The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was the first edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio svizzera italiana (RSI) on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. The contest, originally titled the Gran Premio Eurovisione 1956 della Canzone Europea, was held on Thursday 24 May 1956 at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland, and hosted by Swiss television presenter Lohengrin Filipello, which remains the only time that the contest has been hosted by a solo male presenter.
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana, commercially styled as Rai since 2000 and known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels and radio stations. It is one of the biggest broadcasters in Italy, competing with Mediaset and other minor radio and television networks. RAI has a relatively high television audience share of 35.9%.
Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 63 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956 in Lugano, and won it. Switzerland won the contest again in 1988, with the 1989 contest being held in Lausanne.
The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 26 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-profit organisation, funded mainly through radio and television licence fees (70%) and making the remaining income from advertising and sponsorship.
Rai 1 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and generalist programming, usually aimed towards families, including TG1 news bulletins, prime time drama, cinema and entertainment, and major breaking news, sports and special events.
Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana is a Swiss public broadcasting organisation, part of SRG SSR. RSI handles production and broadcasting of radio and television programs in Italian and Lombard for Switzerland. RSI's administrative headquarters are located in Via Canevascini in Lugano-Besso.
DR1 is the flagship television channel of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). It became Denmark's first television station when it began broadcasting in 1951 – at first only for an hour a day three times a week.
Switzerland participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "If We All Give a Little" written by Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. The song was performed by the group six4one, which was internally selected by the Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR idée suisse in November 2005 to represent the nation at the 2006 contest in Athens, Greece. "If We All Give a Little" was presented to the public as the Swiss song on 18 March 2006.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Celebrate" written by Greg Manning. The song was performed by Piero Esteriore and the MusicStars. The Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR idée suisse returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their relegation from 2003 as one of the bottom five countries in the 2002 contest. The Swiss entry for the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey was selected through the national final Eurosong 2004, organised by the broadcasters part of SRG SSR idée suisse. The Swiss-German/Romansh broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz, the Swiss-French broadcaster Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Televisione svizzera di lingua italiana (TSI) each conducted varying selections and a total of twelve entries were selected to advance to the televised national final—four artists and songs from each selection. The twelve finalists performed during the national final on 6 March 2004 where two rounds of regional televoting ultimately selected "Celebrate" performed by Piero Esteriore and the MusicStars as the winner.
Switzerland competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Era stupendo" by Paolo Meneguzzi. Meneguzzi was chosen by the Swiss national broadcaster, SRG SSR idée suisse, to sing for Switzerland in Belgrade, Serbia. For 2008, SRG SSR idée suisse had continued to internally select the song and singer to represent Switzerland at the 2008 contest, with an open call for songs being held by the broadcaster.
Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino, commonly known as San Marino RTV, is the public service broadcaster of San Marino. On 13 June 2011, San Marino RTV changed its name to SMtv San Marino. In November 2013, the name was changed back to San Marino RTV.
HD suisse is a former Swiss high-definition television channel operated by the public service broadcaster SRG SSR. This was the 8th channel launched by SRG SSR, and the first Swiss television channel available in high definition.
RSI La 2 is a Swiss public television channel owned by Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua Italiana. It is a sister channel of RSI La 1, broadcast in Italian. It mainly airs sport programmes, but also reruns and music shows. It does not broadcast any newscasts.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "In Love for a While" written by David Klein. The song was performed by Anna Rossinelli. The Swiss entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany was selected through the national final Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2011, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen (SF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of SRG SSR idée suisse. SF, SF's radio station DRS 3, the Swiss-French broadcaster Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) each conducted varying selections and a total of twelve entries were selected to advance to the televised national final—seven artists and songs from the SF selection, three from the DRS 3 selection, one from the TSR selection and one from the RSI selection. The twelve finalists performed during the national final on 11 December 2010 where public voting ultimately selected "In Love for a While" performed by Anna Rossinelli as the winner.
RSI Rete Due is the second Italian-language radio station from Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI). It was launched in 1985.
RSI Rete Tre is the third Italian-language radio station from Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI), aimed at younger listeners broadcasting popular and alternative music. It was launched at 00:03 on 1 January 1988 and is available via FM mainly in the Italian-speaking cantons of Ticino and Graubünden. From 15 October 2009, its range was extended to major cities in German-speaking areas of Switzerland with the implementation of a number of DAB+ digital relays
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Unbreakable" written by Gabriel Broggini and Ivan Broggini. The song was performed by the duo Sinplus. The Swiss entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan was selected through the national final Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2012, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen (SF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. SF, SF's radio station DRS 3, the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) each conducted varying selections and a total of fourteen entries were selected to advance to the televised national final—six artists and songs from the SF selection, three from the DRS 3 selection, three from the RTS selection and two from the RSI selection. The fourteen finalists performed during the national final on 10 December 2011 where public voting ultimately selected "Unbreakable" performed by Sinplus as the winner.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "You and Me" written by Georg Schlunegger, Roman Camenzind and Fred Herrmann. The song was performed by the band Takasa. The Swiss entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden was selected through the national final Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2013, organised by the Swiss German speaking broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen (SF) in collaboration with the other broadcasters part of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. SF, the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) each conducted varying selections and a total of nine entries were selected to advance to the televised national final—four artists and songs from the SF selection, three from the RTS selection and two from the RSI selection. The nine finalists performed during the national final on 15 December 2012 where public voting ultimately selected "You and Me" performed by Heilsarmee as the winner. The group was renamed as Takasa for the Eurovision Song Contest in order to prevent violating the rules of the competition.
Sebastiano Paù-Lessi, better known by his stage name, Sebalter is a Swiss singer, fiddler, and attorney who represented his country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He performed the song "Hunter of Stars" in the final on 10 May 2014, finishing 13th with 64 points. Sebalter was born in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. Prior to Eurovision he worked as a business lawyer, putting his law career on hold to focus on his music career.
Anita Spinelli was a Swiss artist, painter and drawer also known for her approaches to graphic work.
