The Israeli selection for Eurovision 2020, The Next Star for Eurovision, is in high gear. Last Saturday, the bootcamp phase kicked off, and Day 2 is now upon us. Five artists have already won a ticket to the Next Star final 20, and now, five more are through.
Next Star 2020 – second auditions results
Raviv Kaner
Raviv Kaner, the Bradley Cooper lookalike who lost friends in the 2014 war, was the first of the episode to perform. He scored 92% in the first audition and wanted to continue his success with “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles. His soulful performance won all judges’ votes, and he booked his spot in the top 20.
Moran Aharoni
Moran Aharoni, the rock singer who blew the screen away at 88% with “Believer”, was next. She sang OneRepublic’s “Love Runs Out” with passion, vocal control and loads of sex appeal. All judges fell for her (though Shiri Maimon took a while) and she qualified directly to the top 20.
Dikla Malka
Dikla Malka qualified as a wildcard from the first audition. Her last name means “queen”, but her performance of “Who’s Lovin’ You” by the Jackson 5 didn’t justify her title. After two jurors voted against her, the rest of the jury was left arguing whether or not she should have a majority. She only won Static & Ben El’s vote and was eliminated.
Michael Tsidon
Michael Tsidon was next on stage. He wanted to stand out, so he sang “Aramam” by Ibrahim Tetlises. His soulful presentation of the Turkish-language ballad impressed the judges, and all but Amdursky voted him through. As a result, he qualified to the Second Chance round.
Ofer Naveh
Ofer Naveh was next in line. The judges didn’t know what to expect from Naveh after a polarising first audition. He chose to sing Assaf Amdursky’s “Yekirati”, a song that’s a known soft spot with the jury. Amdursky voted for Naveh, which was the biggest shock of the audition, while Shiri Maimon and Levy did not. He made the Second Chance round.
The Spices (HaTavlinim)
The Spices, the Eilat-based hard rock band, qualified to the bootcamp phase as a wildcard. They sang Marina Maximillian’s indie-pop song “Tango” in a hard-rock rendition. The judges agreed that The Spices had taken the judges’ advice from the first audition. So, with votes from all but Static & Ben El, the band qualified for Second Chance.
Non-qualifiers
Lital David sang “Freedom” by Beyoncé and got no votes. Eylon Elkayam also failed to impress the judges with a ballad in Hebrew. Allan Botsoier sang Chontelle’s “Impossible” and got no votes.
Or Eddie
Or Eddie, one half of the popular duo Kate & Or, qualified while Kim didn’t. She was next in line and sang “Ohevet Oti Amiti” by Omer Adam. Her Mizrahi singing polarised the judges’ panel, and she received votes from all but Itay Levy and Assaf Amdursky. Therefore, she went to the Second Chance round.
Avihu Pinhasov’s Rhythm Club
The sextet who came to troll the Israeli selection was up next. They performed a joke song titled “Avrum”, supposedly in memory of Reuven Atar, an otherwise unremarkable — and still living — former footballer. The judges loved the group’s uniqueness and unanimously voted them through to the top 20.
Second Chance / final decisions
Michael Tsidon was the first Second Chance qualifier to hear the verdict. He failed to make the final 20. The Spices (HaTavlinim) qualified to the next round. Or Eddie and Ofer Naveh remained, knowing one would qualify and the other would not. Eventually, Eddie made it to the final 20, and Naveh was eliminated.
The Spices and Or Eddie joined Raviv Kaner, Moran Aharoni, Avihu Pinhasov’s Rhythm Club and the five Day One qualifiers, with ten more spots still open to the remaining 38 bootcamp participants.
Which audition was your favourite? Who can go all the way? Sound off in the comments below!
Raviv surprised me. I am curious about him. His performance was flawless.
I can’t help but love Avihu Pinhasov. I’m thrilled every time they make it further along!
The serious contenders are in the next episode. Eden, Dana, Omer are all worlds above any of these.
None of these are serious challengers to Eden, Dana, Lehi, or even Ohad. They are all amateur performers.
The second auditions phase illustrates exactly why Rising Star needs to ‘get the boot’. There is simply no excuse for such an anti-climatic elimination phase without the basic decency and accountability to address the reasons behind the eliminations. Apparently the production thinks it is unnecessary to film the judges’ deliberations because it assumes viewers eat out of the palm of its hands like a captive audience, so once a reality talent show thinks it can get away with gaps, shortcuts and contestants ‘vanishing’ into thin air (because they were only there as fodder to begin with), it’s high time to… Read more »
On a pure assessment of musicality, Michael Tsidon should have joined the team instead of Or, but the judges and the production are looking for different typecasts that fit a certain narrative, entertainment value, likability, age group etc. Tsidon’s classical Turkish-Arabesque style was too much for them to handle while Or’s whiny voice reminded them of other current female Mizrahi pop-soul successes. Avihu and The Rhythm Club are 8 people on stage, but who cares about Eurovision rules as long as Avihu can break all the rules and bring in the anarchy? everybody knows he’s there for the excessive, disruptive… Read more »
Raviv Kaner is a real diamond in the rough. Amazing vocals and an intriguing persona. He’d make a bold choice and could make a big impact with the right song (I couldn’t find any resemblance to Bradley Cooper though).
He’s certainly a brilliant vocalist with an amazing range and precision, but I’m concerned with the overemphasis on his background. He was very humble about it and asked to be judged on the merits of his art and not anything else which is commendable, but the genie is already out of the bottle. I’m just concerned that what Israelis value as noble and noteworthy will be misinterpreted abroad.
Nice voice but no personality on stage. He just stands and looks down. How will that score points in Eurovision? This is one where his sympathetic background is playing a role, which will not help in Eurovision.
How can someone who got 60 qualified over someone who got 80?
Also when they announce the Second Chance winners I feel that they select the weaker 2 in order to not have surprises in the contest.
Percentages don’t really matter. You can move to the second auditions phase with 45% if you’re saved and there’s basically no difference between 70% or 97% other than a psychological advantage. Contestants who got a score of 90% and higher will usually find themselves in the top 20 phase with the exception of maybe 1 or 2 contestants. It was within the judges’ authority to prefer the 60% contestant over the 80%, but the production’s lack of transparency by not recording the judges’ dilemma and reasoning is a resounding failure on its part: not very surprising for a show full… Read more »