Switzerland Makes Its Selection

Swiss audiences chose their representative today on the show, Die Entscheidungsshow, which was broadcast live from Kreuzlingen. With only six contestants, Switzerland has a relatively small national selection process, compared to many other countries that spend weeks watching and voting, and whittle down several dozen competitors.

The line-up:
1. "Take Me Back to 23," Deborah Bough
2. "Singing About Love," Timebelle
3. "Fly," Licia Chery
4. "Hey Now," Andy McSean
5. "Time To Shine," Mélanie René
6. "Only Human," Tiziana


The night started off with Deborah Bough's fun, disco-inspired pop song, "Take Me Back to 23." She has good stage presence and the song is cute, but it probably would not make a huge impression at Eurovision. Timebelle, a band led by the lovely Miruna Manescu, went second. Now, this is something Switzerland loves to send to Eurovision. Kitschy, cutesy, and with absolutely no chance of actually winning on an international stage. Next up was Licia Chery, who gave the sloppiest performance of the night. Bye, Licia.

The second half of the show was more hopeful. Andy McSean had the first entry that I could see doing well at Eurovision. "Hey Now" is an accessible rock song with a catchy hook. Straight guys would vote for this.

Mélanie René sang "Time to Shine," which is the poppiest entry. Mélanie sings it well, and this could be fierce at Eurovision!

17 year-old Tiziana, winner of The Voice of Switzerland, closed out the night. A lovely song, and a lovely voice. Members of the audience held up small glowing hearts during her song, "Only Human," and it really seemed like Tiziana had won over Switzerland.

After performing their original songs, the entrants were asked to cover a current pop song. This was a fun and completely unnecessary part of the competition. Deborah did Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off," Timebelle performed "Rude Boy" by Rihanna, Licia Chery did "All About that Bass" by Meghan Trainor (which was a better performance than her actual song, oops!). Andy McSean did "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol (minus points from me, Andy McSean). Mélanie performed Sia's "Chandelier," and Tiziana performed "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (which is a song 15 years older than Tiziana, so maybe not the most current).

And Conchita was there too! Conchita Wurst, the reigning queen of Eurovision, made an appearance and performed her winning song, "Rise Like a Phoenix" during the interval.

After the votes were tallied, host, Sven Epiney, announced the winner. Congratulations to Mélanie Réne!

I was worried the Swiss would go with something dull, but "Time To Shine" is definitely the best choice for Eurovision. Maybe some back-up dancers and a hot outfit for Mélanie, and this song will do well.

Europe's selection shows are taking place all over the continent, and soon, we will have a good idea of what Eurovision 2015 will look like. Next Saturday, Sweden's amazing Melodifestivalen will premiere, and I will be recapping each week.




**A note about the videos used in this post: These are not from the actual Die Entscheidungsshow that broadcast today. Before you freak out thinking that Switzerland is broke and rented out a conference room at the Zurich Airport Howard Johnson's for their national selection show: these are from an earlier date. Today's performances are not up on YouTube yet. I will update this post as they become available.