Teapacks out of Eurovision
Israeli band fails to make it to final contest. Kobi Oz: ‘disappointed, but had fun’. Israeli delegation’s appeal to EBU denied
HELSINKI - Teapacks, Israel's representative to the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, did not pass the semi-final Thursday night.
The ten countries that made it to the finals were Belarus, Macedonia, Slovenia, Hungary, Georgia, Latvia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Moldovia.
"We're disappointed, but we had fun," Teapacks band member Kobi Oz told Ynet.
Roughly an hour after the end of the contest, the Teapacks crew arrived at their hotel, showing good sportsmanship about their loss. "We have no complaints. We had fun, it was awesome," Oz said. "In any case I'm happy about the experience, and I'm really proud of us."
Teapacks song choice, "Push the Button", had spurred controversy due to its references to the Iranian nuclear program. “This shouldn’t be treated as a something too momentous” said Yoav Ginai, head of the Israeli delegation, “its entertainment and the rules can sometimes play in our favor, and sometimes it just goes the other way.”
Many in the Israeli delegation sensed from the beginning the odds were not in Teapacks’ favor. “This was one of our best performances, and hopefully we’ll do even better in two days” said Oz after the show, unaware of the technical error in the broadcast, cutting the performance for a few seconds.
Ginai approached the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), requesting the song be played again, since “this probably hurt its chances”. The EBU denied the request, after determining the disruptions minor.
This is the second time Israel’s failed to make it into the final Eurovision Song Contest. In 2004 it was David Da’or who didn’t make it into the finals. In 2005, Shiri Mimon finished in fourth place, securing Eddie Butler’s place in the 2006 final. He came in the bottom two.
