Time for a Magical Journey

Six songs a day in roughly chronological order. Now with 300% more positivity! And the occasional curse word.

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And Switzerland takes the crown for the very first Eurovision, with a sweet, old-fashioned ballad.

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Welcome to Switzerland’s Eurovision debut, and their first of two entries in 1956!

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Well, from relative newcomer Slovenia to an original member, it’s time for Switzerland!

Switzerland has participated in a nice round 60 Eurovisions, making it to the final 49 times. They were absent in 1995, 1999, 2001, and 2003. All four times they were relegated out, so Switzerland has never willingly dropped out of the contest. This is in spite of only making it to the finals 5 times since the establishment of the semi-finals, with one of those appearances as an auto-qualifier back when being in the top ten (outside the Big Four) automatically qualified a country for the next year. Switzerland’s record is so mediocre that they have an equal number of top three and last place finishes.

Switzerland has two streaks of non-qualification four years long, and their best qualification streak since the semis were introduced is only two years, thanks to the previously mentioned auto-qualification. Qualifying next year will tie that streak.

Switzerland’s voting record has a relatively even spread, thanks to its long, long history in the contest. In terms of raw number of points awarded, Ireland is their greatest benefactor, but only by 11 points over the United Kingdom. More interesting to me is Switzerland’s voting record in chances to vote for each country. For example, Switzerland was eligible to vote for Serbia and Montenegro (when they were one country) in two finals and a semi. Switzerland awarded them twelve points on each occasion. Serbia has received some points from Switzerland at every possible opportunity, with Albania getting points on 18/19 chances. Receiving points tells a similar story: their long history but mediocre record means Switzerland has a decent point spread with no obvious friends, with Luxembourg and Austria awarding Switzerland with points on about 60% of possible opportunities.

Switzerland is a founding member of the Eurovision Song Contest, and while they are hardly a powerhouse they have been a constant presence and brought some truly delightful songs when the mood strikes them. Ready for a sixty-song-deep dive into the Swiss Eurovision history?

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And here’s Slovenia’s most recent effort! At time of writing (4/6/19) there’s no confirmation that Slovenia is coming back to Eurovision, but given their track record we can probably guess that they’re coming back, and using their national final EMA to select a singer. If they qualify to the final in 2020 they will have achieved their longest qualification streak since the introduction of the semi-final.

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And here begins Slovenia’s current qualification streak, currently tied with their 2014-2015 run. Also in case you’re new here that thing in the bridge is supposed to happen.

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This song makes the bold choice to not introduce vocals until a minute into the song, it’s legit incredible. And because Eurovision is absolutely bizarre, this song likely didn’t make it to the final because there was another string quartet act in the same semi.

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