Words for Love


"Words for Love" was the Israeli entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, performed in Hebrew and English by Lior Narkis.
The song is an up-tempo number, in which Narkis tells his lover that he cannot find the right way to tell her about his feelings. Thus, he pledges to "study languages, beautiful words" in order to find the words in every language. He then proceeds to relate his feelings in five languages, ending with the Hebrew equivalent - which is prefaced by "or simply", implying that perhaps a really detailed attempt at finding the words was pointless to begin with.
The song was performed 13th on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 17 points, placing 19th in a field of 26, thus requiring Israel to qualify from the semi-final at their next contest appearance.
The lyrics involved a man declaring his love for his girlfriend in many different languages. There were two verses in Hebrew, and the Chorus featured "I love you" said in six different languages, including English, French, Italian, Greek and Hebrew. Lior Narkis was accompanied on stage by five women in black dresses, each with a different colour petticoat. They originally wore shirts and ties, but these were discarded midway through the song, to reveal bodices decorated with the different ways of saying "I Love You" mentioned in the song. Each woman had a slogan written in the same colour as her petticoat.
It was succeeded as Israeli representative at the 2004 Contest by David D'or with Leha'amin.