Israel: Everything That Happened in the Thirteenth Episode of HaKokhav Haba!

On Monday evening, December 10th, the thirteenth episode of HaKokhav Haba (special edition) aired. This talent show will determine the artist who will represent Israel at Eurovision 2025. The show continues to raise expectations as more contestants compete for the golden ticket to Basel.

Six auditions were broadcast during the programme, with five more contestants making it through the first audition stage and moving on to the next stage with the support of the judges and the studio audience. Hosts Assi Azar and Rotem Sela guided the audience through the show, while the judges—Shiri Maimon, Itay Levy, Assaf Amdorsky, Eden Hasson, Ran Dankar, and Keren Peles—evaluated performances with strict professionalism and fairness.

In all thirteen episodes so far, 62 contestants have already progressed to the next stage – one of them may be the Israeli representative for Eurovision, which will be held in May in Basel.

Contestants and Their Performances:

Ilai Avidani (85%)

Ilai, a 22-years-old from Jerusalem, chose to sing ” Amsterdam ” (originally by Hanan Ben Ari) at the audition. Iliai had a clear voice and his years of experience on stages is evident, but Assaf Amdorsky, mentioned that he was not attracted by the stage presence, something very important for Eurovision. Despite Assaf Amdorsky’s disagreement, the rest of the judges supported him, and he qualified with 85%.

Sial Zaytoona (76%)

Sial, a 16-year-old from Jaffa, sang ” Stone Cold ” (originally by Demi Lovato ). The performance was somewhat inaccurate, especially on some of the lower notes, however the singer managed to control her voice well and move the crowd with the message of the song. Out of the judges, only Assaf voted against her effort and thus she scored 76% and qualified for the next stage.

Jordan Azoulay (71%)

Jordan, 31 years old from Parade, performed the song ” Where were you? ” With an impressive voice, he managed to wow the audience and the judges except Ran, who voted him down and so he went through to the next stage with 71%.

Ohav Givatti (74%)

Ohav, a 29-year-old, originally from the Jezreel Valley, performed an original song entitled “They are talking about me” from his latest album. He came on stage with great confidence and a presence that cannot be ignored. Only Ran voted against his effort, but he managed to get through to the next stage with 74%.

Corinne Gamliel (93%)

Corinne is 20 years old, from Kiryat Ekron, and she managed to impress and emotionally charge both the audience and the judges, who all voted in her favour and brought her through to the next stage with 93%.

HaKokhav Haba continues with more auditions in the next episode. This show has been Israel’s pathway to Eurovision success, securing a place in the grand final every year from 2015 to 2020. Notably, in 2018, Netta won Eurovision with her song “Toy.”

Last year’s winner, Eden Golan, represented Israel at Eurovision 2024 with her song “Hurricane,” finishing in fifth place.

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all updates!

Source: euromix.il