Switzerland is one of the founding seven nations of the Eurovision Song Contest, having staged and participated in the very first contest in 1956 in Lugano which was won by Lys Assia. The country has participated in every contest except 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003 (all due to relegation).
After a qualification in 2011, they had not been able to qualify a song for the final until 2014, when SeBalter brought the Swiss their best finish in the final since 2005. They then failed to qualify again from 2015 to 2018, before Luca Hänni equaled the country's best placement in the semifinals in 2019. In 2021, Gjon's Tears broke that record by winning his semifinal and finishing 3rd in the grand final, equaling Annie Cotton's placement in 1993.
Although most of the Swiss representatives are national acts not known outside of the country, many internationally successful artists have represented the country. In 1988, Canadian Celine Dion won the contest for Switzerland, in 1993 Annie Cotton (also Canadian) finished third, and in 2005 the Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja finished 8th in both the semi and the final. Esther Ofarim's 1963 second-place finish helped establish her as an international success.
In 2024, Nemo won the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland for the third time after receiving an astonishing total of 22 sets of 12-point scores from the juries. This gave them a 147-point lead ahead the jury second placer, enabling them to win in high fashion.
