Switzerland at Eurovision: the colourful hits and misses

Is this the year? Will Nemo win the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland and break a 36-year drought? In anticipation of victory, here’s a look at some of Switzerland’s highs and less highs at the kaleidoscopic competition. On Thursday 24-year-old rapper Nemo was chosen to represent Switzerland in the Swedish city of Malmö. Nemo’s entry, The Code, a feisty mixture of rap, drum’n’bass, opera and artcore, has been well received, and British bookmakers reckon it’s got a chance (Croatia seems the tune to beat). Whether The Code will convince voters in around 140 countries in the semifinal on May 9 and then, hopefully, the final on May 11 remains to be seen, but we wish Nemo well. Mind you, it’s probably best not to get your hopes up too high. Part of the problem is that the Swiss won the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest, held in Geneva in 1956, and it’s only been downhill and disappointment since then. Lys Assia won with Refrain and represented Switzerland again in 1957 and 1958.