Ping Pong

Total songs:
13
Total releases:
3

Ping Pong is the name of a bubblegum dance project from Israel. They are best known for their 2000 song "Sameyach" (Hebrew: שמייח , English: misspelled "Happpy"), in which they competed in the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest.

The band consisted of four members, two males and two females:

The band released an album in 2000 titled "בין מוסר לאופנה" (Bein Musar Leofna, English translation: "Amid Fashion and Morality"), which featured 13 tracks. The album is entirely in Hebrew, with the exception of the track "Burger Ranch" which is the actual name of a fast-food restaurant similar to McDonalds in Israel.

The 2000 promo release of their Eurovision song contest entry misspelled the song in English as "Happpy."

Eurovision and controversy

Originally, Ping Pong entered Eurovision as a joke, only to actually get into the competition, defeating 83 other acts earlier in the year. Their song "Sameyakh" was controversial due to the fact that, starting with a recorded rehearsal of the song, they waved small flags of both Israel and Syria at the end of their performance. The move was controversial due to the fact that it came at a period when Israel had withdrawn from southern Lebanon due to guerilla attacks by the Hezbollah militia, which was supported by a Syrian government which did not recognise Israel's sovereignty. The political stunt caused an uproar in their home country, and after they refused to withdraw the use of the flag for the final, the band was disendorsed by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

Upon being disendorsed, Gil Samsonov, the chairman of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority stated that PingPong would have to pay for the costs of entering the competition themselves, saying "They will compete there, but not on behalf of the Israeli Broadcasting Authority or the Israeli people... They are representing only themselves."
It was the last straw for the IBA after the group had released its video clip for the song the previous month, which included male-male kissing and suggestive acts with a cucumber. "It started with sexual provocation and now it has turned to political provocation," Mr Samsonov said. "What is this meant to be about? Everyone knows that the Israeli people want peace with Syria."

The performance also garnered controversy when the group, at the last minute, decided to sing the song's English title ("Be Happy") in place of the Hebrew title, after previously having stated that they would sing the song entirely in Hebrew. The version included on their 2000 album features lyrics entirely in Hebrew.

The art director for the group, Eytan Fox, when acknowledging the controversy surrounding the flags, refused to back down, claiming that the song was a peace message.
"The song is about love and peace so we thought it would be a good idea to use Syrian and Israeli flags, because we would like to have peace with Arab countries."
Fox claimed that his group was being targeted by conservative facets of society, stating "We represent a new kind of Israeli who wants to be normal and have peace. We want to have fun and not go to war, but the right wing is not happy about that message."

The song describes an Israeli woman on a kibbutz who appears to be depressed, having a torrid affair with a Damascus man, who appears in the video in a traditional headdress, or keffiyeh. It makes references to wars and natural disasters such as floods, and when the reference to the cucumber is made, the singers sing into cucumbers. It also used the suggestive line "I want to do it with him all day long."

The song was performed first on the night, preceding the Netherlands' Linda with "No Goodbyes". At the close of voting, it had received 7 points, placing 22nd in a field of 24.

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