It’s a poignant moment in the countdown – Switzerland are two-times winners. Their second and most recent win was 30 years in 1988, when a certain French-Canadian won the contest by a single point (over the UK of course) – that was Céline Dion of course. The first winner was also the contest’s first ever winner (and the only Swiss national to win the contest) – Lys Assia. She remained an active supporter of the contest through to this year. She sadly passed away in March 2018 at the age of 94. A Swiss win this year would be poignant and timely indeed. 

Zibbz are a brother-sister duo whose music falls into the indie pop category. They bring another “message” song to the contest (there are a few of those this year) with bullying being the theme of “Stones”. They won the Swiss national final convincingly, topping both jury and public votes. The song I think is a decent one, it drives forward purposefully and it’s a little different from the mainstream Europop or ballads you might get. On the less positive side, it does feel a little bit “safe” – something that is synonymous with a lot of Swiss entries.

Qualification chances are not going to be easy I would say. They are in the far tougher semi-final, and Switzerland generally need a catchy song to progress to the final. I’m not sure if this will be catchy enough nor will it be enough up against a whole cluster of contest favourites that are in that semi. Better news for Zibbz though is fact that 4 of the 5 countries who have awarded Switzerland the most points over the course of the contest will be voting in that semi – Austria, Belgium, Finland, and their biggest points giver of all, the UK…

Official music video:

Live at London Eurovision Party:

Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest:

First entered: 1956

Appearances (excluding this year): 58

Best result: Winner 1956, 1988

Last year’s result: 12th in semi-final (did not qualify)