The Next Star, which was announced a couple of months ago as the mechanism to choose the Israeli representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, will kick off with the broadcast of the auditions phrase on December 9th. It is yet unknown when the final show of the contest will be held, thus when the Israeli representative will be decided.

The competition, known as Hakochav Haba in hebrew or Rising Star abroad, is an interactive singing competition created by Keshet Broadcasting. Aspiring artists are asked to perform on stage in front of a closed screen. Behind the screen, a judging panel and the viewing public are able to vote for their favourite performances via a designated app. Once an artist receives a certain percentage of votes (70%), the screen they perform in front of lifts and they then move forward to the next stage of the competition until the winner is then crowned as “The Next Star”.

Keshet, which is broadcasting its programs on Channel 2, has begun broadcasting promos with sneak peaks from the auditions. Ireen, 47, a teacher, is one of the hopefuls. Will she make it to the next round?

The show will be hosted by Asi Azar and Rotem Sela. The judging panel of the show will be made of Assaf Etedgi, Mookie, Keren Peles and Harel Skaat – the latest being the Israeli representative to Eurovision 2010 and the last to date who took Israel to the grand final of the contest.

You can follow The Next Star on the official website, Facebook or Instagram (all in hebrew).

Stay tuned to ESCToday.com for all the latest news regarding The Next Star and Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015