Switzerland recently selected singer-songwriter Gjon Muharremaj, known professionally as Gjon’s Tears, to represent them in Rotterdam at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Répondez-moi”. The singer was chosen through an internal selection organised by the Swiss public broadcaster SRF, where a one-hundred member audience panel and an international jury of twenty music experts each had a 50/50 say in who would represent Switzerland at this year’s contest.
“Répondez-moi” was written by Gjon’s Tears alongside Xavier Michel, Alizé Oswald and Jeroen Swinnen. The song is sung in French and will be the first time in ten years that Switzerland have sent a French song to the Eurovision Song Contest. Gjon’s Tears will perform the song in the second half of the second semi-final on 14 May.
You can watch the official music video for “Répondez-moi” by Gjon’s Tears below:
Switzerland’s history with the Eurovision Song Contest goes right back to the start of the competition in 1956. They were the first host country and first winner of the competition with Lys Assia and “Refrain” and have gone on to compete for the trophy a total of sixty times. They won the competition for a second time in 1988 with Céline Dion and her song “Ne partez pas sans moi”. Luca Hänni finished in fourth place last year with his catchy track “She Got Me”, the country’s best placing since 1993. Now, thirty-two years on from their last win (the same number of years between their previous wins) can Switzerland win the competition again? Only time will tell, but to do so they will have to compete against acts from forty other countries.
The Eurovision 2020 acts that have been announced so far are Blas Cantó for Spain, Hooverphonic for Belgium, VICTORIA for Bulgaria, Sandro for Cyprus, Vincent Bueno for Austria, Arilena Ara for Albania, Tornike Kipiani for Georgia, Jeangu Macrooy for the Netherlands, Vasil for North Macedonia, Tom Leeb for France, Benny Cristo for the Czech Republic, Eden Alene for Israel, Stefania for Greece, Montaigne for Australia, Samanta Tina for Latvia, Diodato for Italy, Destiny Chukunyere for Malta, Roxen for Romania, THE ROOP for Lithuania, Ulrikke Brandstorp for Norway, Athena Manoukian for Armenia, Alicja Szemplinska for Poland, James Newman for the UK, Samira Efendi for Azerbaijan, Ana Soklic for Slovenia, Ben Dolic for Germany, Uku Suviste for Estonia, Daði og Gagnamagnið for Iceland and Ben & Tan for Denmark. The remaining countries are expected to reveal their acts in the coming weeks.
The 65th edition of Eurovision Song Contest will be hosted at the Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands after Duncan Laurence won the 2019 contest with the song “Arcade”. The two Semi-Finals will take place on 12 May 2020 and 14 May 2020, with the Grand Final taking place on 16 May 2020. A total of 41 countries will compete in the contest.
What do you think of Gjon’s Tears and “Répondez-moi”? Can Switzerland win the contest again after thirty-two years? Let us know your thoughts by sending us a tweet @CelebMix.
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