(1) Introduction
We bring together below some background material and activity ideas to develop around Push the Button, Israel's Eurovision Song Contest entry in 2007. Using a wide range of online resources and selected focus issues, we aim to open up a variety of perspectives on the song and its impact. While we do not aim to make everyone a Teapacks fan, we hope that you will enjoy the music – and, of course, we also wish Teapacks lots of success in Helsinki this year!
(2) Kobi Oz & Teapacks טיפקס
Name: Kobi Oz [ne Ya'akov Ozen] [1969-]
Occupation: Singer-songwriter & Author
Even if Sderot were not featured regularly in Israel's news headlines, due to Kassam rocket attacks by Hamas, Fatah and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, it has not been out of the news in Israeli popular music in the past two decades. Sderot-born Kobi Oz with the band Teapacks are representing Israel in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest.
Described as, "the best lyricist in any language", Kobi specialises in dry, satiro-comical and topical songs representing Israeli culture, addressing Israeli politics, protesting; sometimes, his music is pure fun stuff. He has also cultivated his own whacky brand of recording/on-stage delivery for his messages. The cutting edge of the band's cool, in-your-face musical agenda is nonetheless often moderated by Kobi's bubbling personality and charm.
Kobi Oz presented 4 songs to the Israeli public vote for the 2007 Eurovision: the most popular by far in the vote was Push the Button - a lively, contemporary song in English, French and Ivrit, related to the nuclear threat against Israel (as well as possibly being reminiscent of Israeli life under missile attacks - in Sderot, during the First Gulf War and the Second Lebanon War). The following day, eyebrows were raised at the selection panel in Finland, and the song was widely featured in the British electronic media: the BBC, the Independent, and others. Israel's entry was then seriously threatened by a ban, on the grounds that it was too political. The mass exposure of the impending ban generated wide response and protest, because the Eurovision has a history of political songs - not least one from Finland itself, and another from Greece. In the end, Push the Button was not banned...
Further References
Biography
English:
Short bio
http://www.ithl.org.il/author_info.asp?id=195
Kobi in 1999
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/personal/levantine.html
Hebrew:
http://mooma.keshet-tv.com/Biography.asp?ArtistId=1465
http://mooma.keshet-tv.com//Biography.asp?ArtistId=3454&TextId=803
Kobi & the Ethnix band
http://www.ethnix.co.il/kobioz.html
Ethnix & Teapacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teapacks
Overview 2006
http://israelbeat.blogspot.com/2006/06/teapacks-article.html
Hebrew:
www.ethnix.co.il;
http://www.teapacks.com/
http://go.walla.co.il/tipex/index2.html
Teapacks' Songs – General
English:
Songs with a statement
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?temNo=271325&contrassID=2&subContrassID=11&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=271325
The genre
http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/22544/edition_id/453/format/html/displaystory.html
Hebrew:
http://www.habama.co.il/newsComplete.asp?id=1998&Nimg=6&subject=bikoret3&page=places.asp?sugmofa=10
http://www.articles.co.il/article/3514/%D7%98%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%A7%D7%A1%20%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%A7%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%A8%20%D7%91%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%99%20%D7%A0%D7%92%D7%94%20%D7%90
Teapacks' Lyrics
Teapacks - lyrics [Hebrew]
http://mp3music.gpg.co.il/lyrics/e8e9f4f7f1.html
Sitting in a Café
Get Away from Me
(3) More about "Push the Button" & Teapacks
Print out the lyrics to Push the Button for participants to read.
Show the online video, to watch and discuss the performance.
Push the Button: Lyrics & articles
English article; partial lyrics
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3371543,00.html
A legitimate entry for Eurovision
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3372165,00.html
See below Hebrew article for English (partial), French and full text Hebrew:
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3371526,00.html
Article with English only (partial)
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2318713.ece
English translation in full from this page, see the Continuation Hebrew/English
http://www.hebrewsongs.com/?song=pushthebutton
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_h_rLKTLvs
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2013819740
Teapacks & Eurovision (טיפקס):
Where they're from (Sderot):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sderot
Hebrew
http://eurovil.iba.org.il/
http://lib.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=10272&kwd=6704
http://www.ynet.co.il/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3349321,00.html or
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3349321,00.html
(4) Poster Activity
Participants can make a large poster, with the lyrics in the middle, leaving a lot of space around the text for talkback in this and the following discussion.
Each participant can post their own feedback to the song, followed by a review.
(5) Points to Ponder
Now that participants are familiar with Push the Button, Teapacks, and the controversy surrounding the event, here are some structured discussion questions.
After answering them in small groups, participants can post their responses on the poster and have a short time to review them together.
If there is more time, responses can be collected into an album with downloaded articles and photos, or reproduced as talkback and uploaded to a blog, with links to the articles.
• What are your impressions of |Push the Button, as a song? What did you like or dislike about it?
• Are your impressions colored by the media buzz? Would you say the song is pacifist/ militaristic/ other (explain)?
• What do you think Kobi Oz intended to say or convey?
• Why is Israel included in the Eurovision? In your opinion, is the Eurovision important – if so, to whom and why?
• Is Israel part of Europe in cultural and social terms, etc? Why/ why not? What connects Israel more to Europe, rather than Asia/ Africa?
• Why do you think there was such a reaction and media hype over Push the Button?
• How do the media and the world respond to Israel, in general, and especially in times of crisis (The Second Intifada; The Second Lebanon War, etc.)? Is this justified or disproportionate? Why?
• Was the response to Push the Button related to Israel's image? Is the media hype around the song justified, or disproportionate?
• Is the hype discriminatory? How would Israelis feel if another country sang a similar song? Here are the lyrics and varied responses to the 1982 Finnish Eurovision entry, Bombs: http://www.diggiloo.net/?1982fi . In your opinion, was the threat of a ban on the Israeli entry justified?
• Is there some truth in the song and/or is the world too scared to face the truth - and is the Eurovision hype a defense mechanism?
(5) Follow Through
Participants decide if they agree or disagree with the song being in the Eurovision:
Participants who agree:
Create a flyer in support of the song. It should be attractive and concise, and include the major points that participants feel are most relevant.
Participants who disagree:
Create their own version of this song, and explain the differences and the significance.
(6) Blogging & Logging Eurovision
Watch the Eurovision preliminaries and finals. Vote if you can!
Keep track of which countries vote for whom on a database.
After the Eurovision, discuss:
Why do you think each country votes as they do? Is the song the best, or are there politics behind the scenes?
Participants write short comments and read them aloud to the group, or upload them to a blog.
Have a final review.
Contributors: Serah Beizer, Naomi Goldberger, Gila Ansell Brauner