panel which assessed the performers on criteria such as live performance skills, voice quality and stage presence. The expert panel consisted of choreographer Rafael Antonio (representative of SRF), vocal coach Freda Goodlet (representative of SRF), the director of strategic marketing at Universal Music Switzerland Moritz Faccin (representative of SRF), the director of Option Musique Catherine Colombara (representative of RTS) and musician Nicola Locarnini (representative of RSI). Three artists and songs qualified from the SRF/RTR selection, two from the RTS selection and one from the RSI selection. Final The final took place on 31 January 2015. The show consisted of two parts: in the first part the six candidate songs in contention to represent Switzerland were performed and in the second part each artist performed a cover version of a song of their choice. The combination of televoting (50%) and the votes of an expert jury (50%) selected "Time to Shine" performed by Mélanie René as the winner. The jury consisted of Peter Ramón Baumann (Vice President of OGAE Switzerland), Lilly Behling (music editor for Die grössten Schweizer Talente), Dano Tamasy (music editor Radio SRF 3), Mark B. Lay (vocal coach), Grazia Covre (choreographer), Valérie Ogier (journalist/columnist), Nic Maeder (lead singer for Swiss band Gotthard), Sebalter (singer, Swiss Eurovision contestant in 2014), Simone Tomassini (singer) and Alice Bertogg (RTR television host; singer). In addition to the performances from the competing artists, Austrian Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Conchita Wurst performed "Rise Like a Phoenix" as the interval act. Promotion Mélanie René made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Time to Shine" as the Swiss Eurovision entry. On 17 April, René performed during the Eurovision PreParty Riga, which was organised by OGAE Latvia and held at the Palladium Concert Hall in Riga on 17 April. On 26 April, René performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell. At Eurovision According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU)