Switzerland competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Era stupendo" by Paolo Meneguzzi. Meneguzzi was chosen by the Swiss national broadcaster, SRG SSR idée suisse, to sing for Switzerland in Belgrade, Serbia. For 2008, SRG SSR idée suisse had continued to internally select the song and singer to represent Switzerland at the 2008 contest, with an open call for songs being held by the broadcaster.

Many artists announced their intention to submit songs to the Swiss broadcaster in the hope of representing Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Paolo Meneguzzi was selected by the broadcaster to perform for Switzerland with his Italian ballad "Era stupendo" ("It was wonderful").

Meneguzzi performed his song in the second semi-final of the contest, held on 22 May 2008. Despite Meneguzzi being one of the favourites to win the contest by fans, he could only manage to place 13th in a field of 19 countries competing, failing to qualify for the final.

SRG SSR idée suisse started its selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in July 2007, with an open call for songs and artists for the selection being open for artists of all nationalities. All entries had to include a previously released CD with its chart position as well as a list of TV and live stage performances to show the artist's experience in music. Documents confirming the artist's nationality and age were also required as well as confirmation by the artist that they would be present in Belgrade during Eurovision week. The deadline for the submission of all materials for entries was set for 22 October.

The 2008 entry for Switzerland was selected through Schweizer Fernsehen (SF), Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) and Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua Italiana (RTSI), the German, French and Italian language branches of SRG SSR idée suisse, as well as Swiss music channel VIVA and German radio channel DRS, a part of SF. SF soon revealed that it was most likely that a Swiss artist would be selected to represent Switzerland in the contest. Many Swiss artists revealed that they had entered songs to SR in the hope of representing the country in the contest. Names such as comedian Peach Weber, Jürgen Drews and rapper Gimma, known for performing solely in Swiss German, popped up in the Swiss media as being possible Swiss representatives in the contest.

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