Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 with the song "Swiss Lady", written by , and performed by the Pepe Lienhard Band. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), selected its entry for the contest through a national final.

Before Eurovision

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) held a national final to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1977. Auditions were held from 30 August to 22 October, 1976 for interested songwriters, where the broadcaster received 110 total song submissions (64 in French, 32 in German, and 14 in Italian), and shortlisted twenty songs. On 24 November, the national jury ultimately selected ten to take part in the selection, with six being performed in French, three in German, and one in Italian.

Among the participants were Véronique Müller, who represented ; Piera Martell, who represented ; and Paola del Medico, who represented and would repeat in . would later represent . Paola was selected with two different songs, but was required to withdraw one due to a rule stating all participating artists must perform only one song. The song "Wunderbar" was ultimately chosen to be removed from the lineup.

Swiss German and Romansh broadcaster (SF DRS) staged the national final on 19 January 1977 at 21:00 CET in Zürich. It was presented by Rita Anderman, with conducting the orchestra. Peter, Sue and Marc, who represented and , and Brotherhood of Man, who won Eurovision for the , made guest appearances.

+Participating entriesArtist(s)SongSongwriter(s)Language Composer Lyricist Sweet People "" Jean-Jacques Egli French Véronique Müller "Heyho" Véronique Müller French Piera Martell "Aldo Rinaldo" German Leonia "" Raphael Gibardi Italian Pepe Lienhard Band "Swiss Lady" German "" Thierry Fervant French Gérald Matthey "" Thierry Fervant French Frédérique Sand "" Frank Olivier Hay French Paola "" French "" German

The voting consisted of regional public votes which were sent to the three divisions of SRG SSR (DRS, TSR, TSI: German, French and Italian speaking, respectively), a press jury, and a jury of music experts. Applications for viewers to join the regional juries were sent via postcard until 12 January, and 50 viewers from each canton were randomly selected to cast their votes to their broadcaster divisions via phone call. Additionally, one random voter in the public jury would be drawn to be invited to attend the Eurovision Song Contest as an audience member along with a companion. The selected voter was Verena Hofer. Due to technical difficulties regarding the Swiss-French jury, their votes were announced later than scheduled. The winner was the song "Swiss Lady", written by , and performed by the Pepe Lienhard Band.

+Final — 19 January 1977 R/O Artist(s) Song Regional Juries PressJury ExpertJury Total Place DRS TSI TSR 1 Sweet People "" 7 6 7 7 7 34 3 2 Véronique Müller "Heyho" 4 4 3 5 2 18 6 3 Piera Martell "Aldo Rinaldo" 6 5 6 4 5 26 4 4 Leonia "" 2 7 2 2 4 17 7 5 Pepe Lienhard Band "Swiss Lady" 9 9 9 9 8 44 1 6 "" 5 4 5 6 6 26 4 7 Gérald Matthey"" 1 4 4 3 3 15 8 8 Frédérique Sand "" 3 1 1 1 1 7 9 9 Paola "" 8 8 8 8 9 41 2

At Eurovision At the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, held at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, the Swiss entry was the twelfth entry of the night following and preceding . The Swiss conductor at the contest was Peter Jacques, who previously conducted the . At the close of voting, Switzerland had received 71 points in total; finishing in sixth place out of eighteen countries.

Voting Each participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel with at least eleven members. The jurors awarded 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their top ten songs. Until , the votes were given in the order the awarded songs were performed in, rather than in ascending numerical order.

+ Points awarded to Switzerland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by Switzerland Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

References