Switzerland at Eurovision
Switzerland is one of the founding members of the Eurovision Song Contest, hosting the first ever show in Lugano in 1956. It has recorded two wins so far, in the very first Contest, Lys Assia took the title with 'Refrain', and in 1988 it was a one point victory for the wonderful Celine Dion with 'Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi'.
More recently, Switzerland has had a rather patchy record. Since 2007, it has qualified only four times, including a last place in 2011. However, the two most recent contests have produced great results for the Swiss; Luca Hanni finished fourth in 2019 with 'She Got Me', while Gjon's Tears won the jury vote in 2021 and placed third overall with 'Tout l'Univers'.
2022 entry: Marius Bear - 'Boys Do Cry'
Switzerland will perform in fourth position in the first semi-final
My Eurovision Scoreboard ranking: 38th
Odds to win ranking: 13th
Who is Marius Bear?
Marius Hügli, aka Marius Bear, is a 28-year-old singer-songwriter from Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland's north-east. Marius is actually a trained construction machinery mechanic, but he plays the guitar and studied music production at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute.
He gained popularity after appearing on the RTL TV show 'I Can See Your Voice'. Marius released two studio albums in 2018 and 2019, with his debut album peaking at #20 on the Swiss charts. He received critical acclaim also, winning Best Talent at the Swiss Music Awards in 2019.
He released a third album in March titled 'Boys Do Cry' to tie in with his Eurovision song of the same name, which he is also touring. This newfound notoriety is paying immediate dividends, with the new album peaking at #5 on the Swiss charts.
About the song
'Boys Do Cry' is a self-penned track in English, written alongside Canadian-German musician Martin Gallop, who has released six studio albums. The song contains heartfelt lyrics and Marius' smooth voice is accompanied with some paired-back production to create an atmospheric entry.
About the entry, Marius said:
“I learnt very early on that I don’t need to be ashamed of my feelings. As a man, I’m not afraid to cry and to lay bare my weaknesses to my audience. I don’t want to wear emotional armour, I want to be who I am. And I want to encourage my audience to do the same.”
How was 'Boys Do Cry' Selected?
Switzerland has used the same successful process this year as in the past few. Two juries, each with 50% say, vote on the selected shortlist created by the broadcaster. The first jury is made up of 100 Swiss viewers, and the other is made up of international Eurovision experts, who have to be either a former artist/songwriter or have been on a national jury.
The international expert jury this year is as follows:
Ilinca – Romania 2017 artist
Ovidiu Jacobsen – Romania 2010 & 2014 artist
PAENDA – Austria 2019 artist
Helga Möller – Iceland 1986 artist
Tinkara Kovač – Slovenia 2014 artist
Ludmila Kuts – Backing singer for Belarus in 2011
Pete Watson – United Kingdom
Mark De-Lisser – United Kingdom
Henrik Johnsson – Sweden
Grzegorz Urban – Poland
Argyro Christodoulides – Cyprus
Amie Borgar – Finland
Gore Melian – Armenia
Milan Havrda – Czech Republic
Julian le Play – Austria
Samuli Väänänen – Finland
Florent Luyckx – Netherlands
Karl-Ander Reismann – Estonia
Deivydas Zvonkus – Lithuania
Anders Øhrstrøm – Denmark
Maria Marcus – Sweden
Alexey Gross – Belarus
Gordon Groothedde – Netherlands
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Switzerland will compete 12th in the first semi-final on May 10 (European time) in Turin.
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