Simon Cowell Netta X Factor Israel Eurovision 2022

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.

Follow all of our Israel Eurovision 2021 news.

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Rob
Rob
2 years ago

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 »

Ana
Ana
2 years ago
Reply to  Rob

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.

Pernilla
Pernilla
2 years ago

No UK X-Factor this year (and probably not in 2022 either, I understand) so yeah, Cowell probably has some time on his hands

Fatima
Fatima
2 years ago

Does Cowell know enough about the contest? When Destiny was on Britain’s Got Talent, he claimed he’d never heard of Junior Eurovision.

Sam
Sam
2 years ago

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.

Ashton Schier
Ashton Schier
2 years ago

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?

Azaad
Azaad
2 years ago

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).

TLV
TLV
2 years ago
Reply to  Azaad

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.

Azaad
Azaad
2 years ago
Reply to  TLV

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.

Ana
Ana
2 years ago
Reply to  Azaad

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.

Spencer
Spencer
2 years ago

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.

wonder
wonder
2 years ago

Simon is half jew.. so.. I kinda think that he’ll love it..
Israel – Tel Aviv 2023?? Maybe 🙂

Flicker
Flicker
2 years ago

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.

Xylitol
Xylitol
2 years ago

Yikes …

Ashton Schier
Ashton Schier
2 years ago

omg Simon Cowell??? How much money did KAN have to pay him I—

Ifty
Ifty
2 years ago
Reply to  Ashton Schier

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.

Maya G
Maya G
2 years ago
Reply to  Ifty

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 »

Dolly
Dolly
2 years ago

Simons going to be a Golden Boy

RavensHeart
RavensHeart
2 years ago

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.

Ana
Ana
2 years ago
Reply to  RavensHeart

“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.

Azaad
Azaad
2 years ago
Reply to  RavensHeart

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.

Monika
Monika
2 years ago

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…

Last edited 2 years ago by Monika
Ifty
Ifty
2 years ago
Reply to  Monika

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.

Martin Månsson
Martin Månsson
2 years ago

So… no group act confirmed for Israel.

ESCJudge
ESCJudge
2 years ago

Shalva can still participate in X factor I guess…

TLV
TLV
2 years ago
Reply to  ESCJudge

Only to quit again? They can’t represent Israel in Eurovision.

Gavin
Gavin
2 years ago

I hate the X Factor but im not going to miss an episode of this.

Erasmus
Erasmus
2 years ago
Reply to  Gavin

same hahah

Roy Moreno
Roy Moreno
2 years ago

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

notyourtoy
notyourtoy
2 years ago

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

Alo
Alo
2 years ago
Reply to  notyourtoy

From what I understand he might be some kind of a guest judge and not a permanent one..

Jamie
Jamie
2 years ago

Who outside of Israel has the time to watch this”
asks a guy on the Eurovision site.

Darren
Darren
2 years ago

It was an article posted on a Eurovision fandom site. Get over yourself, it looks stupid.

Darren
Darren
2 years ago
Reply to  Darren

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.

Darren
Darren
2 years ago
Reply to  Darren

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.

Denis
Denis
2 years ago

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?

Yehuda IL
Yehuda IL
2 years ago
Reply to  Denis

Simone Cowell is a professional. And Israel takes Eurovision seriously.

Denis
Denis
2 years ago
Reply to  Denis

no, but a connection to the country. Does he have that?

Dani
Dani
2 years ago
Reply to  Denis

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.

Last edited 2 years ago by Dani
blahh
blahh
2 years ago

SIMON COWELL?!

Darren
Darren
2 years ago

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.

Alex
Alex
2 years ago
Reply to  Darren

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.

HarpyDarper
HarpyDarper
2 years ago
Reply to  Alex

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

Jamie
Jamie
2 years ago
Reply to  Darren

All he cares about is money. He changes his views every time he makes a new contract.

Chessguy99
2 years ago

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.

ERUS
ERUS
2 years ago

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.

noGeoblocks
noGeoblocks
2 years ago
Reply to  ERUS

pro-israel.

Alo
Alo
2 years ago

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.

Matt Church
Matt Church
2 years ago

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.

Jake
Jake
2 years ago

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.

Martin
Martin
2 years ago
Reply to  Jake

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.

Jimmy Smit
Jimmy Smit
2 years ago
Reply to  Martin

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.

Last edited 2 years ago by Jimmy Smit
TheSwani
TheSwani
2 years ago
Reply to  Jake

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?

Jake
Jake
2 years ago
Reply to  TheSwani

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 »

John
John
2 years ago

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.

Ifty
Ifty
2 years ago
Reply to  John

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.

Chessguy99
2 years ago
Reply to  John

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.

Fatima
Fatima
2 years ago
Reply to  Chessguy99

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.

Alex
Alex
2 years ago
Reply to  John

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.

Paul
Paul
2 years ago

I would’ve agreed with this comment if there wasn’t the dig at Destiny

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
2 years ago

Finding the singer first has worked since 2015 for them though.

Frisian esc
Frisian esc
2 years ago

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.

Jake
Jake
2 years ago
Reply to  Frisian esc

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.

Jofty
Jofty
2 years ago
Reply to  Jake

Absolutely, total joke. Ira Losco may as well have entered herself. Destiny should have been selected internally.

Ifty
Ifty
2 years ago
Reply to  Frisian esc

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.

Erasmus
Erasmus
2 years ago
Reply to  Ifty

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.

GuyGuy
GuyGuy
2 years ago

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…
(-:

Rifki
Rifki
2 years ago

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.

Alex
Alex
2 years ago
Reply to  Rifki

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

Rifki
Rifki
2 years ago
Reply to  Alex

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).

Leo
Leo
2 years ago

This new could’ve made a great April fools joke if it was released last week

Sav001
Sav001
2 years ago

Je Me Casse is a great song though and its rightfully one of the favourites to win.

Grft
Grft
2 years ago

I mean… if it’s to find a fantastic singer like Eden and then give her the blandest song.. :/

Ende
Ende
2 years ago

X factor is only about singing now ? What if a comedian or a circus artist win ?

Ravencrow Neversmiles
Ravencrow Neversmiles
2 years ago
Reply to  Ende

I think you confused x factor and got talent. X factor has always been about singing.

Paul
Paul
2 years ago
Reply to  Ende

That’s …Got Talent

Ende
Ende
2 years ago
Reply to  Paul

Oops !! I mixed it up both indeed.

Jofty
Jofty
2 years ago
Reply to  Ende

Maybe Daz Sampson will throw his hat in the ring?

Lujxk
Lujxk
2 years ago

Invest in a good internal selection (such as Cyprus) instead of that sh**

Devina Shantee
Devina Shantee
2 years ago
Reply to  Lujxk

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.

Last edited 2 years ago by Devina Shantee
Erasmus
Erasmus
2 years ago
Reply to  Lujxk

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.

Heyey
Heyey
2 years ago

Choosing the Malta way, I see.

Cameron
Cameron
2 years ago
Reply to  Heyey

X factor has done anything but fail for Malta

Doris
Doris
2 years ago
Reply to  Heyey

Lol and maybe also rigged like X-Factor Malta 2 has been.

Ifty
Ifty
2 years ago
Reply to  Heyey

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.

Rottendam
Rottendam
2 years ago

The X Factor is still a thing? God, it’s so past its time, just get rid of it!

Chessguy99
2 years ago
Reply to  Rottendam

That’s why Simon Cowell is selling it as a ESC selection format. The show has been dropping from markets for many years.