1966-switzerland-madeleine-pascal-ne
1966 - Switzerland
Performed by: Madeleine Pascal
Music by: Pierre Brenner
Lyrics by: Roland Schweizer
Conductor: Jean Roderes
Language: French
Placing: 6th (12 points)
Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 64 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year: 1995, 1999, 2001, and 2003. Switzerland hosted the inaugural contest in 1956 in Lugano, where it also won. The country claimed its second victory in 1988, 32 years after the first, and its third in 2024, 36 years after the second win.
Lys Assia won the inaugural contest in 1956 with the song "Refrain" and returned to place second in 1958. Switzerland achieved second place with Esther Ofarim (1963) and Daniela Simmons (1986), and third place with Franca di Rienzo (1961) and Arlette Zola (1982). The country won for the second time in 1988 with Céline Dion and the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Annie Cotton secured Switzerland's 15th top-five finish by placing third in 1993.
Since the introduction of the qualifying round in 1993, Switzerland has reached the top ten only four times. Since the semi-final round's inception in 2004, the country has failed to reach the final in 11 of 19 contests, finishing last in the semi-final on four occasions. Switzerland returned to the top five after 26 years when Luca Hänni finished fourth in 2019, achieving the country's 16th top-five result. This was followed by Gjon's Tears placing third in 2021, marking the 17th top-five finish. Switzerland won the contest for the third time in 2024, with Nemo and the song "The Code". The country has also finished last in the semi-finals four times since 2004, with Piero and the MusicStars (2004), Michael von der Heide (2010), Mélanie René (2015), and Rykka (2016).
Switzerland has four official languages, French, German, Italian, and Romansh. For intermittent periods prior to its abolition in 1999, the rules stated that the song had to be performed in an official language, which gave Switzerland leeway as it could submit entries in any of the four languages. Out of its 64 appearances in the contest, Switzerland has sent 65 songs, 24 of which were in French, 12 in German, 18 in English, 10 in Italian and 1 in Romansh. The first two of Switzerland's winning songs were sung in French, with the third being sung in English.
A mix of different selection processes have been used to determine Switzerland's entry in each year's contest. Since 2019, SRG SSR has used an internal selection process, although televised national finals were used in previous years, held under various names including Concours Eurovision from the 1950s to 2000s, and Die Grosse Entscheidungsshow between 2011 and 2018. In the 1980s, the Swiss national finals tended to have ten participating songs each year: three in French, three in German, three in Italian and one in Romansch.
Lyrics:
Ne vois-tu pas?
Ne vois-tu pas qu'à présent je ne suis plus une enfant?
Ne vois-tu pas que les années ont passé?
Depuis le temps, mon cœur aussi a grandi
Et je t'aime autrement qu'en amie
Ne vois-tu pas – chaque fois que tu me prends par le bras
Ne vois-tu pas que je m'appuie contre toi?
Quand tu m'embrasses, on dirait bien, j'en ai peur
Que l'on est, toi et moi, frère et sœur
On dit que l'amour est aveugle
Mais moi, je crois qu'il est sourd comme toi
Il est vrai je suis toute seule quand je te dis ça
Ne vois-tu pas qu'à présent je ne suis plus une enfant?
Ne vois-tu pas que les années ont passé?
Au fond de moi, l'amour aussi a grandi
Et je t'aime autrement qu'en amie
Ne vois-tu pas – cette fois que je t'ai pris par le bras
Ne vois-tu pas que tu t'appuies contre moi?
Le premier pas, j'ai dû le faire avant toi
Et tu m'aimes depuis ce jour-là
Et l'on s'aime depuis ce jour-là
ENGLISH:
Don't you see?
Don't you see that nowadays I'm not a child anymore?
Don't you see that the years have passed?
Since then, my heart has also grown
And I love you more than a friend
Don't you see – each time you take my arm
Don't you see that I lean on you?
When you embrace me, I'm afraid one would say
That we are, you and me, brother and sister
People say that love is blind
But I think it's deaf like you
It's true that I'm all alone when I tell you that
Don't you see that I'm not a child anymore nowadays?
Don't you see that the years have passed?
Deep in me, love has grown too
And I love you much more than a friend
Don't you see – now that I have taken your arm
Don't you see that you lean on me?
The first step, I had to take it before you
And you love me since that day
And we love each other since that day
...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj2BK8XpT-4
Transaction
Created
2 days ago
Content Type
Language
video/mp4
English