Switzerland makes it through to Eurovision final

Remo Forrer in action in Liverpool on Tuesday night Keystone / Adam Vaughan

Switzerland has reached the final of the Eurovision Song Contest for the fourth year in a row. Remo Forrer will perform his ballad “Watergun” in front of a live audience in Liverpool on Saturday.

“It’s a huge dream come true,” Forrer, 21, told Swiss public television, SRF, on Tuesday evening. He follows Swiss acts Marius Bear, Gjon’s Tears and Luca Hänni in reaching the final.

Forrer told SRF he had planned to have a beer after his performance – and if he hadn’t made it to the final, he would have had two.

Forrer grew up in northeastern Switzerland in a musical family and won the third season of The Voice of Switzerland, a reality talent show, in 2020. He plays the accordion and the piano, but his focus was on singing from an early age.

Sweden and Finland have the best chance of winning the 67^th Eurovision Song ContestExternal link on Saturday, according to bookmakersExternal link.

In addition to Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia, Moldova, Norway, Serbia, Portugal, Israel, the Czech Republic and Finland also made it to the final, where they will join last year’s winners Ukraine and the winners of Thursday’s second semi-final.

United by music

The theme of this year’s Eurovision is “United By Music”, which was reflected in the strong emphasis on solidarity with Ukraine. According to the rules, Ukraine should have hosted the contest as last year’s winner, but due to Russia’s invasion last year’s runner-up, Britain, offered to host it.

“This is the first time a country has organised a Eurovision Song Contest for another country, and Liverpool welcomed us with open arms,” Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina said at the start of the evening.

The Eurovision Song Contest was initiated by the Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union in 1956 – Switzerland won the inaugural competition – and has become one of Europe’s most popular annual music events.