The finalists on “The Next Star”, the singing reality show that will choose the Israeli representative for Eurovision 2015, are dropping like flies. Today we’re down from 16 finalists to just 10.
Yes, following the big reveal of the 16 finalists last week, we finally saw head-to-head battles. They took place over two shows that each featured eight contestants. As all you math majors can figure that, that’s a total of four battles per show.
In each battle, the four judges suggested a song for each contestant, who then chose one to perform on stage. The first singer received a score from the jury and audience. Then the other singer sang behind a screen. If the second singer managed to beat the score of the first, then the screen would rise up, signalling that the second singer had won the battle and would proceed in the contest. If not, the first singer won.
The judges were allowed to save two more artists from the losers.
The 10 finalists are:
Sari Nachmias (The cool chick): “Billie jean”
Avia Shoshani (The soul-touching singer): “Shoshanim Atzuvot” (“Sad Roses”)
Sa’ar “Rusty” Davidov (The sensitive rapper): “HaSipur Shely” (“My Story”)
Lirose Balas (The brave diva): “Listen”
Iki Levy & The Rasta Hebrew Men (The reggae band): “Avadim” (“Slaves”)
Asif Zilberman (The charmer): “Tam VeLo Nishlam” (“Finished, but not done”)
Nadav Guedj (The Israeli Justin Timerlake): “Halo”
Nava Tehila Walker (The soft girl): “Somewhere Only We Know”
Yefi & Osher Aricha (The father, son and holy spirit): “Arim Roshi” (I’ll Raise My Head)”
Get to know all the artists in our full review of the auditions
The competition continues next week. You can watch the shows live every Sunday and Tuesday at 21:00 Israel time (so 19:00 GMT and 20:00 CET) on this link.
Do you have a favourite yet? Who do you think would be the best choice for Israel at Eurovision 2015?
keep fantasizing dude. Reality bites.
Why don’t you ask the contestants who in 1947 owned the houses in which they live and/or the land upon which they were built…? SHAME ON YOU EBU…!!!!!!!!!
NEWSFLASH: Asif and Lirose were eliminated from the show, which was recorded 2 days ago and scheduled to air this coming Sunday. This is according to a leak on one of the forums…it won’t come as a huge surprise, but it will be interesting to see if the source can be trusted for future developments.
I just hope Israel picks a good song this year and get’s back into the final. They should have qualified in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
I’m hoping Sari or Nava win!
Lol… the audience/screen method is such a strange idea, all done for dramatic effect.
Can we have a poll? it looks like the biggest supported in Israel are the rapper and orit beyonce
@Calvin – Sari is my second favorite choice, only because all of her appearances so far were in her comfort zone, meaning that she has this unique ability to make a song completely hers by toning down all the external drama and showing her deepest emotions in a restrained and introvert fashion which is just as dramatic and dark as Avia. It’s as if she sings from her intellect while Avia gives me shivers in a way like nobody else does, but I do tend to agree that Sari would be more ‘palatable’ if you’re thinking in terms of an… Read more »
Sari Nachmias has done nothing to dissuade me from rooting for her.
Last night the moderator of the show said at the end that a huge surprise is expected on Sunday that nobody can see coming, so that suggests to me that in this semi-scripted prerecorded series of shows, the production decided to split the father-son duo and/or bring in new gimmicky elements to the show…I only hope that regardless of the shady business going on there, they still have the contestants’ best interest served – especially the one most suited and suitable to the Eurovision format. Have you noticed how not a single Eurovision or Kdam song was even attempted? It… Read more »
May work the other way around. Voters pity the second performers and don’t want to see them stuck behind the screen so vote for them. So going second may be an advantage.
Surely if one gets to sing in front of the audience and one has to sing behind a screen, its a massive disadvantage to the person behind the screen? How the hell does that work?