Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Die grosse Entscheidungs Show 2012 was the second edition of the Swiss national final format that selected Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The national final was a collaboration between four broadcasters in Switzerland: the Swiss-German broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen (SF), the radio station from SF DRS 3, the Swiss-French broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI). The show took place on 10 December 2011 at the Bodensee Arena in Kreuzlingen, hosted by Sven Epiney and was televised on SRF 1, RSI La 2 with Italian commentary by Clarissa Tami and Paolo Meneguzzi, and RTS Deux with French commentary by Nicolas Tanner and Jean-Marc Richard.[3][4] The competition was also broadcast via radio on DRS 3 and streamed online at the official website of SF sf.tv.[5]

The selection process took place in two stages before the finalists for the live show and ultimately the winner are selected. The first stage of the competition included SF, DRS 3, RTS and RSI each conducting varying selections in order to determine the candidates they submitted for the second stage of the competition. SF submitted six candidates, DRS 3 and RTS each submitted three candidates and RSI submitted two candidates. The fourteen artists and songs proceed to the second stage, the televised national final, where the winning artist and song was selected to represent Switzerland in Baku.[6]

The SF selection involved an online internet voting platform where interested artists could submit their songs and have them listed for public listening. The platform accepted entries between 1 September 2011 and 30 September 2011. 221 entries were submitted following the submission deadline, including entries from Swiss 1956 Eurovision winner as well as 1957 and 1958 entrant Lys Assia and 2007 Danish entrant DQ.[7][8] Internet users had between 16 and 30 October 2011 to vote for their favourite entries and their votes were combined with the votes from an expert jury. On 11 November 2011, the top six entries and SF candidates for the national final were announced.[9][10]

The DRS 3 selection involved an internal selection by an expert jury from the entries submitted for the SF selection.[11] The three DRS 3 candidates for the national final were announced on 13 October 2011. "Lost" performed by Sara McLoud was originally selected as one of the candidates, however the song was disqualified as an acoustic version of it was published prior to the 1 September 2011 deadline, making it ineligible for the Eurovision Song Contest. "Black Symphony" performed by Atomic Angels was selected as the replacement entry.[12]

The RTS selection involved interested artists submitting their entries to the broadcaster between 1 September 2011 and 30 September 2011. At the close of the deadline, 27 entries were received. The entries were evaluated from 5 to 25 October 2011 by the votes from internet users, and the top ten entries were again evaluated from 25 October to 3 November 2011 by internet users (50%) and the votes of a jury panel (50%) that consisted of Catherine Colombara, Emile Felber, Jean-Marc Richard and Yann Zitouni.[11][13] The top three entries and RTS candidates for the national final were announced on 4 November 2011.[14]

RSI opened a submission period on 22 August 2011 for interested artists and composers to submit their entries.[15] On 10 October 2011, a jury panel consisting of Mauro Ravarelli, Gianluca Verga and Nicola Albertoni evaluated the 22 entry submissions received and selected five songs for a regional final. An additional two entries were selected by internet voting among the remaining 17 entries to proceed to the selection.[16] The regional final, hosted by Clarissa Tami and Fabrizio Casati, took place on 8 November 2011 from the Temus Music Bar in Agno and was broadcast on RSI La 2 as well as via radio on RSI Rete Tre. Public televoting selected two entries as the RSI candidates for the national final.[17]

The final took place on 10 December 2011. Two-minute abridged versions of the fourteen candidate songs in contention to represent Switzerland were performed and televoting solely selected "Unbreakable" performed by Sinplus as the winner.[18][19][20] A panel of experts also provided commentary and feedback to the entries. The panel consisted of Nik Hartmann (presenter), Carlos Leal (actor and rapper) and Stämpf (musician).[21] In addition to the performances from the competing entries, Swiss Eurovision Song Contest 2011 entrant Anna Rossinelli performed her song "Joker" as the interval act.[5]

Sinplus made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Unbreakable" as the Swiss Eurovision entry. The band performed "Unbreakable" during the semi-final of the Maltese Eurovision national final on 3 February,[22] the final of the Belarusian Eurovision national final Eurofest 2012 on 14 February,[23] the Ukrainian Eurovision national final on 18 February (a pre-recorded performance filmed on 17 February was aired during the show),[24] and the final of the Latvian Eurovision national final Eirodziesma 2012 on 18 February.[25] On 21 April, Sinplus performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Ruth Jacott and Cornald Maas.[26]

Sinplus took part in technical rehearsals on 13 and 17 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 21 and 22 May. This included the jury show on 21 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries.[32]

The Swiss performance featured the members of Sinplus performing on stage; Gabriel Broggini wore black leather trousers and jacket while Ivan Broggini wore a green leather jacket. The band also performed together with a male drummer and female electric guitarist, with the male performers also wearing a t-shirt with the word "Unbreakable" and the female performer in a black dress. The LED screens displayed a tunnel effect with flashing blue, red, green and white lines, and the performance featured pyrotechnic flame effects.[33][34][35] The drummer and electric guitarist that respectively joined Sinplus were Roberto Bianchetti and Lisa Panigada.[36]

At the end of the show, Switzerland was not announced among the top 10 entries in the first semi-final and therefore failed to qualify to compete in the final.[37] It was later revealed that Switzerland placed eleventh in the semi-final, receiving a total of 45 points.[38]

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that Switzerland had placed tenth with the public televote and thirteenth with the jury vote in the first semi-final. In the public vote, Switzerland scored 49 points, while with the jury vote, Switzerland scored 45 points.[39]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Switzerland and awarded by Switzerland in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Albania in the semi-final and to Albania in the final of the contest.