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Israel: On February 6, the choice of representative for Eurovision 2024!

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In an announcement, Israel’s public television reports today that the HaKokhav Haba final will be held on February 6, where the Israeli representative for Eurovision 2024 will be chosen.

Four contestants will compete in the grand finale of HaKokhav Haba for the ticket to Malmo, Sweden. The winner will be chosen by the viewers and judges.

KAN has already made a call to a wide range of Israeli creators to submit the song with which the winner of HaKokhav Haba will represent the country at Eurovision 2024. A necessary condition for those who submit a song this year is that it also contains Jewish lyrics.

At least 30 creators will nominate their songs for the winner of HaKokhav Haba, who will also be able to nominate a song. All creators must have Israeli citizenship, while foreign creators are not allowed to participate. Each creator can submit up to two songs, until February 11th.

The song selection committee will consist of seven members and will choose based on professional criteria such as: the quality and originality of the lyrics and melody, the suitability of the song for the artist, the suitability of the song for the Eurovision contest, the chances success of the song in the Eurovision contest, suitability for representing the company as a public broadcaster, the general impression left by the song and other relevant criteria.

The proposed songs will be presented to the committee anonymously, without revealing the identity of the creators of the songs to the committee members. Composers participating in Israel’s song selection process will not be able to participate as composers in another country for Eurovision 2024.

According to the regulations, if the committee does not find a suitable song, it can publish a call to the general public for additional songs, or choose a song that has been published after September 1, or choose a song from other songs submitted for Israel’s participation at Eurovision, between 2021-2023.

The winning song will be edited, recorded and produced a clip, in preparation for the program to reveal the song, as well as for its submission to Eurovision. The song will be announced in a special show in late February or early March!

At the moment there are seven artists left in the running to represent Israel at Eurovision 2024:

Leanne Byrne
Eden Golan
Arik Sinai
Shay Tamino
Or Cohen
Mika Moshe
Dor Shimoni

One of the above will be the HaKokhav Haba winner and the one who will get the ticket to the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.

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

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all developments regarding Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2024, in Malmö!

Source: Euromix

EBU: Israel can normally participate in Eurovision 2024!

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With its statement to Aftonbladet, the EBU confirms and clarifies without any doubt that Israel will normally participate in Eurovision 2024, since the country’s public television meets all the conditions.

The EBU’s statement comes after a series of similar statements from various public broadcasters. It is emphasized that the members of the EBU consider that the Israeli public television KAN meets all the conditions for participation in the upcoming contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition between public broadcasters from across Europe and the Middle East that are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It’s a competition for broadcasters – not governments – and the Israeli broadcaster has been participating for 50 years. Eurovision is an apolitical event that unites audiences around the world through music.

What the EBU follows in essence is what happens in all major events, sporting and non-sporting, where Israeli representatives normally participate.

The above not only confirms everything we know about Israel’s certain participation in Eurovision 2024, but also leaves no doubt about it. Any calls for a boycott are meaningless.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!

Source: Aftonbladet

Israel: The results of the twelfth episode of HaKokhav Haba – 12 artists in the race for Malmo!

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On Sunday night, the twelfth episode of HaKokhav Haba (special edition) was aired! Through this talent show the artist who will raise the flag of Israel at Eurovision 2024 will emerge!

As we have already informed you, 35 artists passed the scope of the auditions, with 14 of them going to the second phase – the battles phase, and they will claim the representation of the country in Eurovision 2024!

In the twelfth episode we watched seven battles with six of them advancing to the next phase. 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.

Seven contestants then appeared in front of an audience and jury, with the one with the lowest score leaving HaKokhav Haba.

Leanne Byrne

Leanne chose to sing “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi. With precise vocals, she surprises everyone with high and beautiful notes. An excellent performance and all the judges agreed. Shiri Maimon mentioned that she should risk more: “You have to get out of your comfort zones” . She received one of the highest percentages of the night, 93%.

Ido Bartel

Ido chose to sing a mash-up tonight. The judges were troubled with his performance and many of them mentioned that they cannot imagine him representing Israel at Eurovision. Despite mixed reviews, Ido with 67%, advances to the next phase.

Shay Tamino

Shay Tamino received very good comments and most of the judges were impressed with this performance. Shiri Maimon explained that she has a beautiful voice but found it old-fashioned. Despite Shiri Maimon’s negative comments, she scored 84%.

Yehuda Saado

Yehuda Saado divided the judges and they think he made the wrong song choice. As they mentioned it was a good performance and he is a good singer but maybe he doesn’t make for Eurovision. Despite average to poor reviews, Yehuda Saado with a 50% rate, is the one to doesn’t advance to the next round.

Oral Ravid

Oral has a lot of charisma on stage, he manages to present the song in an excellent way and his special voice definitely leaves a good impression after every performance. He received the highest percentage of the night, 95%.

Mika Curtis

Mika Curtis, surprises with her special voice, as soon as she opens her mouth. The judges seem to agree that she has a very good voice, it’s just that the stage presence scares them and that’s why she got 72%.

Arik Sinai

Arik Sinai is the oldest artist of this season and surprises every time with his performance. All the judges agree that he is suitable for Eurovision and he got a percentage of 91%.

The detailed reuslts of Episode 12:

  • Leanne Byrne – 93%
  • Ido Bartel – 67%
  • Shay Tamino – 84%
  • Yehuda Saado – 50%
  • Oral Ravid – 95%
  • Mika Kertis – 72%
  • Arik Sinai – 91%

The 12 artists who are still in the race to represent Israel at Eurovision 2024 are:

  1. Leanne Byrne
  2. Eden Golan
  3. Arik Sinai
  4. Shay Tamino
  5. Ido Bartel
  6. Or Cohen
  7. Yonathan Biton
  8. Mika Moshe
  9. Dor Shimoni
  10. Mika Kertis
  11. Moria Angel
  12. Oral Ravid

Through HaKokhav HaBa, Israel managed to qualify every year to the final of our favorite competition from 2015 to 2020, while in 2018 Netta was also the winner of Eurovision with the song “Toy”.

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

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

Source: euromix.co.il

Israel: Eurovision 2024 Trailer! (Video)

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With HaKokhav Haba now entering its final phase, Israel is now closer and closer to selecting the artist that will represent the country in Eurovision Song Contest 2024. For this reason, a special trailer is airing for some days now, that talks about Israel participation in general, as well as in this special year.

The trailer starts with some articles from international press, and some images of pro-Palestinian rallies, asking to boycott the Israeli participation in Eurovision 2024.

It then goes on, with the fact that Israel is first in the betting odds and EBU’s announcement of the participating countries, with Israel being present.

Then we can listen to the voice of a judge from HaKokhav Haba, quoting some verses from the old testament, which were also being used in a known song.

“In every generation our lives will be threatened, but God will save us from them.”

The trailer ends with the commentator stating that it will be a great honor for whoever represents the country this year and we see the famous wall of HaKokhav Haba covered with the flag of Israel.

You can see the trailer, in the video below:

14 artists are still in the race to represent Israel in Eurovision 2024. From Wednesday, January 3, and in each episode of HaKokhav Haba, an artist will be eliminated, until the we reach the Grand Final, when an artists will take on the task of waving the flag of Israel in Malmö.

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

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

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The seventh episode of HaKokhav Haba (special edition), the talent show through which Israel‘s representative for Eurovision 2024 will be selected, aired on Monday, December 18!

Four more artists qualified for the next phase of HaKokhav Haba.

In episode seven, five auditions aired and four more artists went through to 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.

In total, 24 artists have qualified for the second phase of the contest, with one of them ending up as the Israeli representative in Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

Mika Curtis

Mika is 17 years old, and even though her parents did not concent, she took part in HaKokhav Haba, aiming for the win and the stage of Eurovision.  She offered an excellent performance with great pronunciation and feeling. With the vote of almost all the judges, Mika manages to get the 87% of the votes and qualifies for the next phase.

Israel Levy

Israel is 22 years old with many years in music studies. Despite his great voice, the judges weren’t sure if he was the most capable for Eurovision. With a percentage of 78%, he qualifies for the next phase of the show.

Eitan Giorno

Eitan immigrated from France in 2015. He didn’t have an easy childhood as he faced many antisemetic behaviours. With judges being excited about his performance and telling him that he is one of the favourites to win this season, he qualifies with a percentage of 90%.

Romi Netz

Romi is 16 years old and is of a musical family. Despite her young age she is very confident on stage, however, the judges are doubting that she is ready to stand on the stage of Eurovision. With a percentage of 78%, she qualifies for to the next phase.

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.

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

Source: euromix.co.il

Israel: Watch Noa Kirel’s first live performance of “Unicorn”!

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What if Noa Kirel said that she is not going to perform “Unicorn” before Eurovision? A few hours ago she performed a little part of her song in a concert.

Noa was part of a concert for the Israeli Independence Day, wearing clothes in the colours of the flag of Israel, confusing many fans online, thinking that these are her clothes for Eurovision.

After an explosive show and the cheerings of her fans, Noa performed a small part of her song acapella! You can listen to it in the video below:

Noa Kirel with their song “Unicorn” hopes to bring her country back to the Grand Final and get a top 5 finish! As of now, Israel is placed 8th in the odds for winning the contest and third for qualifying to the final.

Israel is competing in number 9 of the running order of the First Semi-Final of Eurovision 2023, in May 9, 2023.

You can watch the reaction of the editors of Eurovisionfun, reacting and commenting on the Israeli entry for Eurovision 2023 below:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Israeli participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Israel: Watch the teaser of “Unicorn” by Noa Kirel!

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A few minutes ago, the Israeli public broadcaster, KAN, released a small teaser of “Unicorn” by Noa Kirel, through their official Twitter account.

You can watch the teaser below:

Noa Kirel also posted a bigger teaser video on her personal TikTok account:

@noakirel Are you ready ? #unicorn 🦄 I’m waiting for your dances !!! #eurovision2023 #אירוויזון2023 ♬ Unicorn – Noa Kirel

The song “Unicorn” was written by Noa Kirel herself and Doron Medley, the producer of song “Toy” that brought to Israel the third and most recent victory in Eurovision, in 2018 in Lisbon. The composition team also includes May Sepadia and the the very famous DJ Yinon Yahel Emonim.

The song talks about the women empowerment and most of the lyrics are written in English with a few words in Hebrew as well.

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Israeli participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Israel: Noa Kirel reveals more details on her Eurovision 2023 song!

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Despite the rumours about Israel’s withdrawal from Eurovision 2023, Noa Kirel doesn’t flinch and feverishly continues the preparations on her performance on the stage of Liverpool, in May! Just some time ago, she announced that the final decision for Eurovision 2023, will be made between two songs. Noa went on and made some revelations regarding the selection process, earlier today.

Noa Kirel was invited in the TV show “Friday morning with Galit and Yoav”, and went on to make two important announcements:

  1. She has already selected the song with which she is going to compete in Eurovision 2023
  2. SHe is going to release a small teaser alongside the title of her song, while the track will be released in full at a later time

In a TV show in Channel 12, she confirmed that she has recorded two songs:

“The first song is about love, while the second is about empowerment. Both songs are in English with sone phrases in Hebrew, but both songs have some Mediterranean influence.”

We remind you that Israel had already confirmed its taking part in Eurovision 2023 back in March 2022 and has selcted Noa Kirel internally as their representative.

Until we listen to Israel’s song for Eurovision 2023, lets remember their song for last year’s contest. Michael Ben David was the representative of Israel with the song “I.M.”. In the end, he didn’t manage to qualify for the Grand Final ending up in 13th place of the Second Semi-final:

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Israeli participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Source: euromix.co.il

Israel: Is Noa Kirel’s participation in Eurovision 2023 in danger? | The message of EBU’s General Director to the country’s prim minister!

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In a previous article we informed you about Israel’s possible abscence in Eurovision 2023, as the country’s government thinks about shutting down the public broadcaster and specifically its news department.

If this ends up happening, then the channel will not no longer meet its commitment to a full range of programming as public service media, putting in doubt its eligibility for EBU membership and ability to take part in major events such as the Eurovision Song Contest.

The EBU’s Director General, Noel Curran, has expressed his concern about threats to the integrity and independence of Israeli national public broadcaster, KAN, in a letter to the country’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Independent news and information form an integral component of public service media organizations and make a key contribution to media pluralism in well-functioning democracies…. With the primary interest of the public in mind, that directly funds KAN, we trust the new government will also safeguard the independence of KAN and enable it to continue to fulfil its mission in democratic society.”

General Director Curran, finished his letter by saying:

“The EBU’s responsibility is to ensure that it supports all our Members in their mission to serve the interests of the general public in the best possible manner. These developments risk undermining KAN’s capability to meet its commitments as a member of our international alliance of public service media organizations.”

Causing particular concern were recent remarks by the country’s Communications Minister, Shlomo Karhi, that challenged the freedom of the press and threatened to shut down KAN’s news operation. In a radio interview, he stated that:

“The public shouldn’t fund one particular channel, there should not be public broadcasting.”

Since its creation in 2017, KAN’s television, radio and online offer has included a diverse range of news and information, entertainment, cultural and educational content. Its membership of the EBU also enables the broadcaster to benefit from world-class sports rights, including the 2022 World Cup, and live entertainment, notably the Eurovision Song Contest that was organized by KAN in 2019, following Israel’s win the previous year.

Back in 2017, the then Israeli government had issued statements showing intent to dismantle KAN’s news operation. These were finally abandoned when the EBU insisted on this being a condition of the Israeli broadcaster’s hosting of the 2019 Song Contest.

In the end, we would like to remind you that Israel had already confirmed its taking part in Eurovision 2023 back in March 2022 and has selcted Noa Kirel internally as their representative. Will the young singer be able to perform on Liverpool’s stage?

Stay tuned on Eurovisionfun for all the news regarding the Israeli participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool!

Source: ebu.ch

Israel: Out of Eurovision 2023?

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Even though Middle Eastern country has already chosen a representative since August 10, Noa Kirel, it seems that this year the country is also flirting with the possibility of withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, in Liverpool of the United Kingdom.

Specifically, according to a report by the Kanal 12 station, the Likud party that won the recent elections in Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu is considering closing the KAN station, specifically its news department.

From its side, the Likud party commented:

“The issue did not come up in the discussions.”

However, this is not the first time that something like this is discussed, with Benjamin Netanyahu himself already expressing his desire to close the KAN station in 2017.

Should the closing procedures of the state-owned station proceed, Israel will not be able to participate in the upcoming Eurovision 2023 contest.

Just like last year, the possibility of the country withdrawing from the music competition is floating. What do you think will happen? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Stay tuned on Eurovision Fun for all the developments around the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest!