# Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988

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Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi", composed by Atilla Şereftuğ, with lyrics by Nella Martinetti, and performed by Céline Dion. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), selected its entry through a national final. The entry went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest.

## Before Eurovision
### Regional preliminary rounds

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) held a national final to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1988. Each division of SRG SSR — Swiss German and Romansh broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz (SF DRS), Swiss French broadcater Télévision suisse romande (TSR), and Swiss Italian broadcaster Televisione Svizzera di lingua italiana (TSI) —, used its own method to select its entries for the final. Eligible songs were required to have been composed by songwriters from Switzerland or Liechtenstein.
It is unknown how the regional broadcasters selected their songs, but more than 150 songs were submitted in total. Among the rejected artists in the TSR preselection were Alain Morisod and Arlette Zola— who represented Switzerland in 1982. In total, 181 songs were submitted (with 153 being evaluated), of which ten were selected: three in French, German, and Italian, and one in Romansh.

### Concours Eurovision de la Chanson '88

TSR staged the national final on 6 February 1988 at 20:40 CET at the Théâtre de Beausobre [fr] in Morges. It was hosted by Serge Moisson [fr]. The national final was broadcast on TV DRS (with commentary by Beat Antenen; also in Romansh commentary by Mariano Tschuor [rm] on TSR), TSR, and TSI (via TSR, with commentary by Giovanni Bertini). Popular theater troupe Mummenschanz made a guest appearance.
Ten songs were initially set to compete in the national final, with three songs in French, German, and Italian, and one in Romansh. Among the participants was Furbaz — would later represent Switzerland in 1989. "Smile" by Yama was later withdrawn by the composer due to the artist not meeting the age requirement and being less than 17 years old.
Participating entries :
| R/O | Artist(s) | Song | Songwriter(s) | Songwriter(s) | Language |
| R/O | Artist(s) | Song | Composer | Lyricist | Language |
| 1 | Yama | "Smile" | Daniele Christen | Daniele Christen | Italian |
| 2 | Hertz | "Muet" | Angelo ClematideCarlo SchusterMax Walter | Max Walter | German |
| 3 | Isabelle Alba | "Clown dans la sciure" | Eric Weber | Pierre Alain | French |
| 4 | Renato Mascetti | "L'isola" | Renato Mascetti | Renato Mascetti | Italian |
| 5 | Bernadette | "Balalaika in der Sommernacht" | Günter Loose [de] | Günter Loose [de] | German |
| 6 | Furbaz | "Sentiments" | Marie-Louise Werth | Marie-Louise Werth | Romansh |
| 7 | Cocktail Band | "Tu sei" | Andreas Messerli | Beat Gfeller | Italian |
| 8 | Gemo | "Prisonnier de l'amour" | Marco Schiess | Marco Schiess | French |
| 9 | Manuela Felice | "Gibt es auf der Welt denn keine Liebe mehr?" | Enrico Peyer | Erica Brunelli | German |
| 10 | Céline Dion | "Ne partez pas sans moi" | Atilla Şereftuğ | Nella Martinetti | French |
The voting consisted of regional public votes which were sent to the three divisions of SRG SSR (SF DRS, TSR, TSI: German-Romansh, French, and Italian speaking, respectively), a press jury, and a 14-member "expert" jury. Applications for viewers to join the regional juries were sent via postcard until the week before the final, 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 "Ne partez pas sans moi", composed by Atilla Şereftuğ, with lyrics by Nella Martinetti, and performed by Céline Dion.
Participating entries :
| 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 | Hertz | "Muet" | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 7 |
| 2 | Isabelle Alba | "Clown dans la sciure" | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 8 |
| 3 | Renato Mascetti | "L'isola" | 6 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 35 | 3 |
| 4 | Bernadette | "Balalaika in der Sommernacht" | 5 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 24 | 5 |
| 5 | Furbaz | "Sentiments" | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 37 | 2 |
| 6 | Cocktail Band | "Tu sei" | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 4 |
| 7 | Gemo | "Prisonnier de l'amour" | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 23 | 6 |
| 8 | Manuela Felice | "Gibt es auf der Welt denn keine Liebe mehr?" | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 9 |
| 9 | Céline Dion | "Ne partez pas sans moi" | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 44 | 1 |

## At Eurovision

At the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, held at the RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion in Dublin, the Swiss entry was the ninth entry of the night following Israel and preceding Ireland. The Swiss conductor at the contest was Atilla Şereftuğ, who composed the song and the 1986 Swiss entry, in which he also conducted. At the close of voting, Switzerland had received 137 points in total; and won the contest by a single point ahead of the United Kingdom.
This is the second of three instances where Switzerland won the Eurovision Song Contest, with their first victory being in the inaugural edition in 1956 with "Refrain" by Lys Assia and in 2024 with "The Code" by Nemo.

### 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.

## 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, 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 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" by Sertab Erener 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.