Hallelujah (Milk and Honey song)
"Hallelujah" | ||||
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Polydor | ||||
Composer(s) | Kobi Oshrat | |||
Lyricist(s) | Shimrit Orr | |||
Producer(s) | Shlomo Zach | |||
Milk and Honey singles chronology | ||||
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"Halayla" (1981) ► |
"Hallelujah" (Hebrew: הללויה) was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Hebrew by Milk and Honey, including Gali Atari, for Israel.[1]
History
The song was originally submitted by the composer Kobi Oshrat for the national Israeli selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, but was rejected as “the selection committee did not think ‘Hallelujah’ was strong enough.“ It was also rejected by song festivals in Chile and Japan. It was, however, accepted for the national Israeli selection for the 1979 contest, where it was intended to be performed by the band Hakol Over Habibi. Hakol Over Habibi, nevertheless, declined the opportunity to sing it because the lead singer Shlomit Aharon declared she did not want to go to Eurovision.[2][3]
After Oshrat decided to withdraw the song because of Hakol Over Habibi’s refusal to perform the song, the national final producers wanted Gali Atari to perform the song instead. The group Milk and Honey was then formed especially for the national selection around Atari, giving her the company of the three male vocalists Shmulik Bilu, Reuven Gvirtz, and Yehuda Tamir, so that the group had the same number of singers and gender composition as Hakol Over Habibi.[4] The song only narrowly won the national Israeli selection with 63 points, only two more points than "Ein li ish milvadi", performed by Tzvika Pick, later internationally known as the composer of 1998 Eurovision winning song Diva.[5]
This was the fourth occasion on which the host country had won the contest (
The song is regarded as a classic of the contest due to the unique performance, in which Atari and her backing singers entered the stage one by one, rather than all together. It has also become something of a modern Jewish standard, recognized by many North Americans who might have never even heard of Eurovision.
It was performed tenth on the night, following West Germany's Dschinghis Khan with "Dschinghis Khan" and preceding France's Anne-Marie David with "Je suis l'enfant soleil". At the close of voting, it had received 125 points, placing 1st in a field of 19. According to author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor in his book The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History, as Spain had been leading on the penultimate round of voting, this was the first time the winning song had come from behind to clinch victory on the final vote. The Spanish jury's vote gave the contest to Israel.[6]
The song was succeeded as contest winner in 1980 by Johnny Logan singing "What's Another Year" for Ireland.
Israel did not enter the
The song was reprised three more times at later Eurovision events. The first was at the end of the Eurovision Song Contest 1999 by all the contestants as a tribute to the victims of the wars in the Balkans. The second was performed by Atari with participants of the 'Switch Song' interval act during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The third reprise was during Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light when Atari performed it as a Zoom-style sing-along with finalists of Junior Songfestival 2018 and 2019.
To celebrate Israel's 70th year of independence, the Israeli Culture and Sports Ministry released an updated version of the song. The updated version was sung by Atari and pop superstar Eden Ben Zaken and was performed in Jerusalem at the official state ceremony.[7] When approached to revive the song she won Eurovision with at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, she refused to sing with her former teammates, Milk and Honey members Reuven Gvirtz, Shmulik Bilu and Yehuda Tamir. Instead, she sang it with renowned former Eurovision participants Conchita Wurst, Måns Zelmerlöw, Eleni Foureira and Verka Serduchka.[8]
Charts
Chart (1979) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) | 15 |
Belgium (Ultratop) | 4 |
Finland | 1 |
Ireland (IRMA) | 1 |
Israel ( IBA )
|
1 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] | 8 |
Netherlands ( Single Top 100 )
|
6 |
Norway (VG-lista) | 1 |
Spain ( Spanish Singles Chart )
|
22 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) | 1 |
Switzerland ( Schweizer Hitparade )
|
2 |
UK Singles (OCC) | 5 |
West Germany ( Official German Charts )
|
11 |
Cover versions
The husband-and-wife singing duo of
In 1987, Oshrat's composition was covered by
There is also an undocumented Polish version by Eleni Tzoka, recorded under title "Alleluja miłość twa".
See also
References
- ISBN 9789652292148. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
- ^ http://www.andtheconductoris.eu/index.htm?http://www.eurovisionartists.nl/conductor/dir020.asp?ID=227 Archived 2020-08-07 at the Wayback Machine Kobi Oshrat - And the conductor is… Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ^ The real story behind Hallelujah revealed Archived 2018-01-19 at the Wayback Machine, Maariv, August 23, 2006.
- ^ http://www.andtheconductoris.eu/index.htm?http://www.eurovisionartists.nl/conductor/dir020.asp?ID=227 Archived 2020-08-07 at the Wayback Machine Kobi Oshrat - And the conductor is… Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ^ http://natfinals.50webs.com/70s_80s/Israel1979.html Archived 2019-12-18 at the Wayback Machine Israeli National Final 1979, retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
- ^ "Israel Readies for 70th Anniversary in Song". Jerusalem Post. March 26, 2018. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
- ^ "Switch Song (with Conchita Wurst, Måns Zelmerlöw, Eleni Foureira, Verka Serduchka) - Eurovision 2019". YouTube.com. 18 May 2019. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
- ^ "Milk & Honey ((ISR)) – Hallelujah" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ Graclík & Nekvapil 2008, pp. 177, 424.
- ^ Lehotský 2008a, p. 31.
Bibliography
- Graclík, Miroslav; Nekvapil, Václav (2008). Marika Gombitová: neautorizovaný životní příběh legendy československé pop music [Marika Gombitová: An Unauthorized Life Story of the Legend of Czechoslovak Pop Music] (in Czech). OCLC 294939865. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- Lehotský, Oskar (April 23, 2008a). Slovak Popular Music in the Years 1977–1989 – Marika Gombitová (PDF) (in Slovak). Bratislava, Slovakia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
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External links
- Lyrics of "Hallelujah" (in Hebrew)
- Lyrics of "Hallelujah" (in English)
- Eurovision 1979 performance video on YouTube
- Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme recording on YouTube