The Next Star for Eurovision — the Israeli selection process for Eurovision 2019 — continues and the audition stage is close to completion. Plenty of talent has already been discovered and that continued with the latest episodes. As usual, we will look at the audience’s favourite audition and the one that caught our eye. Today, we will take a look at the qualifiers from episodes 13 and 14.
Episode 13 – 29 December
Noa Klein
The audience’s favourite was Noa Klein, who has just came back to Israel from the United States. She lived there for six years with her family. During her stay in New York, she mainly worked as a singer in musicals. This was apparent in her audition as she chose to perform “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland. Her performance was very mature and showcased her professionalism and experience on stage. That being said, the judges correctly pointed out that it looked like she was “attacking” the song and trying too hard to impress. However, her talent was obvious and she deservedly proceeds to the next stage. The audience awarded her 88% of the total votes.
Unfortunately, Noa’s audition has not been uploaded yet but you can watch it in the full episode, from around 0:30:50.
Ofek Adanek
Our favourite was Ofek Adanek. Despite being only 16 years of age, we felt a very authentic vibe as he spoke to the hosts before the audition. Ofek is a second generation immigrant from Ethiopia and he referred to himself — with a lot of humour — as ” a problematic guy who doesn’t go to school very often and does his art instead”. This statement was put to the test as he performed an original self-written song called ”The Way You Move”. To be honest, we’re not sure if he would be the right choice for Eurovision but we still think that his talent can’t be ignored. Similarly, the audience wasn’t sure either as he only achieved 50%, well below the minimum threshold of 70%. Fortunately, he was saved by the hosts and we’re curious to see what he does next with his sass and talent.
Other qualifiers in this episode (ranked from highest to lowest):
| Name of qualifier | Entry and performing artist | Result | Our impressions |
| Tchelet Perlmutter | “Soon We’ll Be Found” — Sia | 86% | She’s got introverted talent. |
| Rotem Hen | “Osher Ledaka” — Uri Ben Ari (Hebrew) | 80% | He loves the gym, we love his voice. |
| Los Kaparos | “Nachon LeHayom” — Zohar Argov (Hebrew) | 70% | Izabo on drugs. |
Tchelet Perlmutter
Rotem Hen
Los Kaparos
Episode 14 — 30 December
There were two auditions which were equal audience favourites in this episode. Of these two, one was also our favourite.
Tali Rabinovitz
Tali is originally from Argentina and she has studied classical music and opera. She already has experience as an artist, mainly as a singer for children. She performed ”Dangerous Woman” by Ariana Grande and gained 81% of the votes. Tali has a beautiful voice but we’re not sure if she will stand out compared to other candidates.
Bar Cohen
Our favourite was Bar Cohen. Bar has won a reality show in Israel called ”Eyal is Calling You”, featuring one of Israel’s most successful singers, Eyal Golan. One would therefore expect to see a very confident artist but this wasn’t the case. In fact, Bar is not your stereotypical star — both in terms of her looks and the way she sings. However, this uniqueness is why we liked her so much. As a result, we are curious to see what she brings to the table next. Bar sang “Kshe’halachta” (which translates as ”When You’re Gone”, originally performed by Shiri Maimon) and she also received 81% of the votes.
Other qualifiers in this episode:
There was only 1 other qualifier in this episode and it was another female. Yuval Shauli is her name and she performed ”Warrior” by Demi Lovato. She was saved by the hosts as she’d failed to reach 70%. She joins Tali Rabinovitz and Bar Cohen in the next round.
What do you think about the qualifiers? As we’re getting close to the last round of auditions, do you think any of them has a potential to win and become Israel’s representative in Tel Aviv? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
Hi Wiwi!
Tonight the next star is making the big cut. The real talents of the show will be decided.
Please publish an article about it quickly. I’m dying to to know what international eurovision fans think.
(I know covering this show is a bit much… Too many auditions, but it should be really fast paced from here on)
The song that Bar Cohen sang is actually one of my favorites. Shiri wrote it herself for her friend that died as a solider in Lebanon in 2006. when you left the pain within me suddenly turned meaningful why did you give up happiness so easily? If you come back, we’ll run across the flowers. when you left, Why did you let me fall into the abyss? why did you take away my light, that day? If you come back, I’ll give you life. If you can see me I found a new love even if it’s not you I… Read more »
As a side note, Moran Mazor (Israel 2013) and Bar Cohen are both winners of “Eyal Golan is calling you”, which is the Mizrahi version of the voice (I cracked up while writing it)
Moran won the first season, Bar won the fourth