The Next Star for Eurovision — the Israeli selection process for Eurovision 2019 — continues and at last, we have arrived at the last episode in the auditions’ stage.In this episode, the highlight was the ”Franco-Israeli” relations as many candidates (including some who haven’t passed to the next stage), were immigrants from France.
Let’s take a look at the last qualifiers and just before shortlisting stage commences.
Episode 15 – 1 January 2019
Natalie Wamba Be’eri
The audience’s favourite – who also happens to be ours – was Natalie Wamba Be’eri, 45, who defines herself as an international jazz singer. Natalie is half Congolese and half Moroccan and as with two other qualifiers in this episode (Zohar and Mari – see below), she also spent her childhood in France.
She performed Crazy by Seal and completely turned the song upside down, moving it from a pop song to soul whilst singing parts of it in French. She’s got an amazing presence on the stage and she reminded us (and Shiri) of Tina Turner (and for those of you who are fans of Eurovision classics also of Joelle Ursull who represented France back in 1990 with the unforgettable ”White and Black Blues”). She gained 83% which was the highest result in this episode.
As we indicated during the audition stage, this season of the Next Star is full of talent and it is sometimes hard to stand out. But in our opinion, Natalie is likely to proceed to the crucial stages of the contest and perhaps even win it all as an outside bet.
Other qualifiers in this episode (ranked from highest to lowest):
| Name of qualifier | Entry and performing artist | Result | Our impressions |
| Zohar Garala | Lomedet Lalechet (Hebrew) – Nasrin Kadri | 78% | Fragile look, solid voice. |
| Maszal Kab | Disclore – Latch feat. Sam Smith | 73% | Cool vibe |
| Mari Haim Yesh | Bi Od Koach (Hebrew) – Idan Raichel | 67% | Sweet but slightly immature |
Zohar:
Mari:
Mazal:
That concludes the audition stage.
In the table below, you can see the full list of qualifiers and the result they achieved (from highest to lowest) including our favourites so far.
HaKochav Haba Qualifiers
Name of qualifier, Result (threshold=70%), Comments
Ketreyah 95% Our favourite
Or Ben Atar 94%
Tay 93% Our favourite
Eliya Gabay 93% Our favourite
Ofri Calfon 92%
The Shalva Band 91%
Limor Oved 91% Our favourite
Kobi Marimi 91% Our favourite
Niv Yanko 91% Our favourite
Danielle Mazuz 90%
Sara Mushayof 90%
Nitay Twito 90%
Shachar Adawi 89%
Avraham de Carvalho 89%
Lior Chen 89%
Daniel Barzilay 88% Our favourite
Liat Eliyahu 88%
Nave Madmon 88%
Noa Klein 88%
Noy Sosover 86% Our favourite
Tchelet Perlmutter 86%
Osher Biton 85% Our favourite
Naor Cohen 85% Our favourite
Ihab Atila 85% Our favourite
Maya Buskila 83%
Etty Bitton 83%
Ayala Eligula 83%
Natalie Wamba Be’eri 83%
Nadav Philips 82%
Klara Sabag 81%
Amit Sade 81%
Tali Rabinovitz 81%
Bar Cohen 81%
Judith Hasin 80% Our favourite
Roi Sandler 80%
Ilay Chepman 80%
Rotem Hen 80%
Avi Assor 79%
Eden Vered Mary 78%
Zohar Garala 78%
Berry Brown 77%
Elkana Marziano 77% Our favourite
Yagel Yada’i 77%
Shahaf 76%
Gilad Tentzer 75%
Alik Manshirov 75%
Naama Gali Cohen 74%
Mazal Kab 73%
Shira Givoni 72%
Assaf Messilati 71%
Tomer Raz 71%
Ido Dankner 70%
Gal Binyamin 70%
Wanna Waana (a band) 70%
Los Kaparos (a band) 70%
Netanel & Yarden Brazilai 70%
Mari Haim 67% Saved by hosts
Frida Uziel 60% Saved by hosts
Julia Garnitz 59% Saved by hosts
Yuval Shauli 59% Saved by hosts
Shefita 58% Saved by hosts
Romi Ezer 55% Saved by hosts
Zohar Schechtman 55% Saved by hosts
Ofek Adanek 50% Saved by hosts, our favourite
The next stage will be shortlisting until we reach the final list of candidates from which Israel will select its candidate to represent the country on home turf and – hopefully – bring the country its fifth victory.
What do you think about the qualifiers? Did you like Natalie’s audition? Who do you like to see in Tel Aviv now that the list is complete?
I think this year they will pick a female artist.
A big yes to natalie!! Love her.
Today we will se who will be going to the next roynd.
I can’t wait to see kitria.
Anything that reminds me of White and Black Blues (my favorite French entry) is doing something right. France and Israel have always been very tight at Eurovision, so that’d definitely help.
Noy Sosover withdrew for personal reasons.
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Thanks for the update!
I think Elkana Barziano did as well