Israel: KAN changes the selection method from 2021 onwards

An announcement of the production of “The Next Star” indicates that this year will be the last year in which Israel selects the artist to represent the country at the Eurovision contest through this talent show.

After 7 years, the decision on how to choose a representative for the country will be taken by KAN and that “The Next Star (HaKokhav HaBa)” will no longer be associated with the competition.

Since 2015, “The Next Star (HaKokhav HaBa)” has been the process of selecting his / her Israeli representative in the Eurovision contest, yielding very good results for the country, including a victory, after years of failures and exclusions.

The 7th season of “The Next Star” is already underway and it will select the country’s representative for Eurovision 2020 for the last year. An innovative change this season is the fact that the public will have the opportunity, beyond artist, to choose the song to be interpreted by the winner, which in recent years has been the exclusive decision of the responsible team of experts.

To date, there is no information on plans for the public broadcaster, which has announced that production companies may propose a new way to opt in for 2021.

Israel at Eurovision

Israel has been participating in the competition since 1973, and its first victory came a few years later, in 1978. Remarkably, it also won the contest in 1979, making it one of the few countries to win two. and / or more consecutive years.

Israel already have 4 wins, with the last one being in 2018, and it is the only non-European country to have won four times. The Next Star (HaKokhav HaBa) has been the method of selecting his / her country representative for the last 6 years, bringing excellent results for the country in the competition – 5 consecutive Grand Final qualifiers, including one victory – after a series years with exclusions.

Below you can see Israel’s winning entry in 2018, with Netta Barzilai and “Toy” reaching the top of the table with 529 points, the most points the country has received in the institution.

Source: KAN