Israel: Everything That Happened in the 28th Episode of HaKokhav Haba!

Yesterday, on Saturday, January 11th, the 28th episode of HaKokhav Haba was broadcasted, the song competition through which Israel will select its representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, which will take place in Basel, Switzerland, on May 13, 15, and 17, 2025.

The HaKokhav Haba competition continues with 9 artists remaining in the battle. Yesterday’s task continued the Kokhav Nolad (translated: “A Star is Born”) challenge from the previous episode—a tribute to singers who emerged through HaKokhav HaBa, with contestants performing a song by one of the program’s alumni. Five contestants took the stage to perform their pieces, with the two lowest-scoring contestants facing elimination, leaving the decision to the judges.

Hosts and Judges

Rotem Sela continues as the host of the show, alongside Assi Azar, one of the hosts of Eurovision 2019. Azar has been a host since the first season of HaKokhav Haba in 2013, while Rotem Sela began hosting from the second season, a role she still holds today.

The judging panel includes:

• Assaf Amdursky
• Keren Peles
• Shiri Maimon
• Eden Hason
• Ran Danker
• Itay Levi

Performances

Ido Malka

Ido opened the evening with the song “Emtza HaLayla BaKfar” (translated: “Midnight in the Village”), originally by Harel Moyal, the winner of the second season of HaKokhav HaBa. The song seemed tailor-made for Ido, who showed a deep connection with the lyrics. He impressed the judges and scored 93%.

Valerie Hamaty

Valerie chose to sing “Shalchat” (translated: “Autumn Leaves”), originally performed by Izhar Cohen and covered by Harel Skaat, who finished second in the second season of HaKokhav HaBa and represented Israel in Eurovision 2010. Unfortunately, she did not manage to satisfy the judges and received only 64%.

Amit Sade

Amit chose to sing “Now That You’re Gone”, originally performed by Shiri Maimon, a judge on HaKokhav HaBa, who finished second in the first season of Kokhav Nolad and also represented Israel in Eurovision 2005. Amit impressed the judges and scored 92%.

Nati Livian

Nati chose to sing “Leylot Ve Klalot” (translated: “Nights and Curses”), originally by Omer Adam, who participated in the auditions of the seventh season of HaKokhav HaBa. Nati brought the song to his own style as only he knows, however, he did not particularly satisfy the judges, scoring 71%.

Daniel Wais

Daniel chose to sing “Rak ShLo Tipol HaRuach” (translated: “Just Don’t Let the Spirit Fall”), originally performed by Ninet Tayeb, the winner of the first season of HaKokhav HaBa. Daniel mesmerized the judges with his performance and scored 92%.

Elimination of the Night

At the end of the evening, the judges decided that Nati Livian‘s journey in the competition would end here.

The HaKokhav HaBa Grand Final will take place on Wednesday, January 22nd! Out of the eight contestants remaining in the competition, only four will make it to the Grand Final. There, the Israeli public and the Eurovision judging panel will decide together who will be the next representative of Israel at Eurovision!

The winner of HaKokhav HaBa last year, and therefore Israel’s representative in Eurovision 2024, was Eden Golan. Eden Golan, with her song “Hurricane”, finished in 5th place in the final ranking.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates regarding Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2025 in Basel!

Source: euromix