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Israeli band complains over Eurovision

By · April 6, 2007

An Israeli band threatened to withdraw from the Eurovision song
contest. Tea Packs, whose song “Push the Button” has stirred
controversy with its allusions to nuclear war, complained over the weekend
that the Finnish hosts of this year’s Eurovision were trying to change the
performance.

“They changed the staging off-handedly,” Ma’ariv
quoted singer Kobi Oz as saying. “They changed the
background, deciding that it would be photographed with only one hand-held
camera out of the 10 that exist, and made the colors softer.”

Oz threatened to withdraw from
the contest, which takes place Thursday and Saturday in Helsinki,
unless Tea Packs is legally required to show."If we must appear, then as
far as I am concerned we will perform nude,” he said.

According to Ma’ariv,
the band’s complaints were taken into consideration by the Eurovision
organizers.

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