Rather dramatically, Israel’s long-term Eurovision spokesperson Ofer Nachshon told Europe that Israel’s broadcaster would be entering for the very last time and wished the contest well for the future. While this came as quite a surprise to the Eurovision community many saw it as an empty threat at the time, or perhaps a misinterpretation of his words. Thankfully, we now know that Israel will be present in Lisbon, and tonight saw the Middle Eastern country kick off their selection process for 2018!
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HaKokhav HaBa, the unique interactive selection process that the Israeli public broadcaster has been using to select the Eurovision artist since 2015, begun once more tonight with an unchanged panel from the 2017 edition; Harel Ska’at, Keren Peles, Assaf Amdursky and Static & Ben El Tavori will preside over the project.
Auditionees must impress viewers at home and achieve a high enough approval rating to reach the next round. The four judges can add their support to a performer to boost their rating also.
Tonight’s episode saw the auditions of Jackie Giforov, Adva Omar, Tamir Cohen, the ‘Israeli Justin Bieber’ Jonathan Margi, the hosts’ choice Mor Carby and the unique sampling techniques of Netta Barzilai.
#YOU don’t have long to wait until the next round, with more auditions to be screened on Tuesday, 31st October at 20:00 CET.
#YOU can catch up on all of tonight’s performances HERE.
Imri Ziv was the latest success for HaKokhav HaBa, putting Israel into their third final in a row with “I Feel Alive”. #YOU can watch his performance from Kyiv below;
What did #YOU think of the first show? Discuss the beginning of Israel’s selection HERE or join the discussion below and on social media!
