Music The 70th Eurovision Song Contest continues without Switzerland
It was a nail-biter right to the end. But now it's clear: the final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) will take place without Switzerland.
14.05.2026, 23:19
14.05.2026, 23:56
SDA
Thun musician Veronica Fusaro and her entourage worried about making it to the final in the Green Room, which looked like a Viennese coffee house. And then it happened just as the bookmakers predicted: Switzerland failed to clear the semi-final hurdle in the ESC.
There were other omens as well: During the first rehearsals, not everything always went smoothly. However, there was no sign of this during the performance. Fusaro and the dancers delivered on stage on Thursday evening.
The song was probably the deciding factor: The rock ballad "Alice" clearly stood out from the other entries and seemed less typical of the ESC. With the striking guitar solo towards the end, you would have thought it could have been enough.
Hardly any surprises
Denmark and Australia also made it through, which is hardly surprising. Søren Torpegaard Lund switched to a head voice in his wistful party song "Før vi går hjem" - which seems to be a recipe for success at the ESC at the moment. The gold-soaked staging of the pop number "Eclipse" by Australian Delta Goodrem and her glittering grand piano will also be seen again in the final.
In general, there were hardly any surprises at the end. The countries that were eliminated from the competition were those that the bookmakers predicted. In addition to Switzerland, these were Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Armenia and Latvia.
