A Swede who lives in Finland and who is lost in Euroland - the wonderful world of Eurovision
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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Quite an uphill for Switzerland

Despite hosting and winning the very first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1956, Switzerland has never been any of the strongest countries in competition.

That is probably due to the fact that the Swiss entries in general have stuck pretty close to the general idea most people would have of Switzerland itself: conservative, clean-cut, modest and inoffensive. No sharp edges, no big surprises.

Back in the day when juries reigned supreme, the recipe still worked pretty well. To score with the juries, you could collect safe points just by being safe and reliable. Smile sweetly and the crowds won't love you, but you will collect enough points on average to do reasonably well.

In televoting, however, this does not work at all. In order to get points you need to stand out and stick in the viewer's minds. You have to distinguish yourself (not necessarily in a positive light) and be the one people will remember once the recap of songs begins.

Switzerland was the first country to select their entry for 2011 and again they have fallen for something sweet and harmless.

"In Love For A While" is not a bad song as such - it is a hummable little ditty which creates a pretty pleasant feel with it's acoustic banjo sound. Anna Rossinelli has an OK voice and feels a bit like Lena Meyer Landrut's older sister, but she does not have an easy job. The chorus (which bears a slight ressemblance to "Got To Get You Into My Life" by the Beatles) is hard to sing without losing your breath, which somehow damages the light feeling the rest of the song tries to put across.

Anna will also suffer from the Lena comparison, but I have a feeling more countries will cough up something slightly too similar to last year's winner before the national selections are over.

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