Meet The Artists: WV15-17
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Based in Basel, Antoine Konrad has been on the house music scene since the 90s with his own club and internationally-syndicated radio show. He has released many studio albums and singles, and has toured clubs all over the world - even gaining fans in the United States and Canada.
The song "Sky Is The Limit" is the title track and third released single off of Antoine's latest album. Done in collaboration with his long-time partner and co-producer Fabio Antonali (known as Mad Mark) and featuring vocals by Jenson Vaughan, the summer party anthem made a huge splash on the charts in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
But would it hold its ground in Houston?
The Swiss team had high hopes for this entry, and the selection draw proved to be in their favor, slotting them in the last performance spot in the second semifinal. Compared to some of the other performances, Antoine gave it his all. No Swiss entry had qualified for the final since Anna Rossinelli's "Joker" in WV04 Uppsala, and as viewers in Basel watched with baited breath during a massive street party for their hometown hero, that silence would eventually erupt into celebration when the song was the eighth qualifier out of nine earhing 77 points (including 12 from Canada and 10 from Poland and Peru), good enough for sixth place in the semifinal behind Sirusho's "PreGomesh" from Armenia.
At 200-1 odds, Switzerland was a longshot to win the final behind the odds-on favorites from Armenia and the United Kingdom, but it wouldn't stop Antoine from giving the best performance he could out of the number 24 spot. It started well in the finals voting including the first 12 of the night from Germany and a 10 from Australia. As the United Kingdom stormed to victory holding off the challenges from second-place Armenia and third-place France, Switzerland ended in 26th place with 66 points. For the country's first time back in the final since its debut, it was a major victory.
But the best was still yet to come.