The Israelis have spoken! It’s been a long-running and nerve-wrecking process till the announcement of the Israeli representative, but all this has now come to and end: it’s Kobi Marimi that will represent the country on home ground, succeeding the Eurovision winner Netta!

It all started back in November, with the first show of HaKokhav HaBa (The Next Star), which was going to determine Israel’s Eurovision hopeful for the 5th time in a row. So far, the show has provided Israel with four consecutive qualifications to the Grand Final, two Top 10 placings (2015, 2018) and one winner (2018)!

Tonight’s final saw 4 competing acts, namely Maya Buskila, Ketreyah Fouch, Shefita (Rotem Shefy) and Kobi Marimi with the overall winner being the latter with a total of 317 points (102 from the juries and 215 from the public)!

As with last year with Netta‘s Toy, the entrant’s song is going to be released in March. Recently, the Israeli broadcaster KAN opened the window for all song creators who are willing to submit their candidate songs. Following the submissions closure on 17 February, the Israeli entry will be chosen through an internal selection.

Until then, let’s enjoy one of the latest performances of our tonight’s winner! See you in Tel Aviv!

Could Israel snatch the victory for the second time on home soil,
as they did in 1979?