ISRAEL – Israeli singer Netta Barzilai took to social media on Thursday promising fans a surprise now that the music video for her hit single “Bassa Sababa” on YouTube surpassed 100 million views.
The post included a picture of herself in her iconic outfit from the music video with 100M written in big pink letters. Underneath, she also wrote “My little rhinos! YOU did it!!!”
Little rhinos are how Barzilai refers to her fans, and rhinoceros imagery is heavily prevalent throughout the music video, with the bright pink rhinoceros from the video also appearing in the picture.
This announcement followed an announcement the artist made on her social media accounts on Tuesday, asking fans to help get the video to over 100 million views.
“If tomorrow I’m gonna wake up and there’s going to be 100 million views on ‘Bassa Sababa’ then I’m gonna f-,” she said in a short video uploaded to Instagram and Twitter. She added that she’s preparing a special surprise for her “baby rhinos,” which is how she refers to her fans.
“Bassa Sababa” is the second single from the Israeli artist, who made fame for her victory in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest representing Israel.
Netta revealed that “SABABA” was originally composed after she won HaKokhav HaBa, giving her the right to represent Israel in Eurovision. Along with songwriter Avshalom Ariel, they worked on the song over “four days and nights non-stop”.
After hearing the completed version for the first time, they both “screamed with happiness”, she revealed, however, she is now “happy with how all the stars aligned in the end”.
For English scroll down
זו הסקיצה הראשונה של באסה סבבה, שהייתה אז פשוט ״סבבה״.
ליל הזכייה בכוכב הבא, אבשלום שלי הביט בי באימה ואמר ״נטע, את נוסעת לארווזיון, והשיר שתשירי לא יהיה שלך״. pic.twitter.com/CMbm897RYU— Netta Barzilai (@NettaBarzilai) July 31, 2020
Like her first hit “Toy,” the song is a fast-paced pop song. Its music video shows a plethora of surreal scenes, ranging from Barzilai transforming into a bright pink rhinoceros, a high-speed car chase, a city being covered in a bubble gum-esque substance and an overall video game aesthetic.
The song was released on February 1, 2019, and became a chart-topping hit in Israel, and was even featured in the 2019 instalment in the popular Just Dance rhythm video game series, Just Dance 2020.
At the time of writing, the video currently has 100,032,077 views on YouTube.
