Switzerland was represented at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song "What's Another Year" performed by Johnny Logan. Organised by the Euro ...

with the song "", written by Peter Reber and

Nella Martinetti Nella Martinetti (21 January 1946 – 29 July 2011) was a Swiss singer, songwriter and actress, affectionately known as "Bella Nella". She was born in Brissago, Ticino, Switzerland. In 1986, she became the first winner of the Grand Prix der ...

, and performed by

Peter, Sue and Marc Peter, Sue and Marc were a Switzerland, Swiss music group from Bern. The members were Peter Reber (born 1949, vocals / piano / guitar), Sue Schell (born 1950 in New York, vocals), and Marc Dietrich (born 1948, vocals / guitar). They represented S ...

. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the

Swiss Broadcasting Corporation The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...

(SRG SSR), selected its entry for the contest through a national final.

Before Eurovision

The

(SRG SSR) held a national final to select its entry for the

. The broadcaster received 67 total song submissions, and initially selected four to take part in the selection (three in Italian and one in German). Due to the lack of songs selected by the juries, the broadcaster commissioned popular Swiss artists to submit two more songs— "San Gottardo" by Swiss Union and "" by . In total, six songs were set to compete, with three being in Italian, two in German, and one in French. Among the participants were

, who represented , and , and Piera Martell, who represented , who was a member of Swiss Union.

Mariella Farré Mariella Farré (born 7 January 1963 in Thurgau as Gabriella Filomeno) is a Swiss singer of Italian descent, best known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contests of 1983 and 1985. Farré's first attempt at Eurovision came in 1981 when ...

would later represent and , and Franz Müller, one of the members of Swiss Union, would represent .

Swiss French Swiss French ( or ') is the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, the others being German, Italian, and Romansch. In 2020 around 2 ...

broadcaster (TSR) staged the national final on 21 February 1981 at 21:20

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

at the Palladium in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. It was presented by . The

Ken Warwick Ken Warwick is a British television executive producer and director, most noted for producing the reality television series ''American Idol'', and '' Pop Idol''. Before being a producer he was a dancer/choreographer, previously being a member of B ...

Ballet, the Le Feuillu Orchestra, and Jean Madd made guest appearances. The voting consisted of regional public votes which were sent to the three divisions of

SRG SSR The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (; ; ; ; SRG SSR) is the Swiss public broadcasting association, founded in 1931, the holding company of 24 radio and television channels. Headquartered in Bern, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation is a non-pro ...

( DRS, TSR,

TSI TSI may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Technology Schools Initiative * Thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin * Time-Slot Interchange, communications network switches * Total solar irradiance received at top of atmosphere * Triple suga ...

: German, French, and Italian speaking, respectively), a press jury, and an "expert" jury. Applications for viewers to join the regional juries were sent via postcard until 14 February, and 50 viewers from each canton were randomly selected to cast their votes to their broadcaster divisions via phone call. The winner was the song "", composed by

and and performed by

, marking the fourth and last time the trio entered the Eurovision Song Contest.

At Eurovision

At the Eurovision Song Contest 1981, held at the

RDS Simmonscourt The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) () is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. It was long active as a learned ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, the Swiss entry was the nineteenth entry of the night following and preceding . The Swiss conductor at the contest was

Rolf Zuckowski Rolf Zuckowski (born 12 May 1947) is a German singer-songwriter. He has written and composed music especially for children, but his songs are very popular among adults, too. His compositions involve children in music throughout their childhood an ...

, who previously conducted the . At the close of voting, Switzerland had received 121 points in total; finishing in fourth place out of twenty countries.

Voting

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.

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1981

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...