Prior to the 2021 Contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty times since their first entry in 1956. Switzerland is noted for having won the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Refrain" performed by Lys Assia. Their second and, to this point, most recent victory was achieved in 1988 when Canadian singer Céline Dion won the contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Switzerland had managed to participate in the final four times up to this point. In 2005, the internal selection of Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, performing the song "Cool Vibes", qualified Switzerland to the final where they placed 8th. Due to their successful result in 2005, Switzerland was pre-qualified to compete directly in the final in 2006. Between 2007 and 2010, the nation failed to qualify to the final after a string of internal selections. Since opting to organize a national final from 2011 to 2018, Switzerland has managed to qualify to the final twice. In 2019, following a return to the internal selection method, Switzerland qualified for the final for the first time since 2014, placing 4th in the final with the song "She Got Me" performed by Luca Hänni.