Switzerland opts for Timebelle’s contemporary pop music
Switzerland could definitely use some success in Eurovision. In the past ten years, the country only managed to reach the final of the contest on two occasions, of which one ended with the last place in Saturday’s show. The Swiss broadcaster organized a national final to search for an artist and song that should finally bring the country back in the Eurovision game and it was won by the band Timebelle with their song ‘Apollo’. Will this piece of contemporary radio pop be enough?

Timebelle consists of lead-singer of Romanian descent, Miruna Mănescu, drummer Samuel Forster and multi-instrumentalist Emanuel Daniel Andriescu. Luckily for the Swiss delegation, Romania votes in the same semi final, so a few points should already be secured. Other good news here is that ‘Apollo’ is easily the best Swiss entry in years. A lot will depend on the performance however as this type of powerful pop track, in similar style to the Danish and Dutch entries, needs a vocally perfect performance to reach its full potential. As ‘Apollo’ is fairly safe and middle of the road, Timebelle’s biggest potential downfall is that a lot of people will enjoy their song, but are not touched enough to actually pick up the phone and vote for it. To succeed in Eurovision, you do not necessarily need a song that everybody likes, but a track that convinces enough people to cast their vote. I’m not fully convinced Switzerland will reach the final this year, but if you ask me, I’d say Timebelle deserves their spot on the Saturday night!

UPDATE – Review on semi final performance:
Switzerland finished in last position in the semi final for the past two years and this year they did not make it to the final either. The band Timebelle performed the contemporary pop song ‘Apollo’. No stairs or yellow dress could lift the decent but uneventful song to a higher level on stage though. The vocal performance was quite decent, but Timebelle was unlucky to have to perform in the same semi final as the acts from Denmark and The Netherlands, with songs in a similar genre but simply more convincing vocals. They definitely don’t deserve the last place this year, but a spot in the final was out of reach as well.

UPDATE – semi final results:
It turns out Switzerland was dangerously close to a spot in the final. Televoters placed Timebelle in the 10th position, while they finished 11th with juries, giving them the 12th position overall, with only four points less than number 10 Denmark, who did qualify for Saturday’s show.

Check all Eurovision 2017 reviews: Albania – Armenia – Australia – Austria – Azerbaijan – Belarus – Belgium – Bulgaria – Croatia – Cyprus – Czech Republic – Denmark – Estonia – Finland – France – FYR Macedonia – Georgia – Germany – Greece – Hungary – Iceland – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Latvia – Lithuania – Malta – Moldova – Montenegro – The Netherlands – Norway – Poland – Portugal – Romania – San Marino – Serbia – Slovenia – Spain – Sweden – Switzerland – Ukraine – United Kingdom