Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Switzerland was represented at the Eurovision [Song Contest 1981] with the song "Io senza te", written by Peter Reber and Nella Martinetti, and performed by Peter, Sue and Marc. The Swiss participating broadcaster, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, selected its entry for the contest through a national final.

Before Eurovision

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation held a national final to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1981. The broadcaster received 67 total song submissions, and initially selected four to take part in the selection. Due to the lack of songs selected by the juries, the broadcaster commissioned popular Swiss artists to submit two more songs— "San Gottardo" by Swiss Union and "Comme l'eau de la mer" by.
In total, six songs were set to compete, with three being in Italian, two in German, and one in French. Among the participants were Peter, Sue and Marc, who represented, and, and Piera Martell, who represented, who was a member of Swiss Union. Mariella Farré would later represent and, and Franz Müller, one of the members of Swiss Union, would represent.
Swiss French broadcaster Télévision Suisse Romande staged the national final on 21 February 1981 at 21:20 CET at the Palladium in Geneva. It was presented by. The Ken Warwick Ballet, the Le Feuillu Orchestra, and Jean Madd made guest appearances.
The voting consisted of regional public votes which were sent to the three divisions of SRG SSR, a press jury, and an "expert" jury. Applications for viewers to join the regional juries were sent via postcard until 14 February, and 50 viewers from each canton were randomly selected to cast their votes to their broadcaster divisions via phone call. The winner was the song "Io senza te", composed by Nella Martinetti and and performed by Peter, Sue and Marc, marking the fourth and last time the trio entered the Eurovision Song Contest.

At Eurovision

At the Eurovision Song Contest 1981, held at the RDS Simmonscourt in Dublin, the Swiss entry was the nineteenth entry of the night following and preceding. The Swiss conductor at the contest was Rolf Zuckowski, who previously conducted the. At the close of voting, Switzerland had received 121 points in total; finishing in fourth place out of twenty countries.

Voting

Each participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel with at least eleven members. The jurors awarded 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their top ten songs.

Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point

Score	Country
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point