Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020


Switzerland originally participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation will organise an internal selection in order to select the Swiss entry for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam, Netherlands. However, due to the 2019-20 pandemic of Coronavirus, the contest was cancelled.

Background

Prior to the 2020 Contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty times since their 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, 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 2019, Switzerland qualified for the final for the first time since 2014, placing 4th in the final with the song "She Got Me" performed by Luca Hänni.
The Swiss national broadcaster, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, broadcasts the event within Switzerland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. SRG SSR confirmed their intentions to participate at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest on 11 July 2019.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

SRG SSR opened a submission period for interested artists and songwriters to submit their entries from 2 September 2019 until 16 September 2019. 515 entries were received, and the winner was then determined by a 100-member public panel and a 20-member International Expert Jury formed of former members of the respective country juries at Eurovision. Both juries each had a 50% say in the final decision on the Swiss entry, with the winner being revealed on 4 March 2020 by the Swiss broadcasters.
On 4 March 2020, Gjon's Tears was announced as the Swiss entrant at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "Répondez-moi".

At Eurovision

In the Eurovision Song Celebration youtube broadcast in place of the heats, it was revealed that the song would have performed 10th in Semi Final 2, having been preceded by Iceland and preceding Denmark.