cécile Bähler as its spokesperson to announce the results of the Swiss televote for the contest. Despite being a fan favourite the song only managed to receive 47 points, placing 13th in a field of 19 and failing to qualify for the final. Points awarded to Switzerland Points awarded by Switzerland ==References==