Israel | HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion Auditions Draw to a Close
Following in the footsteps of Netta was always going to be a big ask - however this season of national selection talent show 'HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion' is extra special as following Netta's victory last year in Lisbon, this years winner will get to represent Israel at the home-hosted Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in Tel Aviv in May. After sixteen shows of auditions, 67 (plus one who has withdrawn from the competition) talented singers, performers and groups have made it through the audition stage and will advance to the next stage as the competition heats up.

In each of the audition shows, hopefuls would perform behind a wall to audiences across Israel and a judging panel of Shiri Maimon (Eurovision 2005), Harel Skaat (Eurovision 2010), Keren Peles, Assaf Amdursky and musical duo Static & Ben El Tavori. The format see's interaction with the live television audience, allowing viewers to vote contestants through that they like via an app. Each judge also gets a say - if they like a performer they can press their button to add 8% on to their total. Any auditionee that successfully achieves 70% or above by the time they have finished their performance advances to the next stage.
The second auditions round will commence on January 5th 2019 where the remaining acts will be cut down to 20 ahead of the heats. After the withdrawal of Elkana Marziano (who won The Voice of Israel in 2015), 67 acts are still in the running to become Israel's 2019 Eurovision representative.
The complete list is:
Alik Manshirov
Amit Sade
Ariela Siman Tov
Assaf Maslati
Avi Ashur
Avraham De Carvalho
Ayala Eligoola
Bar Cohen
Barry Brown
Chen Rotem
Daniel Barzilai
Daniel Mazuz
Eden Vered Mari
Ehab Atilla
Eliya Gabai
Eti Bitton
Frida Uziel
Gal Binyamin
Gilad Tenzer
Ido Dankner
Ilai Chapman
Judith Hasin
Julia Garnits
Ketreyah
Klara Sabag
Kobi Marimi
Liat Eliyahu
Limor Oved
Lior Chen
Los Caparos
Marie Benhaim
Maya Buskila
Mazal Kav
Naama Gali Cohen
Nadav Phillips
Naor Cohen
Natalie Wamba Berry
Nave Madmon
Netanel and Yarden Barzilai
Nitay Twito
Niv Yanco
Noa Klein
Noy Sassover
Ofek Adanek
Ofri Halfon
Or Ben Atar
Osher Biton
Osher Davidian
Riff Cohen
Roee Sendler
Romi Azar
Sarah Moshioff
Shahaf
Shahar Adawi
Shalva Band
Shefita
Shira Givony
Tal Versano
Tali Rabinovich
Tay (Tamar Amar)
Tchelet Perlmutter
Tomer Raz
Wanna Wanna
Yagel Yadai
Yuval Shauli
Zohar Garala
Zohar Shechtman
That means one of these lucky hopefuls will be representing Israel in Tel Aviv - automatically qualifying for the final! In a format change new to this year, the song that will be eventually sung on the Eurovision stage will be performed and selected via the show instead of the previous format (2015-2018) of selecting the artist via the show then an internal selection of the song. All audition videos can be viewed here.
Who are you rooting for? We're going to take a look in the coming days at some of the auditions in more detail - so make sure to follow Eurovoxx on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube for the latest Eurovision news, national selection updates and exclusive video content!