Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
| Eurovision Song Contest 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 Switzerland
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| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | ESC 2017 – Die Entscheidungsshow |
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| Selection date(s) | 5 February 2017 | |||
| Selected entrant | Timebelle | |||
| Selected song | "Apollo" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) | Elias Näslin Nicolas Günthardt Alessandra Günthardt |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Semi-final result | Failed to qualify (12th, 97 points) | |||
| Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Apollo" written by Elias Näslin, Nicolas Günthardt and Alessandra Günthardt. The song was performed by Timebelle. The Swiss entry for the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine was selected through the national final ESC 2017 – Die Entscheidungsshow, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR). Artists that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply to one of three open selections with defined submission periods: an online platform where entries could be uploaded for public viewing, which was organised by the Swiss-German broadcaster SRF and the Swiss-Romansh broadcaster Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR), or by submitting an entry directly to the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and/or the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera. Up to 20 entries were selected to advance to an "Live Check" round. The "Live Check" was held on 4 December 2016 Zürich and involved an expert panel evaluating the live performances of the entries and selecting six entries to advance to the televised national final. The six finalists performed during the national final on 5 February 2017 at SRF's Studio 1 in Zürich where a public vote ultimately selected "Apollo" performed by Timebelle as the winner.
Switzerland was drawn to compete in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 11 May 2017. Performing during the show in position 13, "Apollo" was not announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore did not qualify to compete in the final.
Prior to the 2017 Contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-seven times since its first entry in 1956. Switzerland is noted for having won the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Refrain" performed by Lys Assia. Their second and, to this point, most recent victory was achieved in 1988 when Canadian singer Céline Dion won the contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Following the introduction of semi-finals for the 2004, Switzerland had managed to participate in the final four times up to this point. In 2005, the internal selection of Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, performing the song "Cool Vibes", qualified Switzerland to the final where they placed 8th. Due to their successful result in 2005, Switzerland was pre-qualified to compete directly in the final in 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, the nation failed to qualify to the final after a string of internal selections. Since opting to organize a national final from 2011 onwards, Switzerland has managed to qualify to the final twice. In 2016, Switzerland failed to qualify to the final, placing last in the semi-final with the song "The Last of Our Kind" performed by Rykka.
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