Bibby bibby kingdom come?

Now as much a regular fixture at Eurovision as the witterings of Terry Wogan and the UK having to cope with "double figures" as the best we can shoot for is the cross-border squabbling.

Israel's chosen entry for 2007 is Teapacks, whose song makes barely-covered reference to Iran's supposed plans for wiping their home country off the face of the Earth.

Not surprisingly, the organisers aren't exactly rushing to embrace this plan - not least because of the limited appeal of "let's hold the next contest in a country which believes it could be nuked at any moment". The song, they've decided, is political and as such breaches the rules:

“I understand this song is clearly political and the Eurovision Song Contest reference group will have to consider what action is taken,” said Heikki Seppala, executive producer of Eurovision 2007 at YLE, the Finnish broadcaster. “The future of the Eurovision song contest is in danger if there is politics in the show. It is not what people are looking for. They want good music and entertainment.”

To be honest, we're not entirely sure that the casual observer would be more surprised by a political tract in the middle of the show than they would be if they came across some good music.

Teapacks claim the song isn't political at all:

Teapacks are not happy at the prospect of being banned. Oz believes Push the Button should be allowed because it has the backing of ordinary Israelis.

“The song has a line that talks about ‘some crazy leaders’, but we didn’t mention names,” he told the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv.

On this basis, then 'Who do you think you are kidding, Mr. Hitler' would be out; a song clearly about Iran but not actually bothering to find a rhyme for Ahmadinejad should be in.

[Thanks to Michael Moran for the link]