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Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

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Switzerland in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Eurovision Song Contest 1998
Participating broadcasterSwiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR)
Country  Switzerland
Selection processEurosong 98
Selection date18 December 1997
Competing entry
Song"Lass ihn"
ArtistGunvor [de]
Songwriters
Placement
Final result25th, 0 points
Participation chronology
◄1997 • 1998 • 2000►

Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Lass ihn", written by Egon Egemann and Gunvor Guggisberg [de], and performed by Gunvor herself. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), selected its entry through a national final.

Background

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Main article: Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 1998 contest, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest representing Switzerland forty-one times since its first entry at the inaugural contest in 1956.[1] It won that first edition of the contest with the song "Refrain" performed by Lys Assia. Its second victory was achieved in 1988 with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi" performed by Canadian singer Céline Dion. In 1997, Switzerland finished 22nd earning 5 points with the song "Dentro di me" performed by Barbara Berta [fr].

Despite regularly using national finals to select their Eurovision entrants (yearly since 1981), SRG SSR selected their entrants through non-televised internal selections from 1994 to 1997 due to the low publicity and high expenses on their national finals.[2] However, SRG SSR continued to hold national finals on a regular basis, starting in this year.

Before Eurovision

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Eurosong 98

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Swiss German and Romansh broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz (SF DRS) held the national final on 18 December 1997 at 20:00 CET at its television studios in Zürich.[3] It hosted by Sandra Studer— who represented Switzerland in 1991. The national final was broadcast on SF 1,TSI 2, and TSR 2 (with commentary from Pierre Grandjean).[3][4] Katrina and the Waves— who won for the United Kingdom in 1997 — and Johnny Logan— who won for Ireland in 1980 and 1987 — made guest appearances and performed popular Eurovision songs with Struder.[3][5]

Six songs participated in the selection, with three songs being performed in French, two in Italian, and one in Italian. The voting consisted entirely of public voting, with votes being cast from five cities.[3] The winner was the song "Lass ihn", composed by Egon Egemann— who represented Switzerland in 1990, and performed by Gunvor [de], who also composed the song.

Final – 18 December 1997[5][6]
R/O Artist Song Songwriter(s) Language Points Place
Composer Lyricist
1 Susan Orús "L'enfant des étoiles" Benoît Kaufmann Rébecca Jonckheere French 19 3
2 Filippo Trojani "Amerò di più" Filippo Trojani Italian 17 5
3 Anne Francoeur "Le rêve d'Alice" Régis Mounir French 5 6
4 Gunvor [de] "Lass ihn"
German 34 1
5 Talk About Girls "Qualcosa di te"
Italian[a] 26 2
6 Vanessa Jüdt "Trouver ma place" Benoît Kaufmann Rébecca Jonckheere French 19 3
Detailed Regional Televoting Results[5][6]
Draw Song
Bern
 Total
1 "L'enfant des étoiles" 3 6 4 3 3 19
2 "Amerò di più" 2 3 2 2 8 17
3 "Le rêve d'Alice" 1 1 1 1 1 5
4 "Lass ihn" 8 8 8 6 4 34
5 "Qualcosa di te" 6 4 6 4 6 26
6 "Trouver ma place" 4 2 3 8 2 19

At Eurovision

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The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 took place at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK, on 9 May 1998.

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Switzerland was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Spain and before the entry from Slovakia.[7][8] The day before the contest, Switzerland was considered by bookmakers to be the eleventh most likely country to win the competition.[9] Switzerland finished in twenty-fifth (last) place failing to score any points.[10] This was the fourth time Switzerland finished in last place and the third time the nation received nul points after 1964 and 1967.

In Switzerland, the contest was aired on the three broadcasters that form SRG SSR: Heinz Margot and Roman Kilchsperger provided German commentary on SF 2,[11] Jean-Marc Richard provided French commentary on TSR 1,[12][13] while Jonathan Tedesco provided Italian commentary on TSI 1.[14][15] SRG SSR appointed Regula Elsener as its spokesperson to announce the Swiss votes during the show.

Voting

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Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Switzerland and awarded by Switzerland in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Germany in the contest.

Points awarded to and by Switzerland

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Switzerland did not receive any points at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.[16]

Points awarded by Switzerland[16]
Score Country
12 points  Germany
10 points  Israel
8 points  Malta
7 points  Netherlands
6 points  Spain
5 points  Croatia
4 points  Belgium
3 points  United Kingdom
2 points  Ireland
1 point  Norway

Notes

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  1. ^ Contains phrases in English

References

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  1. ^ "Switzerland Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Eurovision de la chanson" [Eurovision Song Contest]. Journal du Jura (in French). Vol. 131, no. 8. 11 January 1994. p. 26. Retrieved 31 March 2025 – via E-newspaperarchives.ch.
  3. ^ a b c d "Eurovision: CH-Ausscheidung". Freiburger Nachrichten [de] (in German). 18 December 1997. p. 18. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  4. ^ "TSR2 — 20:00 Eurovision de la Chanson 1998 — Finale Suisse" [TSR2 — 20:00 Eurovision Song Contest 1998 — Swiss Final]. Le Matin (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland. 18 December 1997. p. 32. Retrieved 3 April 2025 – via Scriptorium.
  5. ^ a b c "Switzerland 1998". mylittleworld.nfshost.com. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b Eurosong 98 (Video) (in German). 18 December 1997.
  7. ^ "Birmingham to stage Eurovision". The Irish Times. 9 August 1997. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  8. ^ Jones, David (13 November 1997). Eurovision Song Contest winner Katrina and compere Terry Wogan[...]. Birmingham, United Kingdom: Alamy. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  9. ^ "The bookies' favourites". BBC News. 8 May 1998. Archived from the original on 1 November 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  11. ^ "TV & Radio Hinweise". Thuner Tagblatt (in German). 9 May 1998. p. 21. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  12. ^ Taillens, Mary-Claude (9 May 1998). "Entre Native et Jean-Marc Richard" [Between Native and Jean-Marc Richard]. Le Matin. Lausanne, Switzerland: Edipresse Publications SA. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via Scriptorium.
  13. ^ "Programmes TV – Samedi 9 mai" [TV programmes – Saturday 9 May]. TV8 (in French). Zofingen, Switzerland: Ringier. 7 May 1998. pp. 20–25. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via Scriptorium.
  14. ^ "Das Leben ist für Jane". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 9 May 1998. p. 105. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  15. ^ "Eurovision 1998 Switzerland: Gunvor - "Lass Ihn"". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Birmingham 1998". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
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