"Toy" (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

transliteration: ) is a song recorded by Israeli singer

Netta Barzilai Netta Barzilai ( he, נטע ברזילי; born 22 January 1993), also known mononymously as Netta, is an Israeli singer. After winning Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018#HaKokhav HaBa L'Eurovizion, the fifth season of ''HaKokhav HaBa'', ...

, and was Israel's submission to the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broa ...

, which it won. The track was written by

Doron Medalie Doron Medalie ( he, דורון מדלי; born 5 December 1977) is an Israeli songwriter, composer and artistic director. He co-wrote the song "Toy", which was performed by Netta Barzilai and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. Biography Doron M ...

and Stav Beger, and produced by Beger. The song was released on 11 March 2018 along with its official music video clip, which was directed by Keren Hochma. The song was leaked online a day before the official release. The song won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with 529 points. It marks

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's fourth

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

win along with

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. The song reached the top of the charts in Israel. The song held the title of the most viewed video on Eurovision Song Contest's

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channel until it was surpassed by

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2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

entry " Uno" in July 2020. The song is featured in the game ''

Just Dance 2019 ''Just Dance 2019'' is a 2018 dance rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was unveiled on June 11, 2018, during its E3 press conference as the tenth main installment of the series, and was released on October 23, 2018 on Nintendo ...

''.

Lyrics

The song's lyrics are mostly in English, with the exception of the Hebrew phrase (''ani lo buba'', "I am not a doll"), and the slang word (''stefa'', meaning a pile of banknotes). The Japanese word '' baka'' ( "stupid") is also used extensively and the ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'' character

Pikachu is a fictional species in the ''Pokémon'' media franchise. Designed by Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori, Pikachu first appeared in the 1996 Japanese video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Green'' created by Game Freak and Nintendo, which were ...

is used once. "Trump-pam-pau" refers to the then-

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, as Doron Medalie revealed in April 2019 to the Israeli media.

Eurovision Song Contest

"Toy" was first drawn to compete at the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, in which it was performed seventh in a field of nineteen songs, and achieved first place, based on a combination of fourth placing from televote and first from jury. It thus qualified for the final, under a format progressing the top ten most-voted songs from each semi-final. In the final the song was performed 22nd in a field of 26, and won, based on third placing with 212 points from the jury and winning the televote with 317 points, achieving overall first place with a combined score of 529 points which Israel later won hosting rights for

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Critical reception

Charlotte Runcie of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' awarded the song five stars out of five, describing it as "gloriously bizarre pop" with "playful lyrics and a powerful vocal performance". Allegations were made that the performance of the song at Eurovision featured appropriation of Japanese cultural imagery as a "prop", including Netta wearing a

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

and

buns A bun is a type of bread roll, typically filled with savory fillings (for example hamburger). A bun may also refer to a sweet cake in certain parts of the world. Though they come in many shapes and sizes, buns are most commonly round, and are g ...

, and the performance's staging featuring

Maneki-neko The ''maneki-neko'' (招き猫, ) is a common Japanese figurine which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. In modern times, they are usually made of ceramic or plastic. The figurine depicts a cat, traditionally a calico Japanese Bob ...

s—a Japanese symbol of luck. Netta did not respond to the allegations, but did state in previous interviews that she was a follower of

Japanese popular culture Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be t ...

, particularly the ''

'' franchise. In 2022, Ben Kelly of ''The Independent'' named it 39th best Eurovision-winning song of all time.

Copyright claim

On 3 July 2018, Israeli infotainer Guy Pines reported that

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

may file a lawsuit claiming "Toy" similarities in rhythm and harmony with

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

' song "

Seven Nation Army "Seven Nation Army" is a song by American rock duo the White Stripes. It is the opening track on their fourth studio album, ''Elephant'' (2003). V2 Records released the song to American alternative radio on February 17, 2003, as the lead single f ...

". Universal sent a pre-suit notice letter to the songwriters Doron Medalie and Stav Beger, claiming copyright infringement. In February 2019 the Israeli composers agreed to give writing credit to

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

, and he gets a share in the

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

for the song. Medalie and Beger had reportedly agreed to give Universal some of the song's distribution rights in certain territories, potentially exposing the song to an even larger audience.

Credits and personnel

Recording and management *Recorded at Stav Beger Studios (

) *Published by Tedy Productions and Unicell Personnel *

Netta ''Netta'' is a genus of diving ducks. The name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck". Unlike other diving ducks, the ''Netta'' species are reluctant to dive, and feed more like dabbling ducks. These are gregarious ducks, mainly found on fresh ...

– vocals, loop arrangements *

– composition *Stav Beger – composition, production, percussion, mixing and mastering *

– composition *Avshalom Ariel – loop arrangements *Ami Ben Abu – keyboards *Shimon Yihye – guitars *Daniel Rubin, Maayan Bukris and Liron Carakukly – background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References

External links

* {{Eurovision Song Contest 2018 2018 singles 2018 songs Eurovision Song Contest winning songs Eurovision songs of 2018 Eurovision songs of Israel Number-one singles in Israel Songs written by Doron Medalie Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Jack White Netta Barzilai songs