Oh the Swiss. You never quite know what you'll get with them. In 2004, the Swiss held thier last National Final until 2011. After erm... "disappointing" finishes in 2000, 2002 and after the just utter fail of 2004 (where they got dead last. In the Semi Final. With "Nul Points". The only time that's ever happened in the Semi Final to this day. Yes, 33 Nations gave points in the Semi Final, and not a single one [Even Austria!] deemed their song worthy of even a single point!), the Swiss broadcasters decided that the Swiss folk clearly had terrible taste in music and shouldn't be let anywhere near chosing the Swiss entry. This decision worked at least once (in 2005 when they chose an Estonian rock band to represent them) but other than that, hasn't done much better. Anywho, for a couple weeks, it looked as if the Swiss were finally taking ESC seriously with some pretty good songs in the running. Unfortunately, they chose "Celebrate!". The problem with "Celebrate!" isn't that it's a bad song (it's halfway ok sometimes), but that it completly polarized everyone. It either had to Win by a landslide or it would get nothing. It was just one of those things. At the time, most everyone thought/hoped (me included) that it wouldn't even get anywhere near the final, but i remember that more than a couple Eurovision commentaries thought it would do quite well. Guess who won that arguement?
Anywho, this year the Swiss presented 12 songs to compete for the ticket to Istanbul. For my selection, i chose my winner in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, i gave votes twice (once based on my rankings after the first listen and then based on a couple listens) to chose my top 4 songs. In the Second Round, i chose my winner by "Televoting"
Number - Title (Translation - Artist - Vote 01 - Vote 02 - Total - Round 02 - Place
01 - Fly Away - Tiffen - 05 - 04 - 09 - X - 5th =
02 - Sicuramente Uomini (Men For Sure) - Mauro Sabbioni - X - X - 00 - X - 11th =
03 - Something New - Carmen Fenk - 02 - 06 - 08 - X - 7th =
04 - Je Rêve D'Un Monde (I Dream Of A World) - Lorenzo Marra - X - X - 00 - X - 11th =
05 - The Ghost Of You - Daniela Brun - 01 - 02 - 03 - X - 10th
06 - L'Île De Lumière (The Island Of Light) - Fanny - 04 - 01 - 05 - X - 9th
07 - By Your Side - Mario Pacchioli - 03 - 05 - 08 - X - 7th =
08 - Heb Ab (Take Off) - Irina - 06 - 03 - 09 - X - 5th =
09 - You Are Pretty - A - Live - 07 - 10 - 17 - 26 132 - 4th
10 - Dove Nascono Gli Amori (Where Love Affairs Are Born) - Antonella Lafortezza - 12 - 08 - 20 - 41 429 - 2nd
11 - Le Monde Danse (The World Dances) - Caroline Agostinio - 10 - 12 - 22 - 46 847 - 1st
12 - Celebrate - Piero Esteriore And The MusicStars - 08 - 07 - 15 - 28 715 - 3rd
Comments -
Back in 2004, everyone and their mother knew that if it was left up to anyone but the Swiss, "Le Monde Danse" would clearly win. But because it was the Swiss, everyone was "cautiously optimistic" and therefore not surprised when it only got third. Personally, i remember being angry at them for chosing such a stupid song, but in time have grown to appreciate it. Over the years (for me), it's been a two way race between "Le Monde Danse" and "Dove Nascono Gli Amori" (both of which are just perfectly amazing songs). I remember having a very high opinion of "You Are Pretty", which (thankfully) has diminished through the years. All in all, it was a pretty good NF, but that's "Good" in relative to the Swiss. Looking back, i can see the Swiss had only 2 options : chose an amazing song ("Le Monde Danse") and have some pride, but have to worry about being overlooked, or chose "Celebrate!" and either win or fail, but be remembered. And since the Swiss have a complex about always being forgotten, their choice was clear.
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