Francine Jordi

Francine Jordi (born Francine Lehmann in 1977) is a Swiss pop singer known for her blend of schlager and folk music. She first gained fame in the late 1990s and became a star in the German-speaking music scene. Internationally, she is best known as the singer who represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. Throughout her career, Jordi has released numerous successful albums and toured extensively. She has also appeared on television as a presenter and has overcome personal challenges.

Early Life and Grand Prix Victory

Francine Jordi was born on June 24, 1977, and grew up in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. As a young child she often sang for tourists in the resort town of Interlaken, even performing local folk songs for Japanese tour groups. In her youth she studied voice and piano at the conservatory in Neuchâtel. Jordi adopted the stage surname “Jordi” because it was a common name in her region and easy to pronounce internationally.

Her big break came in 1998. At just 21 years old, Francine Jordi entered the Grand Prix der Volksmusik (Grand Prix of Folk Music), a major folk and schlager music competition in Central Europe. Representing Switzerland, she won the contest with the song “Das Feuer der Sehnsucht” (“The Fire of Longing”). This victory included winning both the Swiss national selection and the international final held in Vienna. The song, written by Swiss composer Tommy Mustac, launched Jordi’s professional career. Later in 1998, she released her debut album titled Das Feuer der Sehnsucht, capitalizing on her Grand Prix win. The win turned her into a local star. The album earned gold status. She enjoyed chart success, touring across Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Jordi’s early music was rooted in traditional folk-pop and schlager, a style she would continue to embrace as her career grew.

Eurovision Song Contest 2002

Building on her late-90s success, Francine Jordi was selected to represent Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. She competed in the Swiss national final Eurosong 2002 and won the ticket to Eurovision. For the international contest in Tallinn, Estonia, Jordi wrote and performed a French-language song titled “Dans le jardin de mon âme” (“In the Garden of My Soul”). Despite a lively performance blending pop and ethno-folk elements, the entry scored 15 points and finished in 22nd place out of 24 participants. The song was later recorded in multiple versions, including French, German (“Im Garten meiner Seele”), and English (“In the Garden of My Soul”) for single releases. After Eurovision, in autumn 2002, she embarked on a solo concert tour in Switzerland, solidifying her popularity at home.

Musical Evolution and Albums

After Eurovision, Francine Jordi continued to evolve as an artist. She remained a household name in Swiss pop, regularly hitting the Top 40 album charts with her releases. In the early 2000s she mostly sang in German and stuck to her schlager and pop roots, but she also experimented with new sounds. Her 2003 album Alles steht und fällt mit Dir and 2004’s Einfach Francine Jordi reflected her traditional pop style and did well in Switzerland and Austria. Around 2004–2005, Jordi made a notable shift towards a more mature schlager and even swing style. She recorded a swing album with the SWR Big Band, featuring duets with well-known stars like Karel Gott, Wencke Myhre, Semino Rossi, and others. This project showcased her versatility beyond folk music, as she performed big-band jazz and swing arrangements. In 2005 she released the album Halt mich.

Jordi has collaborated with many artists over her career. On her 2004 album, she performed a duet with German singer Nino de Angelo and also teamed up with Swiss dialect (Mundart) rocker Florian Ast for the ballad “Träne”. “Träne” (meaning “Teardrop”) was sung in Swiss German dialect and became a huge hit. The song earned a Platinum record in Switzerland and even placed second in a televised contest to find the greatest Swiss hits of all time. Jordi co-hosted that TV special, Die grössten Schweizer Hits, in 2006. In 2008, a decade after her breakthrough, Jordi revisited her signature song “Das Feuer der Sehnsucht”. She recorded a new Swiss German dialect version (“Das Feyr vo dr Sehnsucht”) in collaboration with the Jodlerklub Wiesenberg. The song remarkably went to No. 1 on the Swiss charts for eight weeks. This revival won another award on the Die grössten Schweizer Hits show in 2009, proving Jordi’s lasting appeal across generations.

Classical music and more albums

Alongside pop and schlager, Francine Jordi even ventured briefly into classical music. In June 2007, she made her opera debut at the Bern City Theater, performing the role of Papagena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. This one-night operatic performance demonstrated her vocal range and willingness to tackle new genres. She also tried acting: Jordi appeared as an actress in a 2008 television film Das Musikhotel am Wolfgangsee, playing a singing chambermaid in a musical comedy setting. 

Through the 2010s, Jordi’s musical output remained strong. She released successful albums nearly every two years, including Dann kamst du (2007, which went Platinum in Switzerland), Meine kleine grosse Welt (2009), and Verliebt geliebt (2013, a Gold-certified album). In 2011, she partnered with Florian Ast for a full album of duets, Lago Maggiore, which debuted at #1 on the Swiss album chart and achieved Platinum status. Jordi’s later albums like Wir (2015), Noch lange nicht genug (2018), and Herzfarben (2021) continued to chart in the top 5 in Switzerland. In total, she has released 18 studio albums as of 2025.

Television Career

In addition to singing, Francine Jordi became a familiar face on television in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. From 2003 onward, she began hosting and co-hosting popular music programs. One of her long-running roles was as a presenter on the annual holiday specials Weihnachten auf Gut Aiderbichl (“Christmas at Gut Aiderbichl”) and later Advent auf Aiderbichl. Jordi co-hosted these Christmas TV events every year from 2003 to 2015. 

A major moment in her TV career came in 2015. The iconic folk music show Musikantenstadl, which had run since 1981, was being revamped and retitled as Stadlshow. Francine Jordi was chosen as the new co-host of this pan-European live music program, alongside presenter Alexander Mazza. However, the regular Musikantenstadl format was discontinued after one season due to changes in viewing habits. She continued to host the hugely popular New Year’s Eve broadcasts that sprang from Musikantenstadl, known first as Silvesterstadl and later simply the Silvestershow. From 2016 onward, Jordi co-presented the televised New Year’s Eve celebrations each year, initially with Jörg Pilawa and more recently with Hans Sigl. These live shows, broadcast on ARD (Germany), ORF (Austria), and SRF (Switzerland), regularly draw millions of viewers as they ring in the New Year with music and entertainment. Jordi was a fixture of these year-end shows through the 2020s, only announcing her departure from the Silvestershow hosting role in early 2024.

In 2020, she participated in Sing meinen Song – Das Schweizer Tauschkonzert, the Swiss edition of the popular song-exchange TV series. On this show, she performed creative cover versions of fellow artists’ songs, further showcasing her versatility.

Personal Life and Milestones

Francine Jordi’s personal life has occasionally made headlines, though she generally keeps a modest profile. In May 2009, she married former Swiss cycling champion Tony Rominger, whom she had known since 2001. The marriage joined two celebrities from different fields and attracted media attention. However, the relationship ended two years later, with the couple announcing their separation in 2011. Shortly after, Jordi entered a high-profile relationship with singer Florian Ast, her duet partner on songs like “Träne.” The pair collaborated on the 2011 album Lago Maggiore and enjoyed commercial success. Their romance was widely covered in Swiss tabloids, especially when it ended in 2012 amid some public drama. Despite the personal difficulties, Jordi remained focused on her music and professional life.

A major personal challenge came in 2017, when Francine Jordi was diagnosed with breast cancer. She chose to keep her diagnosis private at first. Jordi underwent immediate surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Remarkably, she continued to fulfill all her concert and TV commitments during treatment. She even hosted the live New Year’s Eve Silvestershow in late 2017 while in the middle of chemotherapy. This demonstrated her resilience and dedication. In April 2018, after completing therapy, Jordi publicly revealed her battle with cancer and announced that she had fully overcome the illness. By 2024, Jordi proudly celebrated being cancer-free for seven years, crediting a positive mindset and a more balanced life for her recovery. This personal milestone has inspired her to advocate for hope and resilience, even writing a uplifting ballad called “Miracle” about believing in miracles.

Recent Years and Ongoing Career

Even after more than two decades in the industry, Francine Jordi continues to thrive in music and entertainment. In 2023, she marked her 25th anniversary as a performer. To celebrate, she held a special concert in Aarau, Switzerland, performing her best-known songs accompanied by the argovia philharmonic symphony orchestra. Also in 2023, she released a new studio album titled Leben (“Life”), which reached #2 on the Swiss charts.

In late 2024, Francine Jordi released Ein Stückchen Weihnacht – Mein Geschenk für Dich, a Christmas album that holds special significance for her. It was her 18th studio album, featuring traditional and new holiday songs. Upon release, Jordi announced that this would “likely” be her final album. This is not because she is retiring, but because of changes in the music industry’s format. She noted that audiences now mostly consume music via streaming and singles, and making full albums has become less rewarding in the modern market. Jordi expressed sadness in making this decision, but she clarified emphatically that she is not ending her career. She intends to continue performing live and possibly releasing individual songs, just without the cycle of album production. In interviews she has reassured fans that she will remain “fully active” as a singer and entertainer going forward.