# Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978

Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 with the song "Vivre", composed by Alain Morisod, with lyrics by Pierre Alain, and performed by Carole Vinci [fr]. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), selected its entry for the contest through a national final.

## Before Eurovision
### Schweizer Finale

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) held a national final to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1978. The broadcaster received 95 total song submissions (53 in French, 29 in German, and 13 in Italian). In October 1977, a jury internally shortlisted 14 songs before ultimately selecting seven to take part in the selection, with five being performed in French and two in Italian. None of the songs in the selection were performed in German. Among the participants was Piera Martell— who represented Switzerland in 1974.
Swiss German and Romansh broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz (SF DRS) staged the national final on 18 January 1978 at 21:05 CET in Zürich. It was presented by Christian Heeb, with Peter Jacques [de] conducting the orchestra. Marie Myriam— who won Eurovision for France in 1977 — and the Günter Kallmann Choir [de] made guest appearances.
Participating entries :
| R/O | Artist(s) | Song | Songwriter(s) | Songwriter(s) | Language |
| R/O | Artist(s) | Song | Composer | Lyricist | Language |
| 1 | Françoise Rime | "Quand l'amour rencontre un jour une chanson" | Alain Morisod | Jean-Jacques Egli | French |
| 2 | Piera Martell | "Hier, Pierre" | Pierre Cavalli [de] | Max Rüeger [de] | French |
| 3 | Isabelle Alba | "Colombe chante" | Pierre Alain | Pierre Alain | French |
| 4 | Marisa Frigerio | "Il chiromante" | Raphael Gibardi | Raphael Gibardi | Italian |
| 5 | Carole Vinci [fr] | "Vivre" | Alain Morisod | Pierre Alain | French |
| 6 | Salvo Ingrassia [de] | "Solo tu" | Ambros Baumann | Ambros Baumann | Italian |
| 7 | Alain Morisod et son Groupe | "Hey! Le musicien" | Alain Morisod | Alain Morisod | French |
The voting consisted of regional public votes which were sent to the three divisions of SRG SSR (DRS, TSR, TSI: German, French, and Italian speaking, respectively), a press jury, and an "expert" jury. Applications for viewers from Switzerland and Liechtenstein to join the regional juries were sent via postcard until 10 January, 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 "Vivre", composed by Alain Morisod, with lyrics by Pierre Alain, and performed by Carole Vinci [fr].
Final — 18 January 1978 :
| R/O | Artist(s) | Song | Regional Juries | Regional Juries | Regional Juries | Press Jury | Expert Jury | Total | Place |
| R/O | Artist(s) | Song | DRS | TSR | TSI | Press Jury | Expert Jury | Total | Place |
| 1 | Françoise Rime | "Quand l'amour rencontre un jour une chanson" | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 3 |
| 2 | Piera Martell | "Hier, Pierre" | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 6 |
| 3 | Isabelle Alba | "Colombe chante" | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 6 |
| 4 | Marisa Frigerio | "Il chiromante" | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 5 |
| 5 | Carole Vinci [fr] | "Vivre" | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 32 | 1 |
| 6 | Salvo Ingrassia [de] | "Solo tu" | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 21 | 4 |
| 7 | Alain Morisod et son Groupe | "Hey! Le musicien" | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 31 | 2 |

## At Eurovision

At the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, held at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, the Swiss entry was the ninth entry of the night following the United Kingdom and preceding Belgium. The Swiss conductor at the contest was Daniel Janin [fr]. At the close of voting, Switzerland had received 65 points in total; finishing in ninth 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. Until 1980, the votes were given in the order the awarded songs were performed in, rather than in ascending numerical order.