This week, SRF revealed the international jury of 23 experts who will help decide the song that represents Switzerland in Turin. Eurovision fans may recognise some of them!
Switzerland’s participation was confirmed for Eurovision 2022 back in April. With the announcement, they made the call to find viewers and international experts to pick the Swiss entry. As expected, they will be continuing with their post-2018 internal selection strategy. In a multi-stage process, the 100-member audience panel and the 20-member international expert jury will evaluate the entries and artists. The chosen entry will be announced early next year.
Eurovision is the world’s biggest and most spectacular music show. It offers young Swiss artists and songwriters the opportunity to showcase their talent and ability on the international stage, in front of an audience of hundreds of millions. It can be the start of a great career, and taking part is definitely an unforgettable, seminal adventure for those involved.
Yves Schifferle, Swiss Head of Delegation
Each of the 23 experts who will be tasked with choosing the best Swiss song for Eurovision 2022 is, well… an expert in the music industry, of course! Most of them have links with the backstage of the ESC, have sat on national jurys or been involved with the Contest in one way or another. Some have even already been on the Swiss jury in 2019 or 2021. But a few names will seem familiar to the most hardcore fans out there. Do you remember them all?
Gore Melian
The Armenian artist came 3rd in the Cypriot selection process in 2009.
Ludmila Kuts
She represented Belarus at the 2011 ESC in Düsseldorf as a leading background singer.
Gabriela Horn (PÆNDA)
She represented Austria in 2019 in Tel-Aviv with “Limits”, finishing 17th in the second semi-final.
Karl-Ander Reismann
Karl-Ander is a regular producer and songwriter for Estonia’s Eesti Laul. His songs have made the national final several times since 2018. He was also on the Estonian jury in 2021.
Ovidiu Jacobsen
Romanian-Norwegian Ovidiu represented Romania in 2010, placing third. He has also appeared on Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix several times since 2006.
Helga Möller
She was a member of ICY, the band who represented Iceland for the country’s first Eurovision in 1986, finishing 16th.
Tinkara Kovač
Tinkara represented Slovenia in Copenhagen in 2014 and finished 25th with “Spet/Round and Round”.
Alexey Gross
Gross was a contestant in the Belarusian selection in 2016 and came 5th out of 10 acts.
A winning formula?
SRF originally announced Gjon’s Tears as their representative for the 2020 contest in Rotterdam. The same day, his entry “Répondez-moi” was released, which was Switzerland’s first French-language entry for 10 years. The song quickly became a favourite to win the 2020 contest.
Just a few weeks later, the 2020 contest was cancelled as a result of the pandemic. However, SRF quickly announced that Gjon would be back to represent Switzerland at the 2021 contest.
Earlier this year, it was revealed by Gjon and Head of Delegation Reto Peritz how the song was selected. Thirteen songs were created at the songwriting camp, and these entries were then produced across the continent before being presented to a jury of 100 Swiss residents and 20 international experts, in both their live and studio versions.
Despite the bar set by Luca Hänni in 2019, Gjon surpassed this and gave Switzerland their best result in the contest since 1993. “Tout l’univers” won semi-final two and ultimately placed 3rd in the Grand Final in Rotterdam, winning the jury vote and scoring 432 points.
Are you excited to see Switzerland continuing with their current strategy? Who would you like to see represent them next year? Let us know! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra on Instagram and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify and YouTube to see our reactions to the news in the run up to the 2022 national final season!