Eurovision season well and truly kicks off this evening with the first episode of Israel’s artist selection competition, The Next Star 2018.
As was confirmed earlier this year, The Next Star – known in Israel as HaKokhav HaBa – will be returning once again for a fourth consecutive year in order to determine Israel’s representative for the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest.
https://www.facebook.com/TheNextStar.Keshet/videos/10155004239416728/
How to watch
The Next Star 2018 will kick off this evening at 20:00 CET (21:00 local time) on the following channels:
- Channel 2 (To broadcast on Keshet 12 from the 1 November)
- Live webcast via mako.co.il
The show
Hosted by Assi Azar and Rotem Sela, candidates from across Israel will audition to both the audience and the 4 judges in the hope of gaining their votes and proceeding to the next stage of the competition.
This year’s 4-member judging panel consists of the following:
- Static & Ben-El Tavori: Israeli musical pop group
- Keren Peles: Israeli singer-songwriter, poetess and a pianist
- Harel Skaat: Israel singer-songwriter; former representative at Eurovision 2010
- Assaf Amdursky: Israeli singer, songwriter and music producer
Both the judges and the audience in the studio will vote either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ for the act performing behind the screen; once a certain percentage has been achieved, the screen will lift and the artist will therefore advance to the next stage of the contest.
A new twist has been introduced to this year’s competition, meaning that artists failing to gain the votes of the judges can still be saved at the last possible moment. Details about the new twist will be seen in tonight’s show.
The Next Star 2018 will continue in over a week’s time on the 7 November and will take place every Tuesday to follow.
Success of The Next Star
Introduced in 2013, The Next Star first became Israel’s national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015 following Nadav Guedj’s victory at the competition. Having last qualified in 2010, Guedj’s brought the nation their first victory in 5 years with Golden boy, taking Israel into the Top 10.
Further success has followed since Guedj’s participation, with The Next Star continuing to remain Israel’s selection process for Eurovision. Israel’s qualification streak continued into 2016 with Hovi Star, finishing in 14th position with Made of stars.
Imri is the reigning champion of The Next Star and Israel’s last Eurovision participant to date, once again taking the nation to the final of the competition in Kyiv with his entry I feel alive.
