• DIE GROSSE ENTSCHEIDUNGS SHOW 2012

More than five months before the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, Switzerland becomes the first country to select its entry for Baku. Fourteen songs will compete in the Swiss national final which will be held on December 10th at the Bodensee Arena in the border town of Kreuzlingen. The show will be hosted by Sven Epiney and the winner will be chosen by televoting after a panel of experts have given their opinions on the entries.

On Saturday, we'll be providing a link to where you can watch the show live, but in the meantime, here's a brief preview of the songs in competition.

 1. Patric Scott featuring Fabienne Louves - "Real Love"

There's a certain symmetry at play between the Azerbaijan's winner's reprise which closed the 2011 Eurovision year and this very similar boy/girl duet which opens the 2012 season. A lot will come down to the performance and chemistry between the singers here, but it's certainly a pleasant show opener.

 2. Emel - "She"

There's rather nice Middle Eastern ethnic arrangement to this somewhat lightweight song, which may have sounded quite fresh at Eurovision a decade ago, but seems a little dated at this stage. It's not especially Swiss sounding and the stage show needs to be pretty special to make this stand out.  

 3. Chiara Dubey - "Anima Nuovo" (New Soul)

Chosen through a selection show in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, this is a rather delicate song that wouldn't be out of place at San Remo. The singer may lack a bit of power and stage charisma and the ending of the song needs work, but it's a pleasant entry, but unlikely to win the ticket to Baku.

 4. Guillermo Sorya - "Baby Baby Baby"

There's a nice compemtorary soul feel to this song. It would certainly sound good on AOR radio but it lacks something for a song contest. Guillermo appears to have quite a publicity machine working for him, but he really needs a better song to stand out among fourteen other potential entries.  

 5. Macy - "Shining"

Swiss pop/rock didn't work at Eurovision in 2009 and this is nowhere near as good a song as "The Highest Heights". Nevertheless there's a great sense of fun, and the repeated "the sun is shining" would make a lot more sense in May than they do now, in the unlikely event that it gets to Baku.

 6. Sosofluo - "Quand Je Ferme Les Yeux" (When I Close My Eyes)

The first of three French language songs in the Swiss final. A gentle intro gives way to a more foreceful delivered song. This is one of the outsiders to make it to Eurovision, but with a good performance it could be a "dark horse".

 7. Atomic Angels - "Black Symphony"

Girl groups don't have an especially good record at Eurovision, but if the views on the internet are anything to go by, this could be strong contender to get to Eurovision. This synth led dance track needs to be performed well, to be a contender in Baku but it certainly strands out from the pack.

 8. Ivo - "Peace And Freedom"

Ivo doesn't exactly look like the typical Eurovision artist and he sounds like Canadian rocker. This is a strong anthemic rock song with a strong message (and a very disturbing video) and if the live performance has even half the power of the studio version, this could not only do well in the Swiss selection, but could also score well in Baku.

 9. Ze Flying Zézettes Orchestra - "L'Autre" (The Other)

Anyone who remembers popular French group Les Négresses Vertes from the 1980s will get flashbacks when they see Ze Flying Zézettes Orchestra. Unfortunatly which the group are entertaining, their potential Eurovision is somewhat lacking in impact. It would be great to see these guys at Eurovision with a better song.

10. Raphael Jeger - "The Song In My Head"

A singer who also plays violin is obviously going to draw comparisons with 2009 Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak. Unfortunatly the song in Raphael's head is nowhere near as instant or memorable as "Fairytale" and repeating the title time after time begins to grate a bit towards the end. Pleasant, but an unlikely winner.

11. I Quattro - "Fragile"

Back in the mid noughties it seems that every second national final had this kind of pop-opera tenor quartet belting out a string of increasing vacuous songs, designed to show off the singers undoubted ability. After Bonaparti.lv made it to Eurovision in 2007, it stopped. Unfortanatly this is trying to bring this type of entry back.

12. Sinplus - "Unbreakable"

Very credible rock sound from the Sinplus boys, the second song to make it through from the semi-final in the Italian speaking region. This however is very British rock of the 1980s style and has a guitar sound reminiscent of U2 or Simple Minds. Very strong, but I'm not sure if Swiss televoters will go for it for Eurovision.  

13. Lys Assia - "C'était Ma Vie" (That Was My Life)

There's no question that the return of 1956 Eurovision winner to the competition has been the best story of the new season, so far. The song which was written by German Eurovision winner Ralph Siegel is certainly a good match for the 87 year old singer. The question is whether Lys can still pull off a strong live performance. If she can, this could be the one to beat.   

To finish an interesting and varied selection of potential Eurovision songs, "Wrong To Let You Go", a piano led power ballad. The studio version of this song is very strong but it depends on a lot of backing vocals that will be hard to replicate live and there's a rather pointless couple of lines in French, but otherwise a good solid entry.