that placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, with Switzerland being placed into the second semi-final. The 2008 contest was the first to feature two semi-finals, a change intended to reduce the problems of neighbourly and diaspora voting that occurred in years past. Countries that normally would vote for each other were placed into separate semi-finals. Once all of the competing songs for the Eurovision Song Contest had been released, the running order for the semi-finals was decided by the delegation heads of the 43 participating countries of the contest rather than through another draw; the nation was assigned position seven, following and preceding the . The commentators at the event were Sven Epiney for SF, Sandy Altermatt for RTSI, and Jean-Marc Richard and Nicolas Tanner for TSR. The spokesperson for Switzerland, announcing the results of the Swiss televote for the contest, was Cécile Bähler. Semi-final Meneguzzi sang in the second semi-final on 22 May 2008, performing 7th on the night. His performance included him wearing a black suit with a black shirt, and included two male and two female backing dancers and singers; the women dressed in black dresses with silver gloves, and the men in black shirts and black trousers. A pianist was also present on stage, dressed in a white shirt and black tie. The song began with Meneguzzi singing solo in the centre of the stage, with the back-up dancers surrounding the piano. As the song sped up, the dancers moved to behind Meneguzzi and began to sing. The performance included the use of pyrotechnics when the song sped up, as well as during the bridge. Despite being a fan favourite the song only managed to receive 47 points, placing 13th in a field of 19 and failing to qualify for the final. Voting Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Switzerland in the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, as well as by the country in the semi-final and final. Meneguzzi's performance received 47 points, placing the nation 13th of the 19 entries and not qualifying for the final. Points awarded to Switzerland Points awarded by Switzerland References 2008 Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 Eurovision