Michael's luxurious show for Switzerland

Michael von der Heide and his team had special costumes prepared for the Eurovision Song Contest, creating a royal look for the stage show. He was joined on stage by three female backing vocalists and one male. The female backing singers had a large role in the performance, joining in with the choreography and providing strong vocal back up. They wore long stripes of cloth attached to their hands the accentuate the moves. For the last rehearsal of the song, a large display of fireworks was tried out. Members of the production attending the rehearsal expressed enthusiasm after the fiery show and felt that they achieved the intended expression.

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A big Eurovision fan

Unlike the large majority of artists, Michael declined to perform anything for the media at the press conference. Instead, he humorously explained that he has been a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest since the age of nine.

"Then I told my mother that I would stand on that stage one day. And here I am – a few months later!" he exclaimed.

When asked about their favourite entries in this year's contest, he joked that Swiss have to be diplomatic. He explained that he was a member of the Swiss jury in 2009 – with that experience he learned that it's easy to have an opinion at home but hard to choose between the songs in earnest. He was also asked about his participation in the German national selection some decade ago, quickly replying – "I don't remember!"

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Michael von der Heide performs in French, German, Swiss German, English or Italian and mixes pop, jazz, folk and rock with traditional French chanson.

"But pop is closest to my heart," he says.

He has played the piano and guitar since childhood, writes many of his own songs and also composes for a variety of other artists. To date, Michael von der Heide has released 8 albums and 18 singles. Many of his CDs have been Swiss chart hits. His touring record is impressive, currently standing at over 1,000 concerts in Switzerland, Germany, France, Canada, Hungary and Austria – not to mention countless TV appearances. Michael von der Heide also loves to work with other artists. He sang the duet Kriminaltango with German legend Nina Hagen and appeared with Ute Lemper, Catherine Ringer, Régine and Angélique Kidjo at the Montreux Jazz Festival.