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Done: The Appenzeller will represent Switzerland on Saturday with his song “Boys Do Cry” in the ESC final. This means that Switzerland is in the final round for the third time in a row.
According to forecasts, it should be tight for Marius Bear in the ESC semifinals in Turin. But it seems the 29-year-old took the predictions as a spur. Because now he is in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. With his song “Boys Do Cry” he sang his way into the hearts of the jury and the audience.
Despite a light failure during the performance, the Appenzeller was delighted after the announcement: “We did it! I’ve already cried a round. Boys Do Cry. Now we’ll do it better next time – even better than now.”
Strong competition
Marius Bear’s competition was fierce. As expected, the Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra made it into the final as the big favorite with their song “Stefania”. Norway also impressed with their performance and the song “Give That Wolf A Banana”.
In addition to the “Big Five” France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and Spain, the following countries made it into the final on Saturday: Armenia, Iceland, Lithuania, Portugal, Greece, Norway, Ukraine, Moldova, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
50 percent of the viewers decided via televoting on the progress of the participants. The remaining 50 percent was up to the national juries. However, which country received how many points was not revealed in order not to influence the vote on Saturday in advance. Whoever won the two semi-finals will only be published after the final.
Big footsteps
The Appenzeller follows in the footsteps of Luca Hänni and Gjon’s Tears. Hänni came fourth in Tel Aviv in 2019 with his song “She Got Me”. Last year, Freiburg’s Gjon’s Tears even made it into the top 3 with “Tout l’univers”. qualified for the final.
The largest singing competition in the world is being held in Italy for the third time this year – after 1965 in Naples and 1991 in Rome. Last year’s edition in Rotterdam was won by the Italian rock band Måneskin with their song “Zitti e buoni”. Switzerland has won twice so far: Lys Assia in 1956 and Celine Dion in 1988.
The second semi-final round will follow on Thursday, in which the remaining ten finalists will be determined.