You will not be able to stay home, brother [2]
You will not be able to plug-in, turn on and cop out[3]
With a Captagon, at a Psy-trance party in the desert[4]
To undress from your uniform and dance with the stars[5]
[1]Gil Scott Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (karaoke)
[2]The text is written in the masculine form for convenience purposes only, but addresses all genders.
[3]‘Blowup mini-market drug’ is an Israeli term, used for a wide range of chemicals designed to have effects that are similar to those of illegal drugs. For example, pentylenetetrazol was originally used for ADHD treatment (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). However, it was withdrawn from use, due to its high risk of addiction. Now it has been labeled by the media as the drug of ISIS.From Walla News website, 2015: “It’s a cheap drug, ecstasy for the masses,” says a police source. In fact, the drug costs 50 NIS per pill, much cheaper than an ecstasy pill, which earned it the street name ‘zbale’ (derived from the word ‘garbage’ in Hebrew).
[4]As the sun rose across the desert horizon, day broke. It’s an almost onomatopoeic word — ‘yom’ (day, in Hebrew). Small and prosaic. The mouth closed before it could even finish yawning stubbornly, as if it wanted to create something, but then swallowed that something in the same breath. On October 7th, Captagon pills were found on the terrorists who arrived at the Nova party.
According to Globes, this was their chemical composition:
Theophylline: a caffeine-like asthma drug, which enhances the stimulating effect of amphetamines.
Caffeine: a stimulant.
Diphenhydramine: a substance found in allergy medications, which, when combined with amphetamine creates euphoria and impulsivity.
Ephedrine: a drug for shortness of breath and asthma, which causes euphoria and sexual arousal, and can also impair decision-making.
Allopurinol: a drug for rheumatism and gallstones. Its psychoactive effect is unclear.
Benzocaine: a local anesthetic.
Trimethoprim: an antibiotic, which has been reported in rare cases to cause hallucinations.
[5]‘A dancer, an officer and a gentleman’ was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the massacre at the Nova Festival, and is now the undisputed winner of Dancing with the Stars for 2024! The dissonance between the horror scenes and his work in the show-business world is similar to the story of a judge on the show. Their encounter is just one of the heartbreaking moments that will accompany the season from the first episode.
Nir Wolf summed it up beautifully in his article: “The judge’s sister, Leah Yanai, was kidnapped to Gaza while dancing at the Nova, and was released; the actor Dor Harari described how he fought on the battlefield; the magician Hezi Din cried over the loss of a family member. Each of them told something sad to the camera, cried a little, wiped away the tears, and finally went on stage to entertain the people.” Nir Wolf, Israel Hayom.
Wolf managed to see the moment of transition from national trauma to the dance that followed, or should we say from trauma to the process of mourning, internalization and processing. But he sees it as a ‘corrupt dance’, since in his view the elitism of the stars leaves us to watch their grief from the sidelines, while cheapening and distancing it.
It’s not my apocalypse if I can’t dance in it!
Because the apocalypse[6] will not be televised
You will not receive a dedication with a song by “Hatikvah 6”[7] in the radio
And you will not be able to cry with Geula Even[8], while she is interviewing the families of the hostages[9] on the news
No, the apocalypse will not be served in a bottle that doesn’t contain fruit
[6]The apocalypse is revealed to prophets. It is written for the righteous, describing what will ultimately happen to the unjust world that currently exists. On the one hand, It is full of horrific and intimidating scenarios, but at the same time, it also arouses the eros of destruction, embellishing the horror with symbolism. It is a kind of joy for the wicked, who taste the offering from the eternal arm of the righteous God. The apocalypse separates good from evil, light from darkness, fear and heroism. The apocalypse is born in an already chaotic world. It is cruel and evil from its foundation, which cannot be corrected, and only God can help. The war of Gog and Magog is about the hope for victory against all odds. It is the grand finale, a victorious blow. Is it a bad ending or a good ending? We are still waiting.
[7]Since the beginning of the war, on the children’s morning radio program, kids have been asking to dedicate a song to their fathers who serve in the reserves, fighting the front line. The song Home by Hatikva 6 managed to express so innocently and directly the longing of so many families to be reunited. It gained more popularity in comparison to the single that they released on the occasion of the Iron Swords War:
“We will wait for the sun to return
To bring us back the light
That the sun will return
It will happen
And everything will pass
When the sun will return
When the sun will return”
Hatikva 6, The Sun Will Return, December 13, 2023.From the entry List of Israeli Music Inspired by the Gaza War, Wikipedia.
[8]The violence of the war has opened cracks of bereavement and pain in everything. Even in our stars. Somewhere off screen, Geula Even breaks down and bursts into tears, when she can’t maintain the neutral appearance of a news reporter. She also had to change direction. At least for a while. To vent. She also wants to be a dancing star, but she couldn’t last long. This is a season in which the competition is extremely high; the casting directors brought the ‘big guns’ this time — Linoy Ashram and all. To be a contender means to keep on shining. With their pale light from distant galaxies or their second light, emanating from the screen – the stars shine upon us – even for a little while, though the darkness.
[9]When Linoy Ashram and dancer Rafael Fleischman dedicated their Viennese waltz to the twins Ziv and Gali Berman, who were kidnapped from Kfar Aza on the black saturday of Simchat Torah, the participants in the program, as well as the audience in the studio and at home, could not remain indifferent. “We dedicate the song and dance titled Sad Roses to the Berman family. I know Ziv and Gali personally, I was with them at the Festigal. They worked in lighting, constantly bringing light and joy between or after the performances,” Ashram said before they began. “We would play backgammon together. There was always such a good atmosphere with them around. The fact that we still don’t know what’s happening to them is killing me. I cannot imagine what their family is going through, but I can say that they are not alone in this. No one has forgotten them, we are here and waiting for them. We will continue to say what we can so that they will return home safely.” Tvbee system.
In the current season, three dance performances were dedicated to the hostages.
Because the apocalypse will not be allowed for publication
The apocalypse will not be televised
In the finale of “The Next Star for Eurovision”10
And it will not slip as a sigh11 from Assi Azar’s mouth
After another tear-jerking performanceIt will not be another historic night that will be talked about for generations12
[10]Since the time of Aristotle, comedy has been a funny story about ordinary people who make mistakes, and tragedy is a sad story about injustice, in which high-ranking gods and great people sin. It has a cause and effect. The broadcasts of the tenth season of The Next Star for Eurovision began with a disruption in the broadcast schedule. The filming of the show began on September 10th, 2023, just before life turned upside down. Due to the Iron Swords War, its continuation was postponed. Initially, the broadcasts were supposed to begin on October 31st, 2023, with a special edition that was adjusted to the war. However, due to the death of the fighters in the battles in Gaza that day, the beginning of the broadcast was postponed again. During the show, one of the promising contestants, the late Shauli Greenglick, also died in Gaza. The unimaginable tragedy that occurred before the eyes of the entire nation caught the broadcasters off-guard again. The reality-show pendulum is swinging like a pirate ship in a nightmare. Everything is recycled before it even happens. The entertainment industry, which is known for shredding everyone who has been lured to swallow its cup of glamour by the jaws of show-business — uses and throws away — could no longer digest it. As a tribute, in the season finale, while celebrating the selection of Israel’s representative for Eurovision, just before the results of the viewer vote were in, Shauli’s family was invited to perform a song and commemorate those whose chances of winning were cut short.
[11] Silences can be awkward, especially during prime time, but if you know how to use them correctly, they can become a defining moment.
[12] On the night of April 13th, the eyes of the country and its allies were fixed on the black sky, in between the stars, in order to see the Comets and the Iranian UAVs land. However, the Comet did not land, and exactly like in a children’s tale, the happy ending unfolded the tale:
“Mankind, ignorant of the truths that lie within every human being, looked outward — pushed ever outward. What mankind hoped to learn in its outward push was who was actually in charge of all creation, and what all creation was all about.
Mankind flung its advance agents ever outward, ever outward. Eventually it flung them out into space, into the colorless, tasteless, weightless sea of outwardness without end.
It flung them like stones.
These unhappy agents found what had already been found in abundance on Earth — a nightmare of meaninglessness without end. The bounties of space, of infinite outwardness, were three: empty heroics, low comedy, and pointless death.”
From The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut.
Titan is the name of the largest moon that circles Saturn. Indeed, the eyes of humanity are drawn to this celestial body in a special way — the lunar methane mass resembles a potential alternative home, since it recreates conditions that existed on Earth just before life began to develop here. Far from the sun, its water is trapped in blocks of ice, while the rain that fills its rivers and lakes is made of methane.
The apocalypse will not send a “Decree 8[13]”, mid season
The apocalypse will not serve as a “Trojan Pot”, made by Rachel from Sderot[14]
It will not be a character in a special episode of “Eretz Nehederet”
In these days of uncertainty
The apocalypse will not be the new Mergui, old Mergui or just Mergui[15]
Because the apocalypse will not be
In the apocalypse there will not be free-flowing traffic, along the 60 highway, “Together We Will Win”[16]
In the apocalypse you will not dance to the sounds of “Harbu Darbu”[17], but you will receive harsh criticism
The apocalypse will not be available for audience-vote on the app
The apocalypse will be life itself[18]
[13]The ‘hero-warrior’ Tal Morad, a model and Instagram star who is not a stranger to the reality format, arrived at his first meeting with his dancer-mentor straight out of the reserves. Xena, with whom he will share his journey into ballroom dancing and also love, commented: “He smelled bad”.
[14] During the October 7th attack, civilians emerged as reluctant heroes, who managed to show exemplary resourcefulness and overcome the terrifying situation of the horror scenario. One of the most prominent stories was that of Rachel from Sderot. She received iconic representation and great interest around the world. She even appeared as a character in the sketch of the show Eretz Nehederet, when she presented a combat strategy, titled the Trojan Pot.
[15] It’s just Mergui in a track-suit. He also lost control.
[16] No matter where you are: in the living room, at the cafe, on the way to work, in the office, in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, in the kindergarten, at a party, in your tracksuit; in the cold, in the heat, in the morning or in the evening – together we will win. Don’t you forget it.
[17] As the phrase ‘he who tooteth not his own horn’ goes, wrapping oneself in the lyrics of the chant Harbu Darbu by creators Ness and Stilla, couldn’t save Yana Yosef from elimination. On the other hand, it did cause its creators’ names to be pronounced by top-notch musicians around the world; alongside their mentions in magazines and newspapers, as well as on the UN stage, as an example of South Africa’s claim against the State of Israel for committing conscious and deliberate genocide against the Palestinians. Apparently, any publicity is good publicity
[18] Fear, compassion and the next war. I watch reality TV to keep my sanity, because the reality in itself is unbearable. To be together and to be able to be alone. Sad, everything is so sad, but you should never break your spirit. You have to keep on dancing, and this is the eternal proof. Leonard Cohen wrote that when he composed Dance Me to the End of Love he thought of the poor concentration camp musicians, who accompanied their friends to the entrance of hell. What a cruel and vicious world it is, when even the spirit is enslaved, and yet pays its last respects to a person. How can love for life be so cruel and terrible? The mixture of bereavement and ecstasy is not a new genre for us, in a country where Independence Day and Remembrance Day are celebrated in the same breath. The purpose of Tragedy is to bring the audience catharsis – a moment of purification. It is like repentance, and for a good catharsis you need two elements: fear and compassion, in perfect balance.
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Chava Alberstein also sings war songs so beautifully. They are steeped in pain and hope. But they too fail to prevent the next war. If dancing (according to Instagram) is physically understanding a melody, while deciphering its rhythm and tune, then this is an ecstatic moment, in which the outside activates the inside in a new way, according to a new law. A new opportunity.
In Scott-Heron’s original song (see cliff-note #1), the revolution will be televised, since the real revolution, according to him, is not an image. Heron-Scott explained the motivation behind writing this phrase by saying that the revolution must first happen in one’s mind, before it can change the course of one’s life. And what will change the mind cannot not be captured by a recording. (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mediaburn.org/video/the-90s-raw-gil-scott-heron/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1738965244951338&usg=AOvVaw2LP3xABDeAyDWjvDEJmLsN).
This song also represents what the apocalypse will not be, or what will not happen in it. It is a story about the place of art and entertainment within society; about the status of artists and entertainers on the cusp of times. The apocalypse, like the revolution, calls for radical change and cries out for abject injustice. But the revolution determines that our fate is not a decree from heaven. The change begins with me, the ironic-cynical-sarcastic dissonance undermines the format itself. When reality manages to invade reality TV is when reality is so present that even its televised version cannot mask it.
