Push the Button (Teapacks song)

"Push the Button"
Eurovision Song Contest 2007 entry
Country	Israel
Artist(s)	Kobi Oz, Meir Amar, Motti Yoseff, Rami Yosifov, Gal Peremen, Dani Aberjel
As	Teapacks
Languages	English, French, Hebrew
Composer(s)	Kobi Oz
Lyricist(s)	Kobi Oz
Finals performance
Semi-final result	24th
Semi-final points	17
Appearance chronology
◄ "Together We Are One" (2006)
"The Fire in Your Eyes" (2008) ►

"Push the Button" was the Israeli entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, performed in English, French and Hebrew by Teapacks.^[1] 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 Authority and invited to perform four songs at the national final to determine which one would be performed in Helsinki.

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 accordion 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 guitar 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 entry, "Khay". But this quote, exuberant and triumphant in Khay, 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 war with Iran. 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.^[2] The song (and the controversy) was reported in BBC News due to its content.^[3]

As Israel had not finished the previous Contest in the top 10, the song was performed in the semi-final. Here, it was performed second (following Bulgaria's Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov with "Water" and preceding Cyprus' Evridiki with "Comme Ci, Comme Ça". 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.^[4]

References

External links

• Lyrics
• Support website