Eurovision Song Contest
Geneva or Basel: Who is allowed to host the ESC?
Geneva promotes itself as the most international city in Switzerland. (Archive image) Photo
© Christiane Oelrich/dpa
On Friday it will be announced which city will host the next Eurovision Song Contest. Two Swiss border towns are still in the running, but people’s enthusiasm is limited.
If German fans are to vote on the location for the If they had a say in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, the choice would be clear: a spectacle in the Swiss border town of Basel, just across the German border, would be almost a home game for them. But in addition to Basel, Geneva in French-speaking Switzerland is also in the running. The decision will be made on Friday.
What is it about?
At the ESC, more than 35 countries compete for victory as the most popular music act at a large, colorful festival. The number of participants fluctuates every year. They each send one song into the race. The TV audience votes for the best song by phone and internet, but the verdict of national juries also influences the result. More than 150 million people watch the final on television, plus millions on YouTube. The home country of the winning song has the right to host the next ESC, but does not have to. In 2024, Nemo from Switzerland won with the song “The Code”.
What speaks for Basel?
The city on the Rhine has chosen the motto “Overcoming borders”, which not only suits the ESC with its international participation, but also Basel. Switzerland, Germany and France meet there. Active cooperation between the municipalities ensures that residents hardly notice the borders anymore. The city embodies “a local yet cosmopolitan atmosphere”, the application states.
Large events are routine in Basel: for example, the legendary carnival with pipers and drummers every year, which attracts 200,000 visitors. Or the Art Basel art fair with more than 80,000 visitors, there are also large sporting events in the St. Jakobshalle. The ESC would also take place there. It has space for 12,000 spectators. Next door in the football stadium, Basel is proposing a public viewing for 20,000 people.
What speaks for Geneva?
Geneva is recommended as the “most international city in Switzerland”. A good 40 percent of the inhabitants of the city on the Rhone are foreigners. This is because Geneva is the European headquarters of the United Nations and is home to numerous UN special organizations and dozens of private aid organizations. Geneva is also a border city: it is almost completely surrounded by French territory.
“As a hub of ideas, cultures and peace, Geneva is best placed to host this major event,” says Mayor Christina Kitsos. Geneva is also home to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the association of public broadcasters that organizes the ESC. The EBU will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2025.
The festival would take place at the Palexpo exhibition center at the airport. Large trade fairs and international congresses are regularly held there. There is space for at least 15,000 spectators.
How easy is it to reach Basel and Geneva?
Geneva scores points with the proximity of the exhibition center and the city to the airport and the connection to the rail network. Visitors can walk from the arrivals hall to Palexpo, and it takes seven minutes to get to the city by train. Basel can be reached from the much smaller Basel-Mulhouse airport on French territory in 40 to 50 minutes by bus and train. From Zurich Airport it takes one and a half hours to get to Basel.
How great is the enthusiasm in Switzerland?
Moderate. In a survey commissioned by the Ringier media company at the end of July among around 24,000 people, 49 percent of respondents said “no” or “rather no” when asked whether they welcomed the ESC taking place in Switzerland.
Who criticizes what?
One criticism is that when voting for the stage acts, many people make their decisions based on political motives rather than on the quality of the music. This year, there were street protests against Israel’s participation at the ESC in Malmö because of the Gaza war. Others believe that the ESC offers a stage to minorities such as non-binary people and are bothered by this. Nemo defines himself as non-binary, meaning he does not belong to the female or male gender.
Some politicians from the right-wing conservative SVP, the party with the most voters in Switzerland, are stirring up sentiment against the music festival. “The money would be better donated to those badly affected by the storms rather than wasted on this embarrassing rainbow event,” SVP President Marcel Dettling told the “Tages-Anzeiger” newspaper in connection with a public loan that has been promised.
The Christian and national conservative EDU wants to prevent loans with referendums. “What bothers me most is that everything Christian is increasingly being banned from public view, but when Satanism and occultism (…) are celebrated, there are apparently no limits,” said MP Samuel Kullmann. The party is very small, however. It is considered unlikely that it will collect enough signatures for referendums.
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