45 artists now remain in Israel’s race to find a singer. The casting stage of their national selection HaKokhav HaBa (The Next Star) is now over and we are left with the lucky artists who achieved an approval rating of 70% or greater from the jury – including former entrant Harel Skaat – and audience. The next stage of the …
39 countries represented in Eurovision 2015
The EBU has confirmed that 39 countries will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, hosted between 19-23 May in Vienna, Austria. The number is two up on last year, representing the first increase in participation since Germany’s hosting in 2011. Amongst the participants is a surprising return from Czech Republic, who will take part for the first time …
Israel: Harel Skaat to be a judge on Israeli selection
Israel are looking towards their last finalist to help them with their 2015 selection. Harel Skaat, who represented the East Mediterranean country in 2010 and finished 14th, will be a judge on HaKokhav HaBa, a singing competition which will select Israel’s artist for Vienna heavily modelled on elements of The Voice and The X Factor. Skaat will be joined as …
Israel changes selection format
Today several Israeli media reported about a change of format in the Israeli preselection. Previously the radio station 88 FM was appointed by the IBA to select an artist internally – after shortlisting Marina Maximilian, Ester Rada and Asaf Avidan and approaching them, all three declined the offer. As a result of that, a new selection method was chosen. The …
Big names for Israel in 2015?
Despite the relaunch of the IBA in the upcoming year, Israel is willing to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. However, financial problems might still be an obstacle to entering the competition in May. Yona Wiesenthal, the Director General of the IBA, pointed out that negotiations with the EBU regarding the reduction of the participation fee are still ongoing. Even …
Israel: IBA to shut down & re-open in March
We previously reported about the uncertain future of Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest. What brought it about was the fact that the Israel Broadcasting Authority has been facing severe financial and image problems. The Knesset, the parliament of Israel, has been discussing the potential shutdown of the public broadcaster for quite a while now. Yesterday a final decision regarding …
Israel: An uncertain future
ישראל, דוז פואה? When it comes to Eurovision, Israel certainly hasn’t been on a roll recently. But for now, let’s go back to 1973 – the year the Middle Eastern country made its debut in the contest. Having been picked by the Israeli broadcaster, the singer Ilanit (with her song Ey Sham) had the honour of being the first Israeli representative …
Live from Copenhagen: Interview with Mei Finegold (Israel)
Mei Finegold is hyped up and ready to represent her country Israel at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Matt from ESC United managed to talk to her and ask some of the reader’s questions. Watch the video below and don’t forget to follow the conversation HERE. [vsw id=”LfjIse4qGTA” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]
Live from Copenhagen: Red Carpet Interviews – Part 1
The Opening Ceremony for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark took place yesterday. Between 18:00 and 20:00 the beautiful artists from all 37 participating nations walked down the Red Carpet, so Olivia and Matt from ESC United were able to briefly talk a lot different acts. This is part 1 of our Red Carpet Interview coverage with the …
Israel: Mei Finegold films a “selfie” while performing live! Click to watch.
The Eurovision fans have been waiting for a while to hear Miss Finegold sing live. Last Sunday they got what they wished for. Mei stopped by the well-established gay club in Tel Aviv, Evita to perform “Same Heart” (written and composed by Rami Talmid) for the enthusiastic fans from all over ther world. Yes, it was an odd selection of …