"Push the Button" was the
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i entry in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2007The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by first-time appearance as an independent country Serbia and was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland from 10 May to 12 May. The host broadcaster was YLE.Finland earned the right to host...
, performed in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
,
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
by
TeapacksTeapacks was an Israeli band that formed in 1988 in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. Originally the band was named after the correction fluid Tipp-Ex, but the name was then changed so as not to infringe on the well-known brand....
. This song was the first Israeli entry to feature lyrics in French, and thus the first to feature lyrics in any language but Hebrew and English. The entry won that representation by an absolute majority, winning the 20% televote, 20% SMS vote, 20% pre-vote and the 40% jury vote. Teapacks had been selected as the Israeli representative by the
Israel Broadcasting AuthorityIsrael Broadcasting Authority is Israel's state broadcasting network.It grew out of the radio station Kol Yisrael, which made its first broadcast as an independent station on . The name of the organisation operating Kol Yisrael was changed to Israel Broadcasting Service in 1951...
and invited to perform four songs at the national final to determine which one would be performed in
HelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
.
Style and Lyrics
The song is an up-tempo number, featuring many changes in tempo and style. Lead singer Kobi Oz begins by singing in English over a steady
accordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
beat, explaining that "The world is full of terror" and singing about the risk posed by "some crazy rulers" who are bent on destruction. At this point, the song moves to the chorus, featuring a
guitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
riff and the repeated phrase "They're gonna push the button".
The second verse begins in a similar style to the first, with the exception that the lyrics are delivered in French. Oz sings that there is "too much violence" due to the fanatics he described earlier. The accordion beat is then replaced once again as Oz switches back to English to sing that he does not want to die and that "I wanna see the flowers bloom/Don't wanna go kaput kaboom" in a more dramatic manner. The chorus (complete with guitar riff) is then repeated (with "He's gonna..." instead of "They're gonna...").
Following the chorus, the song changes tempo entirely, as Oz begins to rap in Hebrew. He expands on his earlier description of the risk of fanaticism, describing a nightmarish situation in which nobody else seems aware of, or concerned about, what is happening. The tempo then switches back to the steady beat of the earlier verses, but with Oz still singing in Hebrew describing the people in his situation as "pawns". He switches further to his dramatic vocals, wondering if perhaps the song is altogether "too sharp", and suggesting that "We should sing palm tree songs, desert songs with no flags", referring to an older, romantic (and apolitical) style of Israeli song. The next line -- "Ani od khay, khay, khay" ("I'm still alive, alive, alive") -- is a direct quote of the hook from Israel's upbeat (and apolitical) second-place-winning 1983 Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest 1983, the 28th in the series, was held in Munich, then West Germany, on 23 April 1983. The presenter was Marlene Charell. Corinne Hermes was the winner of this Eurovision with the song, "Si la vie est cadeau". This was Luxembourg's fifth victory in the contest which...
entry, "Khay"Hi" was the Israeli entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed in Hebrew by Ofra Haza. The song title was transliterated at the contest as "Hi", and has also been credited in other media as "Khay", "Jai" and "Hay."The song is a moderately up-tempo number, opening with two uncredited...
". But this quote, exuberant and triumphant in Khay"Hi" was the Israeli entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed in Hebrew by Ofra Haza. The song title was transliterated at the contest as "Hi", and has also been credited in other media as "Khay", "Jai" and "Hay."The song is a moderately up-tempo number, opening with two uncredited...
, here is (perhaps slyly) repurposed as just part of the nervous narrator's thought-- "I'm still alive, alive, alive" it begins, then concludes (no longer apolitical), "And if the situation remains as frightening as it has been, only then I will say / I'm gonna push the button" (i.e. "I'm gonna push the button" in the final chorus, a response to "They're gonna push the button" (in the first chorus) and "He's gonna push the button" (in the second chorus) ).
The politically charged lyrical content caused some controversy. While the message of the song is unclear, some suggest that the song is a reflection of the anxiety of some Israelis about the threat of nuclear warNuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
with IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. This interpretation assumes that the lyrics "He's gonna push the button" refer to the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Despite earlier statements that it had an inappropriate message and might be banned from the 2007 contest, Eurovision Song Contest organizers approved the Israeli entry. The song (and the controversy) was reported in BBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
due to its content.
As Israel had not finished the previous ContestThe Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...
in the top 10, the song was performed in the semi-final. Here, it was performed second (following BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
's Elitsa TodorovaElitsa Todorova is a Bulgarian folk singer and professional percussionist.- Career :It is the first Bulgarian who led Bulgaria to the 5th position in the world in Eurovision 2007 with the song "Water" with Stoyan Yankulov....
and Stoyan YankoulovStoyan Yankoulov , known as Stundji , is one of Bulgaria's most popular and renowned drummers and percussionists...
with "Water"Water" was the Bulgarian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, performed in Bulgarian by Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov. This was the first occasion on which the Bulgarian language was used on the Eurovision stage, previous Bulgarian entries being performed in English...
" and preceding CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
' EvridikiEvridiki Theokleous , known professionally as simply Evridiki, is a Cypriot rock, pop, and electro pop singer. She is best known in Europe for representing her home country, Cyprus, in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, 1994 and 2007 with the songs Teriazoume, Eimai Anthropos Ki Ego and Comme...
with "Comme Ci, Comme Ça"Comme Ci, Comme Ça" was the Cypriot entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, performed in French by Evridiki. The song was composed by Dimitris Korgialas and written by Poseidonas Giannopoulos...
". At the close of voting, it had received 17 points, placing 24th in a field of 28 and thus missing out on qualification for the final and requiring Israel to qualify through the semi-final at the next Contest.
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