Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998

Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Lass ihn" written by Egon Egemann and Gunvor Guggisberg. The song was performed by Gunvor. Songwriter Egon Egemann represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 with the song "Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus" where he placed eleventh in the competition. The Swiss entry for the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom was selected through a national final organised by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR). Six entries performed during the national final on 18 December 1997 where regional televoting selected "Lass ihn" performed by Gunvor as the winner.

Switzerland competed in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 9 May 1998. Performing during the show in position 5, Switzerland placed twenty-fifth (last) out of the 25 participating countries and failed to score any points, making it the fourth time the nation had placed last in the history of the competition and the third time the nation received nul points.

Background
Prior to the 1998 Contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-one times since its first entry in 1956. Switzerland is noted for having won the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Refrain" performed by Lys Assia. Their second and, to this point, most recent victory was achieved in 1988 when Canadian singer Céline Dion won the contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". In 1997, Switzerland placed 22nd earning 5 points with the song "Dentro di me" performed by Barbara Berta.

The Swiss national broadcaster, Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR), broadcasts the event within Switzerland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Switzerland has selected their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest through both national finals and internal selections in the past. Between 1994 and 1997, the Swiss entry was internally selected for the competition. For their 1998 entry, the broadcaster opted to organize a national final in order to select the Swiss entry.

National final
The national final that selected Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 took place on 18 December 1997 at the studios of the Swiss-German broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz (SF DRS) in Zürich, hosted by Sandra Studer and was televised on SF 1, TSI 2 with Italian commentary and TSR 2 with French commentary. Six candidate songs, selected by a jury panel consisting of music and media experts as well as representatives of the three broadcasters in Switzerland: SF DRS, the Swiss-French broadcaster Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI) following an open submission for entries, were performed and regional televoting selected "Lass ihn" performed by Gunvor as the winner.

In addition to the performances from the competing artists, the interval acts featured a medley of Eurovision Song Contest winning songs: Sandra Studer performed "Nel blu, dipinto di blu", British 1997 contest winner Katrina Leskanich performed "Ding-a-dong", and Irish 1980 and 1987 contests winner Johnny Logan performed "Merci, Chérie". Studer, Leskanich and Logan together performed "Waterloo" and "Save Your Kisses for Me", while Leskanich also performed her song "Walk on Water" with her band The Waves.

At Eurovision
According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the eight countries which had obtained the lowest average number of points over the last five contests competed in the final on 9 May 1998. On 13 November 1997, an allocation draw was held which determined the running order and Switzerland was set to perform in position 5, following the entry from Spain and before the entry from Slovakia. The day before the contest, Switzerland was considered by bookmakers to be the eleventh most likely country to win the competition. Switzerland finished in twenty-fifth (last) place failing to score any points. This was the fourth time Switzerland finished in last place and the third time the nation received nul points after 1964 and 1967.

In Switzerland, the contest was aired on the three broadcasters that form SRG SSR: Heinz Margot and Roman Kilchsperger provided German commentary on SF 2, Jean-Marc Richard provided French commentary on TSR 1, while Jonathan Tedesco provided Italian commentary on TSI 1. The Swiss spokesperson, who announced the Swiss votes during the show, was Regula Elsener.

Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Switzerland and awarded by Switzerland in the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Germany in the contest.

Points awarded to and by Switzerland
Switzerland did not receive any points at the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest.