"Push the Button" not among top ten entries chosen in semifinal round.
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Teapacks, the band representing Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, will not be performing in the final round of the competition on Saturday, as it was not among the ten entries chosen in the semifinals on Thursday night.
During the band's performance at the event, the broadcast cut out for five seconds, prompting an appeal from the director of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's Culture and Entertainment Department to allow them to perform again. However, the appeal was rejected.
The controversial Teapacks entry, "Push the Button" - interpreted as a jab at Iran's hard-line president and his country's nuclear program - was nearly banned from the competition at first due to its "inappropriate" political content. Tensions remained even after the song was eventually admitted to the contest.
The winners of the semifinal round, which took place in Helsinki, Finland, included Belarus, Hungary, Turkey, Moldova, Georgia, Solvenia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Latvia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
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