The hosts and judging panel have been revealed for the new series of “The Next Star”, which will be used to find Israel’s act for Eurovision 2024.
Assi Azar and Rotem Sela will host the competition, which they have done since 2014. Meanwhile, Aden Hasson will be a new face on the show’s judging panel, joining Shiri Maimon, Itay Levy, Assaf Amdorsky, Ran Dankar and Keren Pels.
Production on the new series, which will choose who represents Israel at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, is already underway. Keshet 12, the show’s broadcaster, has begun casting contestants for filmed auditions in September, while the series is expected to begin airing in November.
“The Next Star” is returning as Israel’s national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2024. The reality singing competition was previously used to select Israel’s act from 2015 to 2020.
During that period, the country qualified for the Grand Final in each year the contest was held, while 2018 “The Next Star” champion Netta won the contest for Israel with her song “Toy”.
Known as HaKokhav HaBa in Israel, the show has spawned several international spinoffs under the name “Rising Star”. However, many of those shows, including French, German and Greek versions, failed to last beyond a single series.
Israel is revisiting the format despite achieving major success with Noa Kirel last year. Kirel, one of Israel’s biggest stars, was selected internally by broadcaster KAN. She went onto finish in third place overall at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with her uptempo dance-pop song “Unicorn” scoring 362 points.
Image Source: EBU / Corinne Cumming | Source: Euromix
Israel debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973, and was represented by Ilanit who finished in 4th place with the song “Ey Sham”. Their first victory came in 1978 with Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Israel won again the following year with Gali Atari & Milk and Honey. Israel’s third victory came in 1998 when Dana International performed “Diva” in Birmingham, beating Malta to victory in a tense voting sequence. Israel struggled in the contest during the early-2010s, failing to qualify for the final from 2011-2014. However, since 2015 Israel has seen its fortunes turned around, qualifying every year except 2022. In 2018 Netta won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Toy”. The song has gone on to be one of the most viewed Eurovision entries of all time on YouTube.
