The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) held a national final to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1982. The national final was a collaboration between three broadcasters that comprised SRG SSR: the Swiss-German and Romansh broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz (SF DRS), the Swiss-French broadcaster Télévision suisse romande (TSR), and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Televisione svizzera di lingua italiana (TSI). Starting in 1982, unlike previous Swiss national finals, where all composite broadcasters internally selected their entries, said broadcasters could hold their own regional selection methods.^[1]

According to SRG SSR spokesperson Joe Wolf, the Swiss-German and Romansh broadcaster Schweizer Fernsehen der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz (SF DRS) and the Swiss-Italian broadcaster Televisione svizzera di lingua italiana (TSI) selected their songs via public regional finals, whereas the Swiss-French broadcaster Télévision suisse romande (TSR) internally selected its songs.^[1] However, it is unknown if a Swiss-Italian selection ultimately occurred, as there are no known mentions of such event in broadcast guides.

SRG SSR received 155 total song submissions (90 in German, 36 in French, and 29 in Italian), and ultimately selected nine to take part in the selection (three per language).^[11][12] Among the participants were Rainy Day [de], who would later represent Switzerland in 1984. "Amour on t'aime" by Arlette Zola was previously submitted in the 1979 Swiss selection and was set to be sung by Alain Morisod and his group, but was withdrawn due to the group's disbandment.^[13] Because the song was not published until the national final, the song was eligible for the contest.

Swiss French broadcaster Télévision suisse romande (TSR) staged the national final on 28 January 1982 at 21:15 CET in Geneva.^[11] It was presented by Serge Moisson [fr], and the Groupe Instrumental Romand and Alfredo Smaldini [de] made guest appearances.^[11][4][14] The national final was broadcast on TV DRS (with German commentary), TSR, and TSI (with Italian commentary).^[15][16]

The voting consisted of regional public votes which were sent to the three divisions of SRG SSR (DRS, TSR, TSI: German, French, and Italian speaking, respectively), a press jury, and a jury of music experts from Bern.^[4][17] Applications for viewers to join the regional juries were sent via postcard until 21 January, and 50 viewers from each canton were randomly selected to cast their votes to their broadcaster divisions via phone call.^[17] Additionally, one random voter in the public jury would be drawn to be invited to attend the Eurovision Song Contest as an audience member along with a companion.^[17] The selected voter was Daniel Mauser from Geneva.^[14] The winner was the song "Amour on t'aime", composed by Alain Morisod with lyrics from Pierre Alain and performed by Arlette Zola.

Each participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel with at least eleven members. The jurors awarded 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their top ten songs.^{[citation needed]}

Points awarded to Switzerland[18] Score Country 12 points  Belgium  United Kingdom 10 points  Austria  Israel  Netherlands  Yugoslavia 8 points  Ireland 7 points  Denmark 6 points  Cyprus 5 points 4 points  Norway 3 points 2 points  Luxembourg  Portugal  Sweden  Turkey 1 point

Points awarded by Switzerland[18] Score Country 12 points  Germany 10 points  Israel 8 points  Cyprus 7 points  Spain 6 points  Ireland 5 points  United Kingdom 4 points  Sweden 3 points  Turkey 2 points  Belgium 1 point  Portugal