Israel’s Eurovision stars have been chosen through The Next Star franchise since 2015. But things are about to change from 2022 with the news that the local version of X Factor will be used instead. The rebooted talent show has already confirmed that Eurovision 2018 winner Netta and music mogul Simon Cowell will be on the judging panel.
X Factor will be used to select Israel’s Eurovision 2022 singer
Local media reports that KAN put its Eurovision selection efforts to tender. Two parties put in bids — KAN’s outgoing partners KESHET 12 with The Next Star and Reshet 13 with The X Factor. KAN’s tender requirements were reportedly very high, and Reshet 13 won out. The chosen bid is said to include an advertising package for the corporation’s contents, and bids for additional collaborations.
This will make Israel the second country to link its local version of X Factor with Eurovision. Malta used the talent show to select its acts in 2019 and 2020.
X Factor Israel will feature Netta and Simon Cowell as judges
Details of the new season of X Factor Israel were first released in early March. Then it was announced that the judging panel would include Eurovision 2018 and The Next Star winner Netta. She’ll be joined by the format’s creator Simon Cowell. This will mark the first time that Simon has judged on an edition of the show outside the UK or US.
Aviv Geffen will also sit at the judge’s table. The X Factor Israel casting team is currently in the process of finding singers to compete in the new season.
What do you think of the news? Can Simon Cowell spot Eurovision talent? Let us know below.
The reality is that Kan’s director general doesn’t believe music contests are part of the corporation’s mandate. When Kan parted ways with ‘The Next Star, it was after it had a few misgivings about Keshet12’s practices and so the termination of the partnership was inamicable and unilaterally announced at the beginning of season 5. Eden eventually won that season in early 2020. I’m not surprised the X-factor bid won since in reality it was the only viable option in town. What matters now is how Kan handles the actual song selection and whether it offers the winner the possibility to… Read more »
People are talking about KAN as if they are some clueless bunch of people than handle ESC selection for the first time. They were involved in the selection of Toy, hosted Eurovision 2 years ago and hosted a pretty decent national selection in 2020. So, it’s not like they don’t know what they are doing. It’s only a matter of how well they want to do in the contest, keeping in mind they have to pay a loan for ESC 2019 for the next 15 years.
No UK X-Factor this year (and probably not in 2022 either, I understand) so yeah, Cowell probably has some time on his hands
Does Cowell know enough about the contest? When Destiny was on Britain’s Got Talent, he claimed he’d never heard of Junior Eurovision.
Israel already has such a huge pool of high quality talent that it’s disappointing to see them going for this process yet again. Of course I appreciate that Nadav, Hovi, Netta and Eden were all discovered through talent shows but I would love to see an established Israeli artist get a chance after so many years.
I’m confused, why is everyone so against new talent? sure, bigger stars are great, but isn’t it nice that unknown artists are getting a chance to show their talent?
This sounds like a bad idea, and will definitely kill the chances of bigger stars entering the selection. Malta isn’t a great analogue due to the differing population sizes (and the fact that Destiny was always going to win).
What’s the difference between this and the Next Star? Nothing. So why is it a bad idea in your opinion? I don’t get the logic. The next tar brought Israel consecutive final qualifications since 2015 and a win in 2018.
Next Star managed to get people like Chen Aharoni involved. The fact that it was marketed purely as a Eurovision selection meant established acts felt less reluctant to participate, whereas the. X factor brand is all about discovering new talent.
It was still a reality show very similar to X-Factor. The marketing could claim whatever. Those “established artists” still had to battle with completely annonymous people and get critique from judges after every performance.
This can be a train wreck but going to watch every single show. Great ratings and publicity coup! That’s what TV biz is all about.
Simon is half jew.. so.. I kinda think that he’ll love it..
Israel – Tel Aviv 2023?? Maybe 🙂
Really? After everything what’s going on about him he still can do this? Jedward was on esc and they’re spilling EVERYTHING on Twitter about him!!! Just go on theirs and Rebecca Ferguson’s Twitter and read! And it is real because both was on X factor uk and had contacts with him.
Yikes …
omg Simon Cowell??? How much money did KAN have to pay him I—
They didn’t pay him anything. The channel that’s broadcasting x factor is a commercial channel delegated for picking the Eurovision candidate by KAN, since they have financial issues (as usual). X Factor is a franchise association with Simon Cowell and he was due to join the Israeli X Factor judges panel for this coming season regardless of Eurovision.
KAN doesn’t have financial issues, they just have other priorities. They decided they would rather spend their (our) money on original dramas, comedies and documentaries, which they do very well. As we’ve seen since since 2015, outsourcing the selection and representation to a commercial channel not only saves the public broadcast a lot of money, it also incentivises the delegation to do well in the ESC in order to prove themselves worthy of getting the gig for yet another year. Say what you will about The Next Star, but they put an effort into the participation like no one before… Read more »
Simons going to be a Golden Boy
So Israel can afford Madonna and Simon Cowell, San Marino has Flo Rida, meanwhile UK has the brother of someone who had a hit once back in 2013.
“Israel” did not pay for Madonna and Simon Cowell. Kan used a privet investor to bring Madonna and Simon Cowell is paid by a commercial broadcaster. And as far as I know, San Marino is not funding anything about ESC at all. They just look for artists that want to participate in the contest and willing to pay to their broadcaster to represent the country.
Also, the BBC has a lot of priorities apart from Eurovision. Pretty much every other broadcaster serves a purely local audience in their operations, but the BBC is an international brand that produces news and programmes for international consumption. I wish they’d put more effort into Eurovision overall, but their efforts this year have been quite good and demonstrate a desire to do well, if not win.
Israel is panicking, as their act Eden Alene is not that appreciated as expected, is low in polls and it’s seen as a non qualifier from the 1st semifinal, although I personally like both the singer and the song. But they want to go back to their glorious years 2015-2018…So they’re looking for a brand new formula to pick their representative…
Not at all. KAN is delegating the selection process due to financial issues. X Factor Israel was going to feature Netta and Simon regardless of if they win the bid to choose the Israeli act for Eurovision.
So… no group act confirmed for Israel.
Shalva can still participate in X factor I guess…
Only to quit again? They can’t represent Israel in Eurovision.
I hate the X Factor but im not going to miss an episode of this.
same hahah
Simon is literally there for the rating… What are we even doing? (I’m Israeli)
Netta is a good option, Aviv as well
I just hope the show would be a good way of choosing a singer
Remember how Simon Cowell was acting so disrespectfully against Saara Aalto, mostly because she is Finnish, but at the end she finished really high in X Factor UK. I believe that Israel should stick with local judges, like Netta, because this will be X Factor Israel, not X Factor UK
From what I understand he might be some kind of a guest judge and not a permanent one..
“Who outside of Israel has the time to watch this”
asks a guy on the Eurovision site.
It was an article posted on a Eurovision fandom site. Get over yourself, it looks stupid.
Maybe I will, it’s nothing to do with you either way.
There are fans who watch all the national selections, and rightly so. I think you are the one who needs to get over yourself, you seem very angry or something.
Have a hug from me and stay positive.
Ha no, there was messages there from Charles the II but they’re gone now. Someone deleted them, there was quite a thread here earlier actually.
X-Factor isn’ even that big of a deal any more so not sure if it helps Israel.And does Simon Cowell have any relations with Israel? Is he Jewish?
Simone Cowell is a professional. And Israel takes Eurovision seriously.
no, but a connection to the country. Does he have that?
Simon Cowell’s father is Jewish,
Plus he is a big supporter of Israel and had donated money to the IDF.
That, and money of course.
SIMON COWELL?!
Simon Cowell has said in the past that Eurovision is a joke. Would he really be the best judge in the search for a Eurovision entry?
I hate national selections that just focus on the singer, then the song is decided by a background team after they win, it’s quite odd.
I much prefer the singer enters the national selection with the actual song they want to represent their country with.
Cowell is always contradicting himself. I remember he was praising Christina Aguilera in 2010 and then he was shading her after she joined rival show ‘The Voice’.
Simon Cowell has said multiple times that he would be happy to help the BBC for Eurovision and he knows what it takes for success but i guess BBC did not even consider him as he was working with ITV at that time.
He only says that just to keep his name in the papers, he doesn’t really want to help. Remember he made his fortune in novelty crap.
Id like him to just go away forever
All he cares about is money. He changes his views every time he makes a new contract.
It’s more about rehabilitation of the X-Factor franchise. Selling it to national broadcasters as a ESC selection format gives the show new life.
This was unexpected. I have many questions, but then I read that Cowell donated over €100.000 to the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) recently, so I guess he’s a Zionist.
pro-israel.
From an Israeli point of view, although it might sound ideal to make a normal national selection with Kan, they were quite bad this year… And I think those talent shows will make more public attention and hype for the contest itself.
He may not feel safe in the US Covid wise right now and is looking for an alternate project…. Israel is way ahead of the curve on vaccinations.
I never understood why Simon Cowell never took to the BBC to do a Melodifestivalen type of show for them with the arsenal of UK talent that never got to the level of Adele or One Direction. Plenty of acts in the UK would’ve entered songs at Simon’s request. It would be like a a famous version of X Factor for established artists to present their songs.
Because Simon Cowell is associated with ITV. ITV and the BBC do very few things together. X Factor usually goes head-to-head with Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with the Stars) with Strictly winning the ratings. It would be very unusual for Simon to do something with the BBC.
Maybe that will change soon. Traditional TV broadcasters are now less competing with each other and more competing with streamers, like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Disney+, etc. The BBC and ITV collaborated together to produce Britbox as a new international streaming platform, which shows they can work together productively and that they see the need to do so. Whether that translates to a new Eurovision collaboration in the UK is another thing, but at least the BBC seems to be working well with BMG.
Why would an established UK artist do melfest style contest. You clearly don’t know the UK music industry. In all the 60+ years the UK has participated in Eurovision the artist have either been a completely nobody, up and coming or trying to make some sort of comeback. why would that change because of Cowell?
Because plenty of ‘established’ artists do things like Celebrity Big Brother and Masked Singer in the UK…when I say ‘established’ I don’t mean Adele, Lil Mix or James Arthur–I just mean singers that have established themselves on things like X Factor and whose careers hinge on UK TV exposure…when I say ‘established’, I just mean recognizable names–James Newman is ‘established’ but he’s not selling out arenas…plenty of UK talent in that same pool who would love a primetime Saturday night show to showcase their music…also Melodifestivalen is created as a showcase for Swedish music and for artists to market their… Read more »
So the focus now will be on getting good TV ratings while the show is on. Finding a great artist for ESC will be way down the list.
Could have said the same about “the next star” and it proved to be one of the most competitive Eurovision selections, produced a winner, and dug Israel out of years of consecutive non – qualifications.
Simon Cowell is very familiar with Eurovision. His talent show franchises, X-Factor and Got Talent, have been using former ESC and JESC for years. He recognizes that talent is very important factor in generating audience and retaining that audience.
You missed the bit when he said he’d never heard of Junior Eurovision after Destiny mentioned she’d won it when she was on BGT.
Actually it means that Israel is taking it too seriously now. Simon will not let this flop and will ensure the winner is successful after X Factor.
I would’ve agreed with this comment if there wasn’t the dig at Destiny
Finding the singer first has worked since 2015 for them though.
I feel like the next star was a golden format and it even appealed to some established artists to compete and go to eurovision. It’s harder for people who are semi-famous to compete in x factor than a platform that exists solely to find their eurovision artist.
I hope it really is an Israeli take on the platform and not like the American simon cowell talent shows where you have 6 minutes of produced sob story, one minute of actual singing and then 5 minutes of staged jury reaction. It’s definitely possible to end up with something good.
Wasn’t Destiny “semi famous”. I mean she was celebrated as a national hero when she won JeSC. And then she entered X factor to earn a spot on Eurovision and everyone had anointed her the winner even before the programme started. All the other non famous contestants had zero chance of winning.
Absolutely, total joke. Ira Losco may as well have entered herself. Destiny should have been selected internally.
I struggle to see how next star was appealing to established singers due to the format, and how X-Factor will be less so due to the format.
next star was hardly appealing to established artists.. they were mostly newcomers or singers at the beginning of their career – none of them were actually established.
Would have loved it if KAN will reboot the K’dam Eurovision selection, BUT having said that and to answer some remarks below, since Israel started using ‘The next star’ (a talent music show) back in 2015, we’ve had a 100% final qualification record (fingers crossed for this year as well), not to mention one win with Netta in 2018, so say what you want to say, but the facts tell a different story…
(-:
so next year’s Israeli entrant will be a “newbie” again? I don’t really like this idea. let those vocal talent shows stand by themselves, and make a separate proper national song selection show (something like Melodifestivalen, Melodi Grand Prix, UMK or even their previous Qdam Eurovision) for Eurovision, in which X Factor winners and top contestants can also take part alongside established artists.
Yes, actually i would have preferred a big TV production as national final for Israel to be held in an arena (not a studio) with anyone taking part. Israel won recently so there’s no need to find a winning formula
well, they actually can use Pais Arena (the venue that should have been used for Eurovision 2019 instead of Expo Tel Aviv), just like how Sweden uses Friends Arena, with the show held on Friday Eve or Monday Eve instead of Saturday Eve (Sabbath’s beginning) or Sunday Eve/Satnite (Sabbath’s end).
This new could’ve made a great April fools joke if it was released last week
Je Me Casse is a great song though and its rightfully one of the favourites to win.
I mean… if it’s to find a fantastic singer like Eden and then give her the blandest song.. :/
X factor is only about singing now ? What if a comedian or a circus artist win ?
I think you confused x factor and got talent. X factor has always been about singing.
That’s …Got Talent
Oops !! I mixed it up both indeed.
Maybe Daz Sampson will throw his hat in the ring?
Invest in a good internal selection (such as Cyprus) instead of that sh**
And how well it helped Cyprus in the past? How many wins? A single second place and that’s all.
The way Israel and other countries pick their artist and songs make the audience to be more connect to the ESC, which ultimately is the main purpose.
Good luck Israel, Malta and all participating countries.
agree, an internal selection should mainly focus on the song and not on the artist, but if does focus on the artist then it should be someone big and not a singer from x-factor.
Choosing the Malta way, I see.
X factor has done anything but fail for Malta
Lol and maybe also rigged like X-Factor Malta 2 has been.
I don’t think Malta was ever a factor here. “the next star” I is a fairly similar format to the way Israel has been selecting since 2015 and it was a running format before being used to pick the Israeli act. You could say the same about countries that picked using “the voice” in the past as well.
There was a bit between two Israeli channels, each with their own format, and this time X Factor won.
The X Factor is still a thing? God, it’s so past its time, just get rid of it!
That’s why Simon Cowell is selling it as a ESC selection format. The show has been dropping from markets for many years.