HaKokhav HaBa (Hebrew: הַכּוֹכָב הַבָּא; transl. "The Next Star") is an Israeli interactive reality singing competition, created by Keshet Media Group and broadcast on Channel 2 (from 2013 to 2017) and on Channel 12 (since 2017). It is the basis of the Rising Star franchise. The show is a continuation of Kokhav Nolad (Hebrew: כוכב נולד; transl. "A Star Is Born") which featured aspiring singers competing for a winning title. The program's format combines the internet, smartphone and television and is filmed live. Between 2015 and 2020, and again since 2024, the show has been used to select Israel's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest.[1]
Format
As the season begins, each contestant is asked to perform a well-known song in front of judges. After the song, a vote is taken among judges whether to transfer the applicant to the test stage facing the audience at home. If the judges are not sure about how to vote, the contestant is required to perform another song, and then a decision is made.[citation needed]
Contestants who do move forward must then sing in front of an audience. Viewers then connect with an app at makoTV and decide in real time whether a contestant passes or does not pass.[citation needed]
Judges also influence the test stage - all judges may support the promotion of the contestant and thereby add 8% percent if there are five judges or 10% if there are four. Once the contestant reaches 70% of votes they "pass" and the screen opens and the contestant goes to the next level. 14 singers then move on to a section where the judges and the audience at home vote. At the final stage, four singers are left and one will be elected "The Next Star".[citation needed]
Asaf Amdursky Itay Levy Keren Peles Shiri Maimon Ran Danker Eden Hason
11
10 November 2024
22 January 2025
TBD
Asaf Amdursky Itay Levy Keren Peles Shiri Maimon Ran Danker Eden Hason
Season 1 (2013)
HaKokhav HaBa 1 Finalists (With dates of elimination)
Evyatar Korkus
25 December - Winner
Arye & Gil Gat
25 December
Tina Ibagrimov
25 December
Rinat Cohen
25 December
Omer Datz†
17 December
David Drey
10 December
Elias Melayev
3 December (Quit)
Inbal Bekman
26 November
Hen Levy
26 November
Lior Peretz
19 November
Roni Israeli
17 November
Alon Tube
12 November
Dondit Jon
5 November
George Abu Shkara
3 November
This first season of Rising Star was hosted by Assi Azar with co-host Esti Ginzburg. The judges were Rita, Zvika Hadar, Mooki and Rani Rahav. Eyal Golan judged the program until his suspension on 20 November 2013,[2] when he was replaced by Mooki.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan) succeeded the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in 2017, and thus took charge of Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest from 2018. Kan continued the IBA's collaboration with Keshet and Tedy Productions to use HaKokhav HaBa to select the singer to represent Israel, while the song was chosen by a committee appointed by Kan. The season was won by Netta Barzilai, the first woman to win the series. She represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, winning it with the song "Toy".
Kobi Marimi won the show with 383 points, beating runner-up Keteryah and third-placer Shefita. Marimi represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, held in Tel Aviv, with the song "Home", which was internally selected by Kan.
The seventh season premiered on 20 November 2019 and concluded on 4 February 2020. The winner was Eden Alene, and a separate televised competition was held by Kan to select her Eurovision Song Contest 2020 entry, "Feker Libi". However, that year's Eurovision was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Alene was internally re-selected by Kan to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, with another competition held to select her 2021 entry, "Set Me Free".
For this season, the show is not used to select the Israeli representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 (The X Factor Israel received this honor instead). Instead, the grand prize for the winner is one million shekels for starting his career, similar to season 1. The cast of hosts and judges remained the same as the previous season, with Ninet Tayeb joining the judges as well.
On February 17, 2022, Static & Ben El Tavori retired from the show and Ran Danker replaced them. The ninth season began on 18 July 2022 and concluded on 20 September.
The tenth season premiered on 20 November 2023 and concluded on 6 February 2024. Its format was scaled down due to the Israel–Hamas war, which began before production started and caused the season premiere to be postponed. The winner was Eden Golan, who represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with the song "Hurricane", which was internally selected by Kan.
The eleventh season premiered on 10 November 2024 and is set to conclude on 22 January 2025. The winner will represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025.
HaKokhav HaBa 11 Finalists (With dates of elimination)
After the success of the Israeli series in 2013, many television stations throughout the world bought the rights and started broadcasting similar series.
The American television network ABC began airing its first series of Rising Star in June 2014 from Los Angeles.[4] The US edition was also carried in Canada, with advertising simultaneous substitution and voting access on CTV.[5] The show was canceled after its full 10-episode season due to low ratings in its target demographic, and extremely low ratings on the German and French versions.
Another major broadcaster RTL Television launched a German language version in Germany. But following reported poor ratings on its early shows, it announced it was bringing Rising Star Germany scheduled final forward airing an extended one-day finale between 20.15 and 00.00 to decide the winning performer, rather than completing the full 10-episode scheduled season originally planned.[6]
The UK ITV channel bought the rights, but canceled its scheduled launch[7] citing lower-than-expected viewership in similar launches in the United States and Germany. Canale 5 also bought the rights to an Italian version of the show, which was also canceled during development for unexplained reasons.
French television M6, with its first season, launched in September 2014 keeping the title Rising Star. The French version had a shortened season due to low ratings. The Italian television Canale 5 launched its version as Rising Star.
Other broadcasters that adapted the series include Argentine Telefe as Elegidos (La música en tus manos), Brazilian Rede Globo as SuperStar, Chinese CCTV-3, Greek ANT1, Hungarian TV2 as Rising Star, Indonesian RCTI as Rising Star Indonesia (later, MNCTV as sister channel of RCTI make dangdut version of this show entitled Rising Star Indonesia Dangdut), Portuguese Televisão Independente (TVI) as Rising Star: A próxima estrela, Russia-1 as Артист (Artist), and Turkish TV8 as Yükselen Yıldız. The Russian version of the show had a shortened season due to low ratings on the French and German versions, while the Portuguese and Brazilian versions became quickly popular, but neither lasted more than three seasons; the Brazilian version ended in 2016 after three seasons due to declining viewership. The Indonesian version is the longest-running version of the show outside of Israel.
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