Switzerland has taken a step nearer to Malmö with Italian-language broadcaster RSI revealing the finalists for its semi-final. Two lucky songs will carry the hopes of the Italian speaking part of the Swiss population at Die Grosse Entscheidungs Show on the shores of Bodensee on 15 December.
Switzerland’s three main broadcasters often take different approaches to selecting songs, as they all have slightly different ideas to what makes a good Eurovision song. Details of the Swiss German selection can be found here. The TV station for the Italian Swiss, RSI, is sticking to the same process as 2012 since, after all, the Swiss representatives in Baku were the Italian duo Sinplus.
As per last year, RSI will hold a regional semi-final and select two songs for the national final on 15 December. This regional semi-final takes place on 23 October at Lugano’s Living Room. Lugano was incidentally the host town for the very first Eurovision Song Contest in May 1956.
Arguably the most famous name participating in this semi-final is Chiara Dubey. She participated in this selection for the 2012 contest and made it through to the national final with the song Amina nuova, finishing third. Performer Sohaila was chosen through her victory in the talent show Fattore voce.
The full line up is:
1 – Theo – My Wonderful Life
2 – N2L – Smoke Out
3 – Marilise – Nobody
4 – Ally – Catch Me
5 – Chiara Dubey – Bella sera (Good evening)
6 – Vanda Palma – La farfalla va (The butterfly goes)
7 – Sohaila – But Who
The show will be broadcast on the radio channel RSI Rete Tre, and the two going forward will be decided by televoting.
In 2012, Sinplus represented Switzerland with the song Unbreakable. It sadly failed to make it through to the Grand Final in Baku.
