EBU: Israel’s public broadcaster complies with the rules of Eurovision 2024!

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In a public statement to the Belgian newspaper HLN, the EBU comments on its announcement regarding the list of 37 competing countries in Eurovision 2024, with the inclusion of Israel in this list.

The announcement of the list with the 37 competing nations of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest by EBU a few days ago, was a matter of controversy on the social media, since a part of the eurofans considered that Israel should have been disqualified from the upcoming contest.

In fact, there were not a few who compared the case of Russia with that of Israel, accusing the EBU of having double standards in similar cases.

Responding to a relevant question from the Belgian newspaper HLN, the EBU comments that the list of countries that are going to compete in Eurovision 2024 has been approved by the relevant bodies of the association, while regarding Israel it replies that its participation is given, since its public television fully comlies with the competition regulations.

“The EBU’s governing bodies […] reviewed the list of participants and decided that the Israeli public broadcaster complies with all competition rules”

The EBU’s decision is reasonable at this time. It is worth reminding that the case of Russia and Belarus’ disualification are two completely different cases. Russia’s public television was expelled by the EBU due to its use by the Russian government as a propaganda tool in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, violating its territorial integrity. As far as Belarus is conserned, a temporary exclusion from the competition and from the EBU for three years was decided, as a penalty for the attempt of the country’s public television to politicize Eurovision 2021, by sending an entry with clear political lyrics.

The case of Israel has nothing to do with the above, since the war conflict did not start with its own fault on the one hand and on the other hand its war response came as a result of the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7th.

Since the question around Israel’s inclusion in the upcoming contest was solved, the only thing pending now is whether Romania will manage to be present in Malmö, in May, raising the number of the participating countries to 38.

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HaKokhav Haba judges disagree on what kind of song should represent Israel in Eurovision 2024!

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On the occasion of the performance of a contestant in the fourth episode of HaKokhav Haba, the talent show through which the artist who will represent Israel at Eurovision 2024 will be selected, there was an interesting debate-disagreement between the judges about the style and genre of the song that the country should send to Malmö.

The song she chose and the performance of 17-year-old Noya Shram were the reasons that divided the judges. Noya performed We’re Good by Dua Lipa. Keren Peles told her that although she has a wonderful voice, she thinks that the special moments that Israel is going through at the moment, are not compatible with a song like the one that Noya chose.

Let’s focus on the reality. Noya, I apologize for bumping into this time period but let’s not ignore it. Eurovision is not a normal party this year, it is not a celebration. We have to bring (to the competition) something internal, from the stomach and the heart. I felt that what you have to offer, which is amazing, does not fit the spirit of the times. In what we want to bring to Eurovision and in the voice we want.

On the other hand, an other member of the jury, Assaf Amdorsky, defended Noya and her choice, taking a different approach to the song with which he would like to see the next Israeli representative in the contest.

I was very disappointed to find that some of the judges are already aiming to send a song “in the spirit of the times” for Israel, and from the beginning they intend to send a ballad, which will be a peace hymn, in the style of songs that Israel sent for peace 25 years ago. The theme of the song that Israel will send to Eurovision this year needs to be well thought out – and I’m not really sure that the song “in the spirit of the times” is the right choice. A quality pop song is also a good choice for me! It’s also important to remember that the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in half a year, so we don’t know what the spirit of the times will be in Israel in half a year – hopefully the war will be over by then.

Check out Noya Shram’s  that was a bone of contention for the judges at the talent show:

For the record, Noya qualified to the next round, with 70% positive votes of the judges and the audience.

This disagreement of the judges about the style of the song that Israel’s entry in Eurovision 2024 should have, is something that is of great concern among the eurofans. The news about the ongoing war in Gaza and Israel’s decision to participate in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest are points of friction for many friends of the contest, with the EBU however not involving the political developments and normally confirming Israel’s presence in Malmö.

In what style of song do you think Israel will participate in Eurovision 2024? Tell us in the comments below!

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Source: Euromix

Israel: What happened on the fourth episode of HaKokhav Haba!

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Last night, Wednesday 06/12, the fourth episode of HaKokhav Haba (special edition) was broadcast, the talent show through which will emerge the next representative who will fly the flag of Israel in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden.

Four more artists advanced to the next round of HaKokhav Haba, continuing to claim the ticket to Malmö. On the fourth episode we watched five audtions, however only four artists qualified to the next round. We remind you that the presenters of HaKokhav Haba are Assi Azar and Rotem Sela who have been in this position since 2014, while the members of the jury are Shiri Maimon, Itay Levy, Assaf Amdorsky, Ran Dankar and Keren Pels with a new addition being Eden Hasson.

Mika Moshe

Although Mika is 16 years old, she is already known in Israel, having even released a song that became a big hit. She participated in the Music School talent show when she was a student. Mika confidently stood on stage, although she had several insecurities, which cost her votes. But he convinced the public in general and most of the judges and so with 79% she qualified for the next phase.

Noya Shram

The choice of the song divided the judges, who thought that such a show might not fit the mood of the day, with some taking her side and some others not. Despite this, 17-year-old Noya passed to the next phase with 70%.

Liran Ben Moshe

Liran is 21 years old, he was a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces and at the end of his service he decided he wanted to be a cook. He dedicated the song with which he participated to his sergeant who fell in the battle against the terrorist organization Hamas. Most reviewers were positive about it. With 75% he qualified for the next phase.

Oral Ravid

Oral is 16 years old, but as the judges commented, he has the confidence of a 70-year-old artist. The judges called Oral’s performance the best of today’s episode, although one of the judges didn’t give him a positive vote, thinking he might not be ready for Eurovision. With 87%, Oral passed to the next phase of the show.

HaKokhav Haba continues with more auditions in the next episode, which so far no one knows when this will be aired. Through HaKokhav HaBa, Israel managed to advance to the final of our favorite competition every year from 2015 to 2020, while in 2018 Netta was also the winner of Eurovision with the song “Toy”.

This year at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool Israel was represented by the fiery Noa Kirel and the song “Unicorn” who gave the Middle Eastern country a third place in the Grand Final, collecting 362 points.

https://youtu.be/Z3mIcCllJXY

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Eurovision 2024: 37 countries will join the 68th contest in Malmö!

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The Eurovision season has officially started! Just moments ago, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced the participants’ list of Eurovision 2024 in Malmö. In total, 37 countries will participate in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.

In detail, the following countries will take part in Malmö:

 Albania – RTSH

 Australia – SBS

 Armenia – AMPTV

 Austria – ORF

 Azerbaijan – İctimai

Belgium – RTBF

Croatia – HRT

 Cyprus – CyBC

Czech Republic – ČT

 Denmark – DR

 Estonia – ERR

 Finland – YLE

 France – FT

 Georgia – GPB

 Germany – ARD/NDR

 Greece – ERT

 Iceland – RÚV

 Ireland – RTÉ

 Israel – IPBC/Kan

Italy – RAI

 Latvia – LTV

 Lithuania – LRT

Luxembourg – RTL

 Malta – PBS

 Moldova – TRM

Netherlands – AVROTROS

 Norway – NRK

 Poland – TVP

 Portugal – RTP

 San Marino – SMRTV

 Serbia – RTS

 Slovenia – RTVSLO

 Spain – TVE

 Sweden – SVT

 Switzerland – SRG / SSR

 Ukraine – UA:PBC

 United Kingdom – BBC

Whilst Romania is currently not confirmed to compete next year, talks are continuing with TVR on their potential participation as well. That means we might have 38 nations competing in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

Luxembourg, one of the founding members of Eurovision as well as successful, having won the contest five times, will return after three decades long absence. In fact, Luxembourg’s return was known to public since May and it was even announced during the Grand Final of Eurovision 2023.

North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Montenegro still remain out, claiming financial reasons.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden during 7-11 of May 2024, following Loreen’s second win in Liverpool.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, in Malmö!

Israel: Everything that happened in the third HaKokhav Haba episode!

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The third episode of HaKokhav Haba (special edition), the talent show through which the Israeli representative for Eurovision 2024 will be selected, aired on Sunday, December 3rd!

Four more artists qualified for the next round of HaKokhav Haba and are still vying for the Israeli representation in Malmö. The broadcaster determined they could broadcast the third episode of the show just one day after the second one, without making any statements beforehand.

Out of the five auditions in the third episode, four qualified for the next round. Assi Azar and Rotem Sela, who have been hosting HaKokhav Haba since 2014, are the show’s presenters. The jury is made up of Eden Hasson, Shiri Maimon, Itay Levy, Assaf Amdorsky, Ran Dankar, and Keren Pels.

Shaoli Grinlik

Currently fighting Hamas in Gaza, 25-year-old Shaoli is a member of the Israeli military forces. His performance was well-received by most of the judges, as well as by the majority of the studio audience. He advanced to the next round of the competition with 83%.

Michelle Shimonov

Michelle, who is 26 years old, currently works as a waitress, although she aspires to be an actress and singer. The judges all voted for her and gave her favorable feedback on the tone of her voice. She advanced to the next round after receiving 88% of the vote.

Ido Bartel

Ido Bartel is 39 years old. She has acted in numerous TV shows in Israel. In addition to being a businessman, tens of thousands of followers on Instagram watch him regularly showcasing his singing prowess. Among his greatest interests are musical mashups. Despite not receiving a unanimous vote from the judges, Ido advanced to the next round with 80% of the vote.

Adele Seltzer

Adele, a 19-year-old resident of southern Israel, relocated to Tel Aviv due to the ongoing conflict. Her performance was considered by the judges to be among the best thus far this season. Many told her they could totally picture her performing on the Eurovision stage. Adele advanced to the next round with an 87%.

In the upcoming episode—the airdate of which is still unknown— additional auditions will be broadcasted. Israel qualified for the finals every year from 2015 to 2020 through HaKokhav HaBa, and Netta won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018 with the song “Toy”.

Israel was represented this year by Noa Kirel and the song “Unicorn”, which came in third place with 362 points overall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3mIcCllJXY&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Feurovisionfun.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

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Israel: What happened in the second episode of HaKokhav Haba!

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Last night, Saturday 2/12, was broadcast the second episode of HaKokhav Haba (special edition), the talent show through which will emerge the next representative who will fly the flag of Israel in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden.

Three more artists advanced to the next round of HaKokhav Haba, continuing to claim the ticket to Malmö. Two weeks after the airing of the first episode, and after much tension and emotion caused by the release of dozens of hostages by Hamas, on Saturday the organizers thought they could broadcast the second episode of the show.

In the second episode we watched four audtions, however only three artists qualified to the next round. We remind you that the presenters of HaKokhav Haba are Assi Azar and Rotem Sela who have been in this position since 2014, while the members of the jury are Shiri Maimon, Itay Levy, Assaf Amdorsky, Ran Dankar and Keren Pels with a new addition being Eden Hasson.

Moriah

Moriah is 26 years old and comes from the southern settlements on the border with Gaza, where about 1,400 Israeli citizens were massacred by the Hamas terrorist strike. Moriah dances and sings but doesn’t have much stage experience. The judges were moved by her performance, as was the audience. With 96% of positive votes, she advanced to the next phase.

Yonathan Biton

Yonathan, 28 years old, sang with a group of six other people. Although he did not know that the winner of the show will represent Israel at Eurovision 2024, he happily accepted this invitation wanting to spread “light” in Europe. The judges thought that the covers he makes are very original and gave him their positive vote. With 86%, he also passed to the next round of the process.

Arik Sinai

Arik Sinai, 74 years old, is already a very successful and well-known artist in Israel. His success started in the 80s with many hits, while his career even extends to the USA! He is participating in HaKokhav Haba because he was approached by the production team who had already tried twice to make it with no success. At the end of his performance the judges stood up and gave him a standing ovation. He does not believe that age is an obstacle and will do his best to reach Malmö. With 90% of the votes, he advanced to the next phase.

HaKokhav Haba continues with more auditions in the next episode, which so far no one knows when this will be aired. Through HaKokhav HaBa, Israel managed to advance to the final of our favorite competition every year from 2015 to 2020, while in 2018 Netta was also the winner of Eurovision with the song “Toy”.

This year at Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool Israel was represented by the fiery Noa Kirel and the song “Unicorn” who gave the Middle Eastern country a third place in the Grand Final, collecting 362 points

https://youtu.be/Z3mIcCllJXY

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the updates around the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest!

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Israel: The second episode of HaKokhav Haba will air tonight!

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The second episode of the special edition of HaKokhav Haba, through which Israel’s representative for Eurovision 2024 will be selected, airs today!

This Saturday, 2/12, the second episode of HaKokhav Haba will air after much delay due to the extraordinary occurrences that have shaken Israel for weeks following the terrorist attack by Hamas.

Three artists from the first episode have advanced to the next round, with Eden Golan being the most notable as she garnered 100% of the votes from the audience and the jury.

Assi Azar and Rotem Sela, who have been hosting HaKokhav Haba since 2014, are the show’s presenters. The jury is made up of Eden Hasson, Shiri Maimon, Itay Levy, Assaf Amdorsky, Ran Dankar, and Keren Pels.

Israel qualified for the finals every year from 2015 to 2020 through HaKokhav HaBa, and Netta won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018 with the song “Toy”.

Israel was represented this year by Noa Kirel and the song “Unicorn”, which came in third place with 362 points overall.

Stay tuned on EurovisionFun to stay up to date on all the latest news about the world’s largest music competition!

 

Eurovision 2024: Mass calls for boycott of Eurovision!

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The final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is just under six months away. After Loreen‘s victory with the song “Tattoo” last May, the competition will take place in Malmö.

Israel as part of Eurovision Song Contest

Israel has been a part of Eurovision since 1973 and has won the contest four times. They are not the only non-European country participating. Australia and Armenia are examples of recurring non-European participants. Countries such as Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan also have the opportunity to compete but have chosen not to do so. Non-European countries have the opportunity to participate due to their membership of the EBU.

Despite the fact that Belarus and Russia are located in Europe, they cannot participate in Eurovision today as they are excluded from the EBU.

Activists call for a boycott of Eurovision

Now, several campaigns are underway on social media calling for a boycott of Eurovision, due to the participation of Israel. Ida Helene Benonisen is a Norwegian activist who fights for the rights of the Sámi and LGBTQ people.

“I think there is a double standard in excluding Russia while allowing Israel to continue to participate in the competition, despite the fact that they are violating international law – something even the UN has pointed out. Europe should show that we do not support their actions.”

In a post that has received a quarter of a million views on Tiktok, she explains how member states can be urged to refrain from sending entries to the competition if Israel participates:

“During my time at the Norwegian MGP in the before Eurovision 2022, I realised that the member states’ threat not to participate if Russia was involved, played a crucial role in the decision to exclude Russia from the competition”

Controversies surrounding Israel’s participation in Eurovision

The last time Malmö hosted the music competition, in 2013, the chairman of the Left Party in Malmö wanted to ban Israel from participating. At the same time, the Israeli embassy appealed to the city of Malmö to increase security after the violent riots that occurred in 2009 in reaction to the tennis match between Israel and Sweden in Malmö. After the music competition, the Israeli delegates reported that they were subjected to anti-Semitic threats. In 2016, the Palestinian flag was banned from the music competition. In 2019, the Icelandic entry was fined after displaying a Palestinian banner during the competition in Tel Aviv, Israel.

What will happen in Malmö next May?

The EBU has still not given a final decision on which countries will participate in Malmö next year, but the plan right now is for Israel to participate as usual.

Karin Karlsson is the City of Malmö‘s overall project manager for the Eurovision Song Contest. She had the same role in 2013.

“In 2013, we took safety into account. But in 2024, it’s a much more complex security situation. It’s an issue we work on every day.”

Karin Karlsson emphasizes that it is not the City of Malmö that decides who can compete, but that all countries that compete are welcome to Malmö. At the same time, there should be room for democratic protests, if desired.

“There are many forces that want to create a nice folk festival here in Malmö. At the same time, we are a democracy and it is important to show that.”

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is organized in collaboration with the city of Malmö and will be broadcast from Malmö Arena on Tuesday 7 May (semi-final 1), Thursday 9 May (semi-final 2) and Saturday 11 May (final).

Source: Helsingborgs Dagblad

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Israel: Noa Kirel released the “Hope version” of Unicorn!

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Noa Kirel, who a few months ago brought Israel to third place in the Eurovision song contest, released a new version of her entry, the “Hope version”.

For this new unplugged version of Unicorn, she also released a video accompanying the song, in which we see photos of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists, some of the thousands of victims of the terrorist attack, soldiers of the IDF, but also images of pro-Israel demonstrations around the world.

In joy and sorrow we will stand together strong against the world. Because that’s the only way we’ll win!

Noa Kirel

You can listen to the new version of the song below:

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Israel: Everything that happened in the first episode of HaKokhav HaBa!

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HaKokhav HaBa, the show through which Israel will choose its representative for Eurovision 2024, premiered on Monday night, November 20.

With a special edition, due to the critical situation the country is experiencing, HaKokhav HaBa is being held this year. On Monday night we had the broadcast of the first episode, which even scored quite high viewing figures, reaching 19.1% for Keshet 1, which translates to 519,000 viewers.

The broadcast began when the hosts, Assi Ezer and Rotem Sela, presented the program as a special edition adapted to current affairs. In the first episode we saw four auditions, of which three managed to qualify for the next phase.

We remind you that the results of each episode are determined by the audience in the studio and by the jury consisting of: Assaf Amdursky, Keren Peles, Shiri Maimon (2005 Eurovision Israel), Ran Danker, Itay Levi and Eden Hason.

Who made it to the next phase?

Shay Tamino

Shay Tamino serves in the military “Education and Youth Corps”. Shai feels a great mission to appear in front of soldiers during the war. The song she chose, she wanted to dedicate to her close friend who was murdered on Saturday, October 7, by the Hamas terrorist attack.

She received the positive vote of all the judges and with 85% passed to the next phase.

Leanne Byrne

Leanne is only 16 years old and has been making music since she was 8. The judges described her as a child phenomenon and generously gave her their vote for her dynamic appearance. The audience was just as enthusiastic.

With 97% she passed to the next phase.

Eden Golan

Eden is 20 years old. She was born in Tel Aviv, but for 13 years she lived in Moscow. The young singer is not unknown to eurofans, since in 2015 she tried to represent Russia in the Junior Eurovision, while lately she has been working with the composer and producer Yinon Yahel, one of the country’s greatest musicians who has written for global stars such as Madonna , Jennifer Lopez, but has also signed Israeli entries to the competition, such as Golden Boy in 2015 and Feker Libi in 2020.

Eden received the most complimentary comments of the episode and with an absolute 100% passed to the next phase as one of the big favorites.

The next episode of HaKokhav HaBa will air on Wednesday at 10 PM.

Stay tuned for all the Israeli updates at Eurovisionfun!

Source: Euromix