Back in May, KAN confirmed that Israel would be participating in the 2020 contest. Along with the news was the announcement of changes to their selection method. Then, in July, more details emerged regarding how they will go about selecting their next entry. Now, as HaKokhav Haba L’Eurovizion continues, the date for the song selection show has been suggested by Ynet.
Last week, we learned that the final of HaKokhav Haba L’Eurovizion will take place on February 4th. In less than a month, Israel will have their artist for the contest, but no song. Rather than internally selecting the follow-up to “Home”, the Israeli entry will be selected via a separate selection.
On March 3rd, Israel will select their entry via “The Next Song to Eurovision”, where the winner of HaKokhav Haba L’Eurovizion will present four prospective entries. Eurovision 2019 host Lucy Ayoub will be the host of the song selection, alongside an unannounced co-presenter. Voting will be comprised of both televote and professional jury vote…in a bizarre format:
- 30% audience/televote
- 65% professional jury
- 5% judges
The call for songs opened on February 11th and will close on February 11th.
The Israeli team is already looking ahead to 2021! KAN 11, the main channel of public broadcaster KAN, will host a revamped national selection which will choose both artist and song for 2021. The format for the new show has not been decided yet, as KAN has launched a call for production companies to submit their bids. One thing that is already certain, however, is that ESC 2019 host Lucy Ayoub will be presenting KANs’ new show.
Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest
Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 41 times since making its debut in 1973. The country has won the contest four times (1978, 1979, 1998, 2018), and has hosted the contest three times (1979, 1999 and 2019).
Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In 2005, Shiri Maimon gave the country its tenth top five result with “HaSheket SheNish’ar”, finishing fourth. Having failed to qualify for the final for four consecutive years (2011–2014), Israel reached the final with Nadav Guedj’s “Golden Boy” in 2015. Since Nadav’s ninth-place finish, Israel has qualified for every Grand Final.
Last year, Netta brought Israel it’s fourth victory, 20 years after its previous win. Her song won the televote and placed 3rd in the jury vote, amassing 529 points. The 2019 edition of the contest was hosted in Tel Aviv. Performing on home soil, Kobi Marimi’s “Home” didn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor, placing 21st with 35 points.
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