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    SWITZERLAND     
Song : "Era Stupendo" (It Was Wonderful)

Performer : Paolo Meneguzzi
Music : Paolo Meneguzzi
Lyrics : Vincenzo Incenzo & Paolo Meneguzzi

Running Order : #7 in the second semi-final 

 Audio file
Preview video
Live Performance

THIS YEAR'S ENTRY

Until 2007, Switzerland had a unique place in Eurovision history, being the only country to win the competition at its first attempt, but then someone had to win the first contest (also staged in Switzerland) back in 1956. Switzerland's only victory since then came in Dublin in 1988, when Canadian singer Celine Dion came out on top. Since then Switzerland's record in the contest has been generally poor, with only one Top 10 result in the last ten years and Switzerland was the last country to finish with the dread "nil points", back in the semi-final in 2004.

Having surprisingly failed to qualify for the final in Helsinki in 2007, when DJ Bobo and "Vampires Are Alive" was one of the pre-contst favourites, perhaps surprisinly Swiss television have gone for an internal selection once again.

In the last week of November, it was announced that 30 year old Paolo Meneguzzi, who originates from the Italian speaking area of the country, would represent Switzerland in Belgrade, making him the second confirmed performer in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, after Israel's Boaz Mauda. However unlike in Israel, the Swiss song was also chosen internally and on January 12th, Paolo performed his own song "Era Stupendo" for the first time, on Swiss television.

Paolo Meneguzzi has over the last decade become one of the most highly acclaimed singers on the Italian music scene. However it was in South America that Paolo first hit the limelight. In 1996,in Chile when still unknown back home he won the famous Viña del Mar Festival with the song "Aria".

In 2001, he took part in the San Remo Festival in the Young Musicians Section, where his "Ed Io Non Ci Sto Più" (And I Am No More) came seventh. His first Italian hit arrived the following year with his single "In Nome Dell’Amore" (In The Name Of Love), recorded in London. In just a few weeks this track raced up the charts staying at the top of the Italian singles charts for over two months.

In April 2003 , his second single "Vero Falso" (True False) was released, it took just three weeks for it to reach the top five in the Music Control charts. In October of the same year his third single Lei è (You) was released. The album of the same name, released in October went double platinum, selling more than 200,000 copies.

In March of 2004 he took part in the 54th San Remo festival with the song "Guardami Negli Occhi (Prego)" (Look In The Eyes (Please") which came fourth. The track immediately charted at number one in the Music Control charts. On 4th June his new single "Baciami" was released, it was one of the songs with most airplay in Italy. Paolo took part in every stage of the Festivalbar event, the popular summer circuit tour of Italy, which has been running for decades. In autumn Paolo debuted in France with a bi-lingual version of In Nome Dell’Amore (Au Nom De L’Amour), a duet with Ophélie, who won the French edition of "Pop Idol". The track broke into the top 10 in France and in only a few weeks sold over 100,000 copies.

In 2005 Paolo starred at the 55th San Remo Festival with his song "Non Capiva Che L’Amavo" (Misunderstanding Of The Loved), which despite not winning the contest, went on to reach the Italian Top 10. His album "Favola" (Fable) was released in March 2005 and went on to win a platinum award for sales.

In 2007 he came sixth in the 57th San Remo Festival with the song "Musica" (Music). The single went straight to number one in Italy and stayed there for six weeks. At the end of November 2007 his live Musica tour, CD and DVD were released and the show was filmed by TSI - Televisione Svizzera . It was an engagingly intense  two-hour show containing Paolo's many radio hits, juxtaposed with tracks taken from his latest album. The release of the CD and DVD con-incided with the announcement that Paolo would sing the Swiss entry in Eurovision 2008.

In early March, Paolo once again competed at the famous San Remo festival, this time with the song "Grande" (Big). The song finished sixth in the contest and has gone on to be a radio hit in Italy. Later the same month Paolo's new album "Corro Via" (Running Away) which features both "Grande and his Eurovision song "Eta Stupendo" was released.

Since being unveiled as the Swiss entry, "Era Stupendo" has done well in internet fan polls and while not seen as a favourite for eventual victory in Belgrade, Switzerland should progress to the final, if bookmakers odds are to be believed.

 

SAMPLE LYRICS

It was wonderful to fly away
To challenge the wind, the imagination
Your hand and mine
In the same poetry

 

BROADCASTER

RATINGS

Bookmakers

Eurovision history
Runnning order

Fan Poll
Webmaster

LAUNCH PAD

  1. Paolo Meneguzzi's website
  2. Swiss television website
  3. The song's lyrics (from Diggiloo.net)

 

SWITZERLAND AT EUROVISION

First entry: 1956 
Number of previous entries: 48
Best result: Two time winners (1956,1988)  
Worst result: Last (1964,67,74,98), last in the semi-final in 2004

TEN YEAR FORM GUIDE

 

WEBMASTER REVIEW

When this song was unveiled back in December, I thought it was really strong and that it might be a serious contender for victory in Belgrade and for a while it was the only half decent song selected, however as the national final season went on, many stronger entries have eclipsed it and for me it's not even the best song in Italian in the contest, as San Marino is more appealing. Nevertheless fan polls seem to all rate it highly as it is a song with an very old style Eurovision formula. However at the back of my mind there's a thought that there's always a song that does well in the polls and fails to qualify (Belarus 2005, Belgium 2006 and Switzerland in 2007) and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Switzerland loses out once again this year.    

REVIEWS

"I'm still not over the fact that my big favorite, "Vampires Are Alive" by DJ BoBo, didn't win last year in Helsinki, he was my absolute favorite, and for me the only real winner from Eurovision 2007. "Era Stupendo" is once again a very good and classy song from Switzerland which must easily qualify for the final. Switzerland deserves to do very well with their huge efforts from the last years." - Nicky Peeters (Belgium)

"Why all the fuss? Overrated and predictable, it will probably barely make the finals and not so much because of the song, but more likely cause of the singers good looks." - Ilton Kosta (USA)

"This is probably one of the best songs ever presented by Switzerland. Beautiful melody, amazing vocals, great lyrics in Italian. Paolo is a magnet for the camera, I really think this can go really well. Go Switzerland" - Atmantas (Greece)

"I have reviewed Swiss entries previously as their seeming recent obsession with winning the competition again fascinates me. In previous years they have tried pulling all the tricks in the book, mercenaries (Vanilla Ninja), create the perfect group (six 4 one) and last year the impressive production number, which looked magnificent as a video but had no impact in a live setting. So this year it would seem to be back to basics, with the impressive "Era Stupendo", a powerfully performed, classic song (in italian). Sung by Paolo Meneguzzi, who can quite clearly sing, this is the best Swiss entry for ages, I can't help the suspicion that, along with a number of countries, they maybe jumping on the "Molitva" bandwagon of well sung ballads. To be honest who cares, my opinion on "Molitva" last year, was simple song,sung well, and I feel the same about "Era Stupendo". It may not have the stand out quality of "Molitva", but this will be an interesting test of the new semi-final setup, this SHOULD be a finalist, and personally I think it should be a top four finisher in the final." - Andy Turner (UK)

"Stupendud with the emphasis on DUD. All the potential but just not going anywhere." - David Berlinger (Israel)      

"Another big fan fav, which might explain the hype. Well, this and Paolo being a nice looking singer, of course - a important criteria for die hard ESC fans. It deserves to do well but not sure if it really does - Switzerland has not many friends at the ESC and Italian is not that popular all over Europe. So it could do well as expected but also cause a big shock and stuck in the semi." - Paul Hutter (Germany)

"Bravo Switzerland! Send the nice guy with a building ballad, and while it is not a typical "blast you away" song which will dominate the contest, the "cheap tricks" used by most other entries could backfire and make this song stand out. I hope so." - Andrew Hordern (Australia)

"More quality from Switzerland – although I’ll be interested to see if he can cut it live! This song builds well, and what is it about songs in Italian – it’s such a great language to sing in!" - John Withers (UK)