The search for Israel’s representative continues unabated, as today we saw the fifth episode of HaKokhav Haba 2026, Israel’s selection process for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. This is Israel’s established television show for selecting the artist who will represent the country in the contest. With the exception of 2022 and 2023, HaKokhav Haba has produced all of the country’s Eurovision representatives since 2015, with excellent results, including a victory in 2018 with Netta.

The Format

In the HaKokhav Haba format, participants perform a song with the aim of securing at least 70% of the vote. This score is derived from the combined votes of the audience (watching the show in the studio) and the judges, with each judge contributing up to 12% to the final score.

Hosts and Judging Panel

Rotem Sela and Assi Azar, one of the presenters of Eurovision in 2019, will remain in charge of presenting the show for another year. Azar has been a presenter since the first season of HaKokhav Haba in 2013, while Rotem Sela took on the role of host in the second season, a role she continues to this day. Following the departure of Ran Danker, the judging panel consists of:

Assaf Amdursky
Keren Peles
Shiri Maimon
Eden Hasson
Itay Levy

Their vast experience from different backgrounds guarantees a more competitive season, which will keep viewers’ interest unabated, even more so than last season. In tonight’s episode, Dana International, representative of Israel and winner of the 1998 contest, was invited as a guest judge.

Contestants and Their Performances

Here are the six contestants from tonight’s episode, with five of them advancing to the next stage of the competition:

Itay Evron (23): Itay performed Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” a demanding song, and impressed the audience with his vocal control, securing a place in the next round with 84% of the vote.
Bar Nir (27): Bar chose to sing Bishop Briggs’ “River” and with her powerful voice she scored 89%, enough to take her through to the second round.
Balcony (28): Adam and Bar, members of the band Balcony, sang Svika Pick’s “Mary Lou” with a stage presence that had several issues, and thus failed to qualify for the next round, garnering only 50%.
David Ossona (26): David performed Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” showcasing his incredible vocal abilities and precision, and with 93% of the vote, he advanced to the second phase.
Stav Vaknin (30): With a dynamic and steady performance of Eden Ben Zaken’s “Basivuv Haba,” Stav managed to excite the audience and garner 93%, advancing to the next phase of the competition.
Portrait: The pop-punk band, widely known in Israel, sang their own well-known song “Hakol Mevina,” turning the stage into a concert and earning 81% of the vote to advance to the next stage.

Last year’s winner of HaKokhav Haba and the country’s representative at Eurovision 2025 was Yuval Raphael, who performed “New Day Will Rise” on stage in Basel and finished in second place:

Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all the latest updates on the Israeli selection process!

Source: euromix.co.il