Switzerland was represented by Peter, Sue and Marc with the song "Io senza te" at the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 4 April. The group were the winners of the Swiss national final for the 1981 contest, held on 21 February.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1981 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Switzerland | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Concours Eurovision 1981 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 21 February 1981 | |||
| Selected entrant | Peter, Sue and Marc | |||
| Selected song | "Io senza te" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 4th, 121 points | |||
| Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Before Eurovision
Concours Eurovision 1981
Swiss French broadcaster TSR was in charge of broadcasting the selection for the Swiss entry for the 1981 Contest. The final was held at the Geneva Palladium in Geneva, hosted by Jean-Pierre Pastori. Six songs were submitted for the 1981 national final and the winning song was chosen by 3 regional juries (DRS, TSR, TSI), plus a press jury and a jury of experts.
Other participants included future Swiss representative Mariella Farré (1983 and 1985)
| Draw | Artist | Song | Regional Juries | Press Jury | Expert Jury | Total | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DRS | TSR | TSI | |||||||
| 1 | Peter, Sue and Marc | "Io senza te" | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 30 | 1 |
| 2 | Rose Brown | "Du fehlst mir" | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 5 |
| 3 | Pascal Auberson | "Comme l'eau de la mer" | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 4 |
| 4 | Ireen Indra | "Io" | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 3 |
| 5 | Swiss Union | "San Gottardo" | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 25 | 2 |
| 6 | Mariella Farré | "Una cosa meravigliosa" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the contest the group performed nineteenth, following Cyprus and preceding Sweden. At the close of voting "Io senza te" picked up 121 points, placing Switzerland in fourth place out of 20.[1] It was the seventh consecutive year that Switzerland had finished in the top 10. The Swiss jury awarded its 12 points to France.
The Swiss conductor at the contest was Rolf Zuckowski.
Voting
| Score | Country |
|---|---|
| 12 points |  France |
| 10 points |  Yugoslavia |
| 8 points |  United Kingdom |
| 7 points |  Greece |
| 6 points |  Luxembourg |
| 5 points |  Finland |
| 4 points |  Israel |
| 3 points |  Cyprus |
| 2 points |  Spain |
| 1 point |  Ireland |