Swiss choose Siegel for 2006 Eurovision

This is an insult for every Swiss songwriter. Couldn't they find anybody who is less pathetic than Siegel? does that man have an everlasting contract for evercheesy songs for an ever same contest? Have these dear people at Swiss TV no mercy for us viewers? Progress is the word, folks. The following can be found at doteurovision:

Eurovision song contest veterans Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger will compose the Swiss entry to the 2006 contest.

Composers from seven countries (Spain, the UK, France, Malta, Germany, Canada and Switzerland) submitted songs to broadcasters SF DRS, TSR and TSI. A national jury then had the final say on which song would represent Switzerland in Athens.

Swiss TV issued an open call to find performers for next year. The broadcasters are looking for “a performer with a strong voice, extensive live performance experience and a great stage presence.” A shortlist of performers is under consideration, as soon as the final choice has been made, Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 will be presented to the public.

Toni Wachter, Head of the Swiss delegation, remarked: “It goes without saying that we will also be considering strong Swiss voices among the possible performers.”

Ralph Siegel has written 17 Eurovision final songs and has won once in 1982 when Nicole sang ‘Ein Bisschen Frieden”. His songs have ended in second place three times.

Lyricist Meinunger is also no stranger to the contest, having seen 15 songs make the final of the contest. In 2005, he co-wrote ‘Cool Vibes’ for Estonian group Vanilla Ninja. When the song ended in eighth place, it secured a place in the 2006 final for Switzerland.

Source: SF-DRS