The Israeli selection process for Eurovision 2019 continues and today, we will look at the qualifiers from episodes 4 and 5. Who’s still in the race to become “The Next Star” for Eurovision 2019? Let’s find out…

Episode 4 Qualifiers – Monday 4/12/18

Berry Brown

It looks as if being a new immigrant to Israel can increase your chances to pass the audition for this season as there are MANY candidates who moved to Israel from abroad. In this episode, it was Berry Brown’s turn to play the card. Berry immigrated to Israel from South Africa a year and a half ago with his wife and three children. He used to be a cantor in a synagogue in his homeland (although he insisted that Israel is his home land – “I want to represent Eretz Israel“). Berry’s audition was very emotional. He performed “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban and devoted it to his sick mother, whom he has not seen in a long time. The crowd awarded him 77% and some of the judges even cried during his audition. In our opinion, it was his story that captivated them rather than his skills as a singer. Compared to the other candidates he’s pretty average. Asaf Amdursky echoed our impression and said that the other jurors aren’t being honest about his actual performance.

Gal Binyamin

The next (and last….) qualifier in this episode was Gal. The 24-year-old performs as a backing singer in a band called “the Ultras”. Just before his audition, he was “encouraged” by the hosts, as this is how Imri Ziv (Israel’s candidate in Kyiv 2017) started his Eurovision career. They hinted that if he’s chosen to represent Israel then he’s expected to rank MUCH higher than Imri’s 23rd position, as Netta had raised the bar in Lisbon.

Gal sang a song in Hebrew called “Hakol Over” originally written and performed by Israeli singer Idan Raichel (it translates as “Everything Passes”). Despite his good looks and solid vocals, his audition wasn’t very memorable — perhaps because there are many other candidates with a similar style, namely, Mizrahi/Oriental. He achieved 70% which is a marginal pass as this is the minimum required to pass to the next stage.

This episode wasn’t very convincing and it’s hard for us to see either of these two candidates continuing to the next stage, but we will have to see how things develop.

Episode 5 Qualifiers – Tuesday 5/12/18

Naor Cohen

As we mentioned, Israel is really keen to send a Mizrahi singer this year (or at least “The Next Star”‘s editors are). This is quite logical as host countries usually want to emphasise their own identity on home turf. Although there are (too) many Mizrahi candidates, Naor’s audition was quite unique and, despite his young age, he sounds very skilled and professional. He chose a song in Hebrew called “She’mishehu Ya’atzor Oti” (“Someone Please Stop Me”). He has warm oriental vocals with a distinguished Arabic sound which gave us the chills. This was tonight’s most surprising and unexpected audition.

Naama Gali Cohen

Naama is from Tel Aviv and she works as a professional singer mainly in night bars. She defines herself as an R&B, soul and pop singer. First of all – her style was AMAZING and we loved her hair (and nails too as weird as this may sound..!). When she started to sing we loved her even more. She performed “New Rules” by Dua Lipa and brought something fresh  to The Next Star. She also has an international “vibe” and could easily represent a European country in the contest. The audience, however, didn’t appreciate her and she only received 74%. That was enough to continue to the  next stage and we have the feeling that she’s going to slay. We will follow her closely to see how she does.

Romi Ezer

Next came Romi, 18, who spoke about being an overweight child. And guess who she was influenced by? Netta, of course! Her victory convinced Romi to apply for this season of The Next Star. Her story added drama to her audition, along with the song that she performed – “Creep” by Radiohead.

She was really nervous during her audition and missed a few notes. One can notice immediately that she lacks any experience and confidence. She’d failed to pass the minimum bar of 70% but was saved by Assi and Rotem with their “veto” right despite Shiri Maimon’s unequivocal and straightforward protest. “You are misleading candidates and using your power unreasonably“, she said. At this point there was a bit of comic relief with Assi and Rotem conspiring to teach Shiri a lesson when the opportunity arrives. It was quite amusing actually (see what happened later on.).

Limor Oved

Limor is 43 and she’s a part of an Israeli band called Ha’Yevania (“The Greek Woman”), which performs songs in Greek. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Israeli music, Greek culture is really loved in Israel and has influenced many of its artists (perhaps due to the Jewish-Greek diaspora and the cultural closeness between these two Mediterranean countries). Despite the fact that there were other good auditions in this episode, Limor’s audition caught our attention. She performed a very famous Israeli song called “Ve-im Preda” (originally performed by Israeli singer Dikla and translates as “If we part”). What was interesting about her audition is that she sang both in Greek and Hebrew and somehow it worked! She wowed us and the audience and achieved 91% of the votes – the highest score in this episode. After her audition, the jurors debated as to whether or not a Greek song should represent Israel in Tel Aviv 2019. Keren offered to have a survey.

Although we liked Limor and we admit that it could be interesting to hear an Israeli song performed in Greek, we are not sure if this is something that the Eurovision crowd will relate to. After all, we fans know quite well that songs which are performed in languages other than English, especially by countries whose native language is different, tend to flop (i.e., Austria 2016). Limor is definitely one of the most distinguished candidates so far!!

Julia Garnitz

Julia has also just recently immigrated to Israel from Russia. As we said, this is very trendy this season. As with Romi (see above), she also auditioned with “Creep” and brought her own interpretation to it which was gentle and quiet. She has a certain charisma, but the audience wasn’t fond of her. She received only 59%, so didn’t qualify. Shiri voted “yay” and begged (!) the other judges to join forces. At that point, Rotem and Assi offered to save Julia with their veto right but only if Shiri apologises for underestimating their powers. Shiri had no choice as she’d really wanted to keep Julia for the next stage, following which she was saved. We’re not sure whether this was just another trick to attract the viewers but we think that Julia deserves a second chance.

Overall, episode 5 was good and amusing with some memorable candidates.

Tell us what you think about Israel’s selection so far. Which of the candidates in these episodes are your favourite? Do you think that sending a song in Greek would be a good choice?  Share your ideas below!

 

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Evan
Evan
5 years ago

Na’ama mopped the floor with her competition. The audience is crazy for not rating her higher.

Mika
Mika
5 years ago

I’m sorry, but Austria didn’t really “flop” in 2016? They got one of their best televoting results, 8th place, 13th overall. It would’ve “flopped” if it ended up 18th or higher. Still a very respectable for a French song sung by an Austrian singer.

Alex
Alex
5 years ago

After all, we fans know quite well that songs which are performed in languages other than English, especially by countries whose native language is different, tend to flop (i.e., Austria 2016)

—————————->

Are you even a fan? Austria’s ZOE came 8th in televoting, that’s hardly a flop!!!! One of the best Austrian televoting results ever.

Also what about Portugal 2017, Ukraine 2016, Italy 2015, Serbia 2012?

Maya
Maya
5 years ago

“It looks as if being a new immigrant to Israel can increase your chances to pass the audition for this season as there are MANY candidates who moved to Israel from abroad”
There is massive immigration of Jews to Israel in the last 5-10 years…so… maybe that’s the reason there are more of them in the show. There are also many of them in all other professions and jobs –
ever passed in your mind ??

Ana
Ana
5 years ago
Reply to  Maya

Ever passed in your mind to check the facts before you make your claims? The last massive wave of immigrants to Israel has ended around 2001. The numbers of immigrants in the past 5-10 years are very low.
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Maya
Maya
5 years ago

Where is the audition of this sweet girl who lost her baby ? she also passed. In her audition she sang a song of Eden Ben Zaken that gave a new interpretation to the words of the song due to her tragedy and everyone cried… she was very good and scored high

Izzy
Izzy
5 years ago
Reply to  Maya

That was in episode 6 which will be reviewed soon

Maya
Maya
5 years ago

Jewish-Greek diaspora in Israel = Yehuda Poliker. (all the other came after the success of his Album that translated Greek songs to Hebrew – Check him in wiki – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehuda_Poliker
as written : “In 2014, Poliker received the Gold Cross of the Order of the Phoenix, one of Greece’s highest awards for achievement in the arts. The award was presented by the Greek ambassador to Israel, Spyridon Lampridis.[3] “

Miguel
Miguel
5 years ago

Naama and Limor are the ones who stand out in this episode.

Ana
Ana
5 years ago

I just want to point out that KAN took a loan for 15(!!!) years to pay for this Eurovision. There’s not going to be an extra effort to win it again in the next few years. So I expect them to send something really avarage.

Alex
Alex
5 years ago
Reply to  Ana

They struggled to win since 1998, what makes you think they will in 2019 again? They should be lucky if they don’t end up last like Portugal.

Gobio
Gobio
5 years ago
Reply to  Ana

You know, even if they win they don’t HAVE to host, so…

Ana
Ana
5 years ago
Reply to  Gobio

KAN was thinking to give up hosting this year and received threats from the Prime Minister for that. So with the current government KAN can’t expect receiving extra funding for the show but might be forced to host in a case of win. The government actually use Eurovision as a tool to drain the public broadcaster from its money. Winning again in the upcoming years will mean huge trouble for them. Unless the government is completely replaced.

Kris
Kris
5 years ago

I don’t know how you rate a flop/success
But an 8th place televote will not be considered a flop by me , at worst you can call it an average placing.

Anonymous
Anonymous
5 years ago

It’s really great that you’re doing these regular updates from Israel’s selection. But your articles will become better if you drop: 1) The many unsubstantiated claims. For example: “Israel is really keen to send a Mizrahi singer this year (or at least “The Next Star”‘s editors are)” – Really? When did the editors say anything like that? Or “songs which are performed in languages other than English, especially by countries whose native language is different, tend to flop”. 2) The lengthy, awkward, or opaque personal evaluations, like “This episode wasn’t very convincing”, “we loved her hair (and nails too as… Read more »

Idan Cohen
Idan Cohen
5 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

As for 1 + 2, In the last season the juries did say they wanted to send a female mizrahi singer, but Netta was a one in a generation hit, so they promoted her instead. I do think there’s an extra focus on mizrahi music this year (the production somehow thinks it works, even though statistically it doesn’t) but I agree with your main claim: the writer adds to much personal opinions where they shouldn’t be. Such as “the next rising star can be exhausting because of the hosts”.

Izhar Levy
Izhar Levy
5 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

Hi there, I apologise if my review sounds negative, in fact I love oriental music and my ancestors are from Iraq and Morocco. What I was trying to say is that it’s very dominant in this season which I think is a shame bc there are so many other artists but they receive less attention. I didn’t mean to underestimate mizrahi music, Naor’s audition was one of my favourites. Also, the panel also discusses this issue from time to time. I don’t think that your references suggest racism, ie, saying about someone that he has a warm voice isn’t racism… Read more »

Anonymous
Anonymous
5 years ago
Reply to  Izhar Levy

Given the racist remarks in your articles I didn’t expect any reasonable response from you. I just hope that Wiwiblogg’s editors understand that perpetuating racial stereotypes and mocking cultures is a problem, and will force you to edit this bullsh*t out of your articles.

Esc1234
Esc1234
5 years ago

Songs in native language flop? Does The guy who wrote the article actually watches the contest? Cause in 2017 a song in native language didn’t flop, but won.

Izzy
Izzy
5 years ago
Reply to  Esc1234

Thank you for this feedback. I’ve been a fan since 1983 and can ASSURE you that statistically countries that are sending songs other than in English (especially since the lifting of the language barrier) tend to be less successful. You are welcome to check ESC’s database. This does not mean that only English songs can win – ie Portugal 17. But it’s harder. Also my comment should be read in the right context – countries which send songs in foreign languages are taking a risk especially if it’s not their native language. Ps – I actually love it when countries… Read more »

James
James
5 years ago
Reply to  Izzy

Only because there are more songs sung in English (not counting bilingual ones) being sent to the contest per annum, thus the probability of non-Anglophone entries to even make it to a final alone is small as they are few in number as it is. 2017 is one of the rare instances since the introduction of the semifinals that all non-English songs qualified, in part because they were a small bunch to begin with. For the final itself, songs in Italian, specifically entries from Italy, have consistently ranked well since the country’s return in 2011. There is also, at the… Read more »

Eurovisionfan12
Eurovisionfan12
5 years ago

Yas Naama <3 Y'all should check out one of her songs "Walk of Freedom" which is such a bop

Dorian
Dorian
5 years ago

Limor was amazing.so is kobi merimi.I love them both.
SO TRUE!! What you said!

“Greek culture is really loved in Israel and has influenced many of its artists (perhaps due to the Jewish-Greek diaspora and the cultural closeness between these two Mediterranean countries).”
So I have a good feeling, that in 2019 Greece and Cyprus will
WOW US! TOP 10 FOR SURE!

Paul
Paul
5 years ago

Limor Oved Looks like a female version of Hovi Star

Idan Cohen
Idan Cohen
5 years ago
Reply to  Paul

Can’t unsee!

James
James
5 years ago

How did Austria 2016 flop? 13th place out of 42 participating countries is quite respectable and far from ever being considered a “flop” despite entering a song that is neither English nor any Austria-based German language variety.

What’s your basis on this claim?

Loin dici
5 years ago

In the case of ‘Loin dici’, with being in the top 10 of either jury or televote considered a success, it flopped with JURIES but gained success in TELEVOTING. La forza, which is italian, succeeded in both. There are no exact standard if the song sung not in english/native will flop or not.