Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 60 times since making its debut at the first contest in, missing only four contests, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956 in Lugano, and won it. Switzerland won the contest again in 1988, with the contest being held in Lausanne.
Lys Assia won the first contest in 1956 with the song "Refrain". She returned to place second in. Switzerland would go on to finish second with Esther Ofarim and Daniela Simmons and third with Franca Di Rienzo and Arlette Zola, before winning the contest for the second time in with Celine Dion and the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Annie Cotton gave the country its 15th top five result in, when she placed third.
Since the introduction of the semi-final round in 2004, Switzerland have failed to reach the final in 11 of 16 contests. Switzerland returned to the top five for the first time in 26 years when Luca Hänni gave the country its 16th top five result by finishing fourth in. The country's only other top 10 result of the 21st century is Estonian girl group Vanilla Ninja's eighth-place in.
Absences
Switzerland had been absent from Eurovision four times since their participation began in the first contest. These absences, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003 were caused by poor results in previous contests that relegated Switzerland from the contest.Contestants
Switzerland has four official languages, French, German, Italian, and Romansh. For decades, the song requirements stated that the song had to be performed in a national language, which gave Switzerland leeway as they could perform in any of the four languages. Out of their 60 appearances in the Contest, Switzerland has sent 61 songs, 23 of which were in French, 12 in German, 15 in English, 10 in Italian and 1 in Romansh. Both of Switzerland's winning songs have been sung in French.| 1 | Winner |
| 2 | Second place |
| 3 | Third place |
| ◁ | Last place |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete |
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
Hostings
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenter |
| Lugano | Teatro Kursaal | Lohengrin Filipello | |
| Lausanne | Palais de Beaulieu | Lolita Morena and Jacques Deschenaux |