Switzerland competed at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1988 The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following Johnny Logan's win at the with the song " Hold Me Now". Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU ...

, held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The Swiss entry, which won the competition, was

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

with the French language song "

Ne partez pas sans moi "Ne partez pas sans moi" (; "Don't Leave Without Me") is a song recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion. The song was written by Atilla Şereftuğ and Nella Martinetti. It is best known as the Swiss winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contes ...

", composed by Atilla Şereftuğ and Nella Martinetti.

Before Eurovision

National final

The Swiss entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was selected through a national final. The final was held on 6 February 1988 at the Théâtre de Beausobre in Morges, hosted by Serge Moisson. There were originally meant to be ten songs competing, but the song "Smile" by Yama was disqualified as the singer did not meet the minimum age requirements. The winner was selected by three regional juries, a press jury and another jury of experts.

At Eurovision

Dion performed 9th on the night of the contest, following

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and preceding

. She went on to win the contest, receiving 137 points in total. The Swiss conductor at the contest was the composer of the song, Atilla Şereftuğ.

Voting

''Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest''

In 2005, "Ne partez pas sans moi" was one of fourteen songs chosen by Eurovision fans and an EBU reference group to participate in the ''Congratulations'' anniversary competition. It was the only Swiss entry featured, although several Swiss entries were featured in clip montages and

Lys Assia Lys Assia (born Rosa Mina Schärer; 3 March 1924 – 24 March 2018) was a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed to singing in 1940 ...

, who won the first-ever contest on behalf of Switzerland, made an appearance performing her winning entry " Refrain." The special was broadcast live on all three major Swiss public broadcasters, with 1991 Swiss entrant

Sandra Studer Sandra Studer (born 10 February 1969 in Zürich) is a Swiss moderator and singer who represented Switzerland in Eurovision Song Contest 1991, which was held in Rome, Italy. Performing with the stage name Sandra Simó, she came fifth with her song ...

commentating in German, Serge Moisson commentating in French, and Sandy Altermatt commentating in Italian. "Ne partez pas sans moi" appeared eleventh in the running order, following "

Everyway That I Can "Everyway That I Can" is the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 sung in English by Sertab Erener for . The song was written by Demir Demirkan in early 2003 and produced and arranged by Ozan Çolakoğlu, famous for his works with pop ...

" by

Sertab Erener Sertab Erener (born 4 December 1964) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. With her coloratura soprano voice, she started working as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu, and with Aksu's help she released her first studio album in the 1990 ...

and preceding " Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan. Like the majority of entries that night, the performance was mostly by a group of dancers alongside footage of Dion's Eurovision performance; however, Dion was unavailable to make an in-person appearance (perhaps understandably, as her fame had increased significantly in the wake of her victory). At the end of the first round, "Ne partez pas sans moi" was not one of the five entries announced as proceeding to the second round. It was later revealed that the song finished tenth with 98 points.

Voting

References

{{Congratulations (Eurovision)

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 Eurovision Celine Dion