Switzerland competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Era stupendo" by Paolo Meneguzzi. Meneguzzi was chosen by the Swiss national broadcaster, SRG SSR idée suisse, to sing for Switzerland in Belgrade, Serbia. For 2008, SRG SSR idée suisse had continued to internally select the song and singer to represent Switzerland at the 2008 contest, with an open call for songs being held by the broadcaster. Many artists announced their intention to submit songs to the Swiss broadcaster in the hope of representing Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. Paolo Meneguzzi was selected by the broadcaster to perform for Switzerland with his Italian ballad "Era stupendo". Background Prior to the 2008 contest, Switzerland had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-eight times since their first entry in . The nation is noted for having won the first contest in 1956 with the song "Refrain" performed by Lys Assia. Their second and, to this point, most recent victory was achieved at the , when Céline Dion won with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi". Following the introduction of semi-finals for the , Switzerland managed to participate in the final twice. In , the internal selection of Estonian girl band Vanilla Ninja, performing the song "Cool Vibes", qualified Switzerland to the final where they placed 8th. Due to their successful result in 2005, Switzerland was pre-qualified to compete directly in the final in . Switzerland did not manage to make it to the final in 2007. The Swiss national broadcaster, SRG SSR idée suisse, broadcasts the event within Switzerland and organises the selection process for the nation's entry. Before Eurovision Internal selection SRG SSR idée suisse opened a submission period between 20 July 2007 and 22 October 2007 for interested artists and composers to submit their entries. Eligible artists were those that have had television and stage experience (live performances), have made at least one video and have released at least one CD which placed among the top 50 in an official chart. In addition to the public submission, the broadcaster was also in contact with individual composers and lyricists as well as the music industry to be involved in the selection process. On 25 November 2007, Swiss newspaper Blick claimed that "Era stupendo" performed by Paolo Meneguzzi would be the Swiss entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, which was subsequently confirmed by SRG SSR idée suisse