Switzerland introduces new national selection format
15 June 2016 at 16:45 CEST
The Swiss national selection
Marco Brey (EBU)
As in previous years, the Swiss representative at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest will be chosen in a televised national final. However, slight changes have been made to the selection process: Televoting will solely decide the winner this time, and all entries need to have a connection to Switzerland. Songs will be entered via a web-based platform but they won't be visible to the public.
Artists interested in representing Switzerland in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest can send in their candidate songs between 26 September and 24 October. After that, a jury will evaluate them in two rounds: First, the 20 best acts will be invited to a live check where they can prove their live singing and performing abilities. Based on this, the jury will select an estimated 8 acts for the national final, to be broadcast on 5 February on SRF zwei.
The jury will comprise approximately 20 music experts, including producers, industry professionals, and journalists.
Entries to have link to Switzerland
All submitted entries need to show their connection to Switzerland: At least one person out of the team (singer or songwriter) needs to be either citizen or resident of the country.
The national selection is a joint project of the four public broadcasting entities of the country, SRF, RTS, RSI and RTR. Unlike previous years, there is no segmentation of the Swiss national selection between the four distinct language regions of the country (German/Rumansch, French, and Italian). The entries will be entered through the same platform and jointly evaluated by the jury.
