Timebelle in 2017, the Swiss are trying to win a rare ticket to the FInal with a band performing "Apollo". I'm not a big fan of their nation, but it's about time the Swiss are rewarded for a few straight years of relative quality efforts. You decide if they are worth it here
Rykka is the lady's name for the Swiss in '16 with "The last of our Kind". She'll spend most of the time performing on the floor which is likely where her chances of success are. Fans shout "Up the Rykka" but will you here
As Vicki Michelle once said "Oooh René"...The Swiss are showing signs of life. Mauritian Mélanie René has a pop-lite number called "Time to Shine" which is notable for a solid middle 8 but not much else . I quite like it, but it will likely fail. you decide here
Sebalter is the gentleman with an endearing way of speaking English for the Swiss (a land with 4 offical languages, none of which are English). He will be manfully struggling through "Hunter of stars" in '14, and you can learn more here
A rare site in Europe, an army (albeit of God) from Switzerland is invading a neutral nation in 2013. Takasa (the artist known as the Salvation Army) no less will be singing a jolly safe tune called " You and me". It's not bad and it's here
A soft moist porous Rock number which you would do well to throw back into Lake Geneva. The Swiss had around 200 songs and three languages to from choose from and came up with this (sighs heavily). It's here
A Eurosong superpower from a bygone age, the Swiss have tried to re-create that 50's magic with Anna Rossinelli singing "In Love for a while". I was a bit, then I realised I didn't like it after all. And I'm not keen on the Swiss anyway so sorry Anna but no gold bullion this year. Learn more here
After recent disappointments, the Swiss have gone for sympathy vote in 2010. Michale Von Der Heide has the world's largest ears and will be using kinder egg toy cases for earpieces to hear "Il Pleut D'or". It'll be raining gold for someone else, but at least he seems a nice chap and he's here

The Tourist Guide says

"The diversity of the landlocked, mountainous country is the essence of Switzerland and gives the country its unique identity. Still, it is best known for its financial institutions, fine cheeses and chocolate, watch making industry, for its scenery and an excellent network of public traffic."
"Confederation Helvetique (for anyone who wondered why Switzerland is represented with a CH on those little oval bumper stickers) is by far the most mountainous country in Europe. Switzerland's two mountain ranges, the Alps and the Jura, occupy 60 percent of the country.
Switzerland's 7 million residents enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world at the crossroads of Europe: from peak to lakeside, city to country, in everything from cuisine to fashion, culture to language, and finance to politics, you'll find the influence of nearly every culture in Europe."

Bern

"The Old Town of Bern, which figures on the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage sites has one of the longest "weatherproof" shopping malls in Europe under its six kilometres of covered arcades. The medieval atmosphere, with shops in the cellar vaults must be unique.
Explore the walkways, then visit the impressive 15th-century Cathedral of St. Vincent, a huge cathedral featuring subtly detailed stained-glass windows. Stroll down to the river to see the Bärengraben (bear pits) that gave Bern its name."

A Swiss car insurance firm has been sent a bill by a motorist after he literally ran into the back of his own car while chasing it as it rolled off down a hill.
The Swiss man who was not named had parked his car on a steep hill at Chur in Switzerland - but forgot to pull the hand brake on.
As he walked away the vehicle started to roll down a hill.
The motorist gave chase and had almost caught the car when it suddenly stopped after colliding with a kerb.
The speeding motorist was unable to stop and collided with the car, sticking his head through the window and denting the rear panels.
He was taken to local hospital where he was treated for cuts and bruises.

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A Swiss break dancer has won a place in the Guinness Book of Records after managing to spin round 16 times on his elbows.Swiss newspaper 20 minutes said Mark Dossenbach, 25, had started spinning round on his elbows instead of his hands after injuring his wrist.
He said he had trained for at least an hour a day for eight years to be good enough to spin 16 times from a single push.
Mr Dossenbach added: "Getting my certificate from Guinness made it all worthwhile, now I plan to try for even more spins."

As Harry Lime put it, Switzerland haven't really given the world much. An annoying multi-facetted gadget aside, clocks (actually German) and Albert Einstein take centre stage. There's something disappointing about a country that focuses so much attention on the passing of time. Never been here, and unfortunately its never appealed. Sorry Swiss.
to come (actually here it is...peace, more peace, a bit of neutrality, peace, neutral again, then peace).

Swiss authorities are planning to wrap mountain glaciers with tin foil this summer in an effort to stop them melting.
Carlo Danioth, head of mountain rescue services in Andermatt, said: "We will initially cover around 30,000 square feet on the upper Gurschen glacier at the beginning of May as a test."
Scientists hope that the high-tech foil will prevent the sun's rays from melting the ice in popular ski resorts during the summer months.
Glacier expert Martin Funk said: "The foil reflects almost all the sun's rays. That will sharply reduce the rate of melting."
And other resorts like Saas-Fee and Titlis and some Austrian glaciers have said that they plan to test similar schemes this summer.Environmental groups have criticised the £45,000 plan at Andermatt as "absurd".

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Animal protection groups in Switzerland are concerned about the increasing popularity of dog and cat meat.
They are being devoured particularly in rural areas of the country.
And dog fat is also being used as medication against bronchitis in some parts of the country.
Slaughtering pets for their meat is prohibited under Swiss law but animal protection groups say dog meat sells for about nearly £12 a kilo on the black market.

Albert Einstein
Yul Brynner
Le Corbusier, H R Giger
Hermann Hesse
John Calvin

 
 

Life expectancy

 76.98 men 82.89 women
Airports 65
Radios 1000 per 1,000 people
Internet Users 2,464.8 per 10,000 people
Railway Network 3,236 miles
Death Penalty abolished in 1992