Israel chooses an act in “The Next Star” final tonight

Israel’s search for an act for Eurovision 2015 is set to come to a climax tonight, as “The Next Star” competition comes to a close. The successful singing competition format has seen the Israeli public get heavily involved in the Eurovision process once again, with one of four acts left in the final set to head to Vienna. Which act out of Iki Levy & The Rasta Hebrew Men, Sari Nachmias, Nadav Guedj or Avia Shoshani will it be?

Iki Levy & The Rasta Hebrew Men

Iki Levy and the Rasta Hebrew Men are a group of Israeli musicians who just happen to have a love of Bob Marley and reggae. They’ve been consistently popular with the judges and public thanks to their different style of music which really does stand out against the other acts – and likely would at Eurovision. The band already has a little bit of Eurovision history too: their drummer, Moti, performed with Teapacks in 2007. They’ve already revealed in our interview with them that they have a song picked out for the contest should they make it to Eurovision: a song about their love for the holy land, called “Stars of the Night”.

Sari Nachmias

Sari is perhaps the wildcard of the final. Whilst she may not have the most powerful voice, she’s got her own personal style and definitely suits the rockier style that she works in many of her performances. Sari admitted that she’s got a hugely varied taste in music in our interview, with acts ranging from “Nina Simone to Rage Against the Machine” on her phone. She was the last of the four acts to be picked for The Next Star final, having originally lost a performance to Avia in the semi-finals.

Nadav Guedj

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EJRgeVDMEE

Nadav seems to be compared a lot to the likes of Justin Timberlake – though he stresses that he’s “simple and regular Nadav” in our interview with him. He’s certainly a showman though and he can back up his powerful voice with some great performances too. That would likely help him on stage at Eurovision too; he’s also much more in his element singing in English than Hebrew, which might also be a boost for an Israeli act. He’s also listed Harel Skaat and Boaz as his favourite Israeli acts in the past – could he be the next man to try for Israel?

Avia Shoshani

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcahOBFj6ho
Perhaps the undoubted favourite going in to the final, Avia has constantly wowed the judges with her incredible voice and the passion she puts in to her performances. That has also resonated with y’all, as Avia won our poll asking for your favourite with a convincing 37% of the votes. Avia has also had her own Eurovision experience in the past, being one of Moran Mazor’s backing singers in 2013. She also told us in our interview with her that it was another 2013 representative, Emmelie de Forest’s “Only Teardrops”, that was her favourite ESC song. Avia certainly seems like she’s got a wise head on her and she has the talent to back it up – can anyone stop her?

The Next Star final preview video

The Next Star final is on Israel’s Channel Two tonight and you can follow all the action on wiwibloggs, as well as on our Twitter and Facebook pages.