| Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 1985 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) | |||
| Country |  Switzerland | |||
| Selection process | Concours Eurovision de la Chanson1985 | |||
| Selection date | 23 February 1985 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Piano, piano" | |||
| Artist | Mariella Farré andPino Gasparini [de] | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Placement | ||||
| Final result | 12th, 39 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
Switzerland was represented at theEurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song "Piano, piano", composed byAnita Kerr, with lyrics byTrudi Müller-Bosshard [de], and performed byMariella Farré andPino Gasparini [de]. The Swiss participating broadcaster, theSwiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), selected its entry for the contest through a national final.
TheSwiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) held a national final to select its entry for theEurovision Song Contest 1985. The national final was a collaboration between three broadcasters that comprised SRG SSR: the Swiss-German and Romansh broadcasterSchweizer Fernsehen der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz (SF DRS), the Swiss-French broadcasterTélévision suisse romande (TSR), and the Swiss-Italian broadcasterTelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (TSI). Unlike previous Swiss national finals, where all composite broadcasters internally selected their entries, a public preliminary round was held by one of the regional broadcasters. SF DRS held a preselection to select its three entries, while TSR and TSI internally selected their entries.[1]
Ein Lied für Schweden:Concours de l'Eurovision 1985, the SF DRS preselection, was held and broadcast on radio on 15 December 1984 at 20:00 (CET) onDRS 1 andRTS 2 and was held inBeromünster. Songwriters from Switzerland andLiechtenstein were able to submit songs forMariella Farré (who representedSwitzerland in 1983),Pino Gasparini [de] (who representedSwitzerland in 1977 as part of thePepe Lienhard Group), and the Martin Richard Trio. The Swiss-German and Romansh viewers then voted to decide which songs would qualify to the final.[1][2] It is reported that the songwriters who failed to qualify criticized this process because the artists did not connect or identify with their songs.[3]
The following songs were selected to enter the national final. No other information is currently known about the preliminary round, including the titles of the remaining songs and songwriters.
| Internally selected artist(s) | Commissioned Song | Songwriter(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composer | Lyricist | |||
| Mariella Farré | "Pierrot" | Markus Ellenberger |
| Advanced |
| Mariella Farré andPino Gasparini [de] | "Piano, piano" | Anita Kerr | Trudi Müller-Bosshard [de] | Advanced |
| Martin Richard Trio | "Der Kuckuck" |
| Marcel Bless | Advanced |
TSR staged the national final on 23 February 1985 at 21:10 (CET) in its studios inGeneva. It was hosted by Serge Moisson, with Le Groupe Instrumental Romand accompanying the performances. Les Compagnons de l'Arche featuring Hana Lamkova and the Black Theater of Prague made guest appearances.[4][5]
Among the participants wereArlette Zola (who representedSwitzerland in 1982),Rainy Day [de] (who representedSwitzerland in 1984), andDaniela Simons (who would later representSwitzerland in 1986). The Martin Richard Trio was renamed to 'Swiss Singers' and became a duo with two backing singers.[6]
| Broadcaster | Artist(s) | Song | Songwriter(s) | Language | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composer | Lyricist | ||||
| RTSI | Friends | "Europeo" | Corry Knobel | Italian | |
| Rainy Day [de] | "Gioventù" | Nella Martinetti | |||
| Renato Mascetti | "Una notte a Casablanca" | Renato Mascetti | |||
| SF DRS | Mariella Farré | "Pierrot" | Markus Ellenberger |
| German |
| Mariella Farré andPino Gasparini [de] | "Piano, piano" | Anita Kerr | Trudi Müller-Bosshard [de] | ||
| Swiss Singers | "Der Kuckuck" |
| Marcel Bless | ||
| TSR | Arlette Zola | "Aime-moi" | Pietro Silvestri | French | |
| Daniela Simons | "Repars à zéro" | Daniela Simons | |||
| Nicky Nicolas | "Je n'aime que toi" | Franco Bussmann | Nicky Nicolas | ||
The voting consisted of regional public votes which were sent to the three divisions ofSRG SSR (DRS,TSR,TSI: German, French, and Italian speaking, respectively), a press jury, and an "expert" jury.[5][3] Applications for viewers to join the regional juries were sent via postcard until 17 February, and 50 viewers from each canton were randomly selected to cast their votes to their broadcaster divisions via phone call.[3] The winner was the song "Piano, piano", composed byAnita Kerr with lyrics fromTrudi Müller-Bosshard [de] and performed byMariella Farré andPino Gasparini [de].
| R/O | Artist(s) | Song | Regional Juries | Press Jury | Expert Jury | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DRS | TSR | TSI | |||||||
| 1 | Rainy Day [de] | "Gioventù" | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 30 | 4 |
| 2 | Nicky Nicolas | "Je n'aime que toi" | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 |
| 3 | Mariella Farré | "Pierrot" | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 7 |
| 4 | Friends | "Europeo" | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 8 |
| 5 | Mariella Farré andPino Gasparini [de] | "Piano, piano" | 8 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 35 | 1 |
| 6 | Arlette Zola | "Aime-moi" | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 31 | 3 |
| 7 | Daniela Simons | "Repars à zéro" | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 32 | 2 |
| 8 | Swiss Singers | "Der Kuckuck" | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 5 |
| 9 | Renato Mascetti | "Una notte a Casablanca" | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 24 | 6 |
 | This sectionrelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2025) |
At the Eurovision Song Contest 1985, held at theScandinavium inGothenburg, the Swiss entry was the fifteenth entry of the night following theUnited Kingdom and precedingSweden. The Swiss conductor at the contest wasAnita Kerr, who composed the song. Additionally, she was one of the only three female conductors in the history of Eurovision Song Contest. At the close of voting, Switzerland had received 39 points in total; finishing in twelfth place out of nineteen countries.[citation needed]
Each participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel with at least eleven members. The jurors awarded 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their top ten songs.
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