“Not Your Toy” – Netta not sold on original cut of winning song

She took the Eurovision trophy back to Israel and granted the country their fourth win at the contest.  Although now it has been revealed how this year’s champion, Netta, was originally not on board with her winning song.
The producer behind the Israeli selection show, Yoav Tzafir, has revealed in an interview with Israeli entertainment site Y-Net how Netta had many doubts about the song and whether it was the right choice for Eurovision.

Netta had set her sights on ‘own composition’

In the interview, Yoav explains how Netta confided in him on several occasions and expressed how she felt no connection to Toy, struggling to see a way of making it work on stage.
He goes on to reveal how she was adamant in going to Lisbon with her own composition – an idea that was quickly rejected by the committee.

She insisted on going to the song selection committee with a song that she wrote. The chorus was something like ‘cool, cool great!’ She wanted it, but the committee thought differently.

Making “Toy” her own

With her own composition dismissed,  he goes on to explain how Netta eventually put her own stamp on the song, a process which involved breaking the track down piece by piece and rebuilding it from the ground up.

I started telling her, ‘Come to the studio, let’s start working.‘  She began to break apart TOY and within twenty seconds came the chicken cackle, her idea!

Yoav goes on to compare Netta to the likes of Madonna, in terms of her work ethic and determination.

We sit on the side and watch as she directs the dancers.  She wants to control every single detail in the performance, and she has a clear opinion on what it should look like.

“Toy” reaches millions

Since winning the contest,  Netta’s performance of ‘Toy’ at the grand final has reached over 24 million views on YouTube.  The song has become a success all across Europe, officially charting in Spain, Poland and Norway.
Shortly after the song’s reveal in February,  a video which saw the Ugandan dance crew Spoon Youth performing choreography to the track, attracted thousands of viewers.