Shir Habatlanim
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| Shir Habatlanim | |
|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 1987 entry | |
| Country | Israel |
| Artist(s) | Avi Kushnir and Natan Datner |
| As | Datner & Kushnir |
| Language | Hebrew |
| Composer(s) | Zohar Laskov |
| Lyricist(s) | Zohar Laskov |
| Place | 8th |
| Points | 73 |
| Lyrics | from the Diggiloo Thrush |
| Video Clip | Eurovision performance |
Shir Habatlanim (שיר הבטלנים, meaning The Bums' Song in Hebrew) was the Israeli entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987. It was performed in Hebrew by the comedic duo Datner & Kushnir (also known as Lazy Bums) and came eighth in the final, scoring 73 points. It was the subject of a resignation threat by the Israeli Culture Minister.
The act consisted of two comedians, who were dressed in black suits and ties and a white shirt, who performed alone in a talking style presentation, accompanied by a minimalist orchestra score conducted by a similarly attired conductor. The two men danced in unison, with coordinated arm and feet shuffling, walking across the stage which at times descended into chaotic flailing, pulling faces and a handstand. At times they pulled sunglasses perched off their heads down, and concluded their performance by falsely walking away before jumping back at the audience [1].
The lyrics describe the daily routine of a presumably lazy and unemployed person, who wakes up in the morning at 10 a.m., and who cannot see the sun because the shutters and then a block of buildings impedes his view. It describes his routine of making coffee and smoking, and feeding the birds so that they come and sing the Bums' Song. It then describes how the lazy man directs his dog to do the grocery errands, before going for a walk with the dog, and then at the end of the day, having his view of the moon blocked by the buildings. The verses are interspersed with the Lazy bums chorus, which consists of repetition of the words Hupa, Hole Hupa, Hupa Hole.
It was selected to represent Israel after placing first in the 1987 Kdam Eurovision, where it tallied 79 points, defeating fifteeen other Israeli artists such as 1978 Eurovision winner Izhar Cohen.It was the largest Kdam Eurovision to that date, presented by Yardena Arazi and Yoram Arbell on April 1, 1987 [2].
At Eurovision, the song was performed second in a field of 22 on the night (following Norway's Kate with Mitt Liv and preceding Austria's Gary Lux with Nur noch Gefühl).
It was the first time that a satirical comic act had been selected to represent Israel, and this raised the ire of the Culture Minister of Israel, who declared that he would resign if the song represented Israel on the night of the contest. Although the performance went ahead, he did not fulfil his threat to resign.
The song went on to achieve success, primarily amongst the younger demographic who appreciated their slapstick style presentation, especially in Iceland, where they later toured and appeared and performed in television shows. An English version of the song was also recorded.
It was succeeded as Israeli representative at the 1988 Contest by Yardena Arazi with Ben Adam.
[edit] References
- Kennedy O'Connor, John (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History.
- from the Diggiloo Thrush
- Eurovision performance videoclip
