The Swiss city of Basel will stage the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in May 2025. Geneva's bid was unsuccessful, Swiss public broadcaster SRG announced on Friday. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The main venue will be Basel's St Jakobshalle. The costs for the ESC are estimated by the Basel government at between CHF30 million and CHF35 million. The city will be in the spotlight of millions of people: During the three live television shows from Malmö, Sweden, in 2024, 163 million people watched the music performances, including almost 800,000 from Switzerland alone. + Who is Eurovision winner Nemo? The ESC is returning to Switzerland for the first time in 36 years following Nemo's surprise victory last spring. In 1988, Céline Dion won the contest for Switzerland with the song ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’ in the Irish capital Dublin, after which the event was held at the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne the following year. + Switzerland at Eurovision: the ...