Mélanie René, 24, was voted the best hope for the Swiss over the weekend during a televised show, beating out five other finalists with her song “Time to Shine”.
The singer-songwriter was hailed in Swiss media as a citizen of the canton of Vaud.
But the Tribune de Genéve reported on Monday that she was actually born in Geneva to parents from Mauritius and grew up in neighbouring France.
For several years she has been living in England, where she just spent four years studying music, the newspaper said.
“There must have been a problem with the communication,” René told the Tribune.
The confusion about her origins apparently arises because her manager is from the village of Commugny in the canton of Vaud, she said.
However, René did study music in the canton at a music school in the town of Nyon, the Tribune said.
She will represent Switzerland in the Eurovision 2015 semifinals set for May 19th and 21st in Vienna.
The finals will be held on May 23rd.
You can see the winning entry in the YouTube video below:
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