Israel was set to be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song "", written by Doron Medalie and Idan Raichel, and performed by Eden Alene. The Israeli participating broadcaster, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/), collaborated with the commercial broadcaster Keshet and to organise the reality singing competition ("The Next Star for Eurovision"). The competition was won by Alene, and a separate national final, ("The Next Song for Eurovision"), was held to select her entry. However, the contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background
Prior to the 2020 Contest, Israel had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-two times since its first entry in 1973. Israel has won the contest on four occasions: in 1978 with the song "" performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, in 1979 with the song "" performed by Milk and Honey, in 1998 with the song "" performed by Dana International and in 2018 with the song "Toy" performed by Netta Barzilai. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In , Shiri Maimon gave the country its tenth top five result, finishing fourth. Having failed to qualify for the final for four consecutive years (2011–14), Israel reached the final for the first time in five years, with Nadav Guedj finishing ninth in , and the country has participated in the final every year since. Israel's fourth victory came when Netta won the contest in Lisbon, with the song "Toy". , when the contest was held in Tel Aviv, Kobi Marimi represented the country on home soil with the song "Home", finishing twenty-third with 35 points in the final.
The Israeli entry for the 2020 contest was selected through the reality singing competition ("The Next Star for Eurovision"), which was organised by Keshet and Tedy Productions. This was the fifth time that the Israeli entry was selected through a collaboration with Keshet and Tedy Productions. An additional show also enabled the public to select the song that the Israeli representative will sing, which had previously been selected internally.
Before Eurovision HaKokhav HaBa L'Eirovizion The singer who will perform the Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was selected through the reality singing competition ("The Next Star for Eurovision"), the original version of the international format Rising Star produced by Tedy Productions and Keshet Media Group. had been used since 2015 to select the Israeli artist for Eurovision. The shows were hosted by Assi Azar and Rotem Sela and featured a judging panel composed of Asaf Amdursky, Keren Peles, Shiri Maimon (2005 Israeli Eurovision entrant), Static & Ben El Tavori and Itay Levi.
The competition commenced on 20 November 2019. All shows in the competition were broadcast on Keshet 12 as well as online via mako.co.il.
Shows Auditions The auditions were broadcast between 20 November and 18 December 2019. In total, 59 contestants qualified for the next phase of the competition following the withdrawal of Itzik Shamli, one of the previously qualified contestants.
Among the contestants were Ohad Shragai, a finalist of Kokhav Nolad season 8 and one of the composers behind "Home", the Israeli entry in 2019; Eden Alene, the winner of the X Factor Israel season 3; Moran Aharoni, a competitor of Kokhav Nolad season 4; Nicki Goldstein, a comedian who participated in the 2011 and 2013 Israeli national finals; Lihi Toledano, the daughter of the 1982 Israeli representative Avi Toledano; Daniel Ben-Haim, a competitor of Kokhav Nolad season 5; Eddie, a competitor of The Voice Israel season 1; Judah Gavra, who participated in the 2013 Israeli and 2018 Sammarinese national finals; and Liora Itzhak, an Indian-born singer.
Shefita, who placed third in the 2019 Israeli national final, performed as two different characters during the auditions and the shortlisting rounds and withdrew from the competition after her performances.
+ Audition 120 November 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Ella-Lee Lahav "You Don't Own Me" 96% Advanced 2 Ilor Bar "Power" 67% Eliminated 3 Ohad Shragai "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" 88% Advanced 4 Noa Maman "" 60% Eliminated 5 Raviv Kaner "Angels" 93% Advanced 6 Danielle Ben Efraim "" 72% Advanced 7 Orr Amrami-Brockman "" 97% Advanced + Audition 223 November 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Eden Alene "Alive" 87% Advanced 2 Yanai Ben Hamo "" 88% Advanced 3 Lee Eller "" 63% Eliminated 4 Lali Kolishkin "Stay" 95% Advanced 5 Avihu Pinhasov Rhythm Club "Hilton Tel Aviv" / "" 79% Advanced 6 Adam Lahav "Crazy in Love" 67% Eliminated 7 Loai Ali "" 79% Advanced + Audition 324 November 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Ido Kolton "Rise Up" 72% Advanced 2 Ram Naim "" 41% Eliminated 3 Dana Lapidot "All by Myself" 88% Advanced + Audition 427 November 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Gaya Shaki "Set Fire to the Rain" 87% Advanced 2 Gafna Rachel Pinto "Listen" 69% Eliminated 3 Yohai Tzarfati "" 71% Advanced 4 Nathan Katorza "It Will Rain" 88% Advanced 5 Yuval Beider-Peretz "" 67% Saved 6 Omer Eliyahu "" 83% Advanced 7 David Sodi "" 28% Eliminated 8 Galit Fahima "" 49% Eliminated 9 Dorel Saadon "Someone You Loved" 95% Advanced + Audition 530 November 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Yahel Yaish "Soldi" 71% Advanced 2 Zohar Manor "Nana Banana" 88% Advanced 3 Moran Aharoni "Believer" 88% Advanced 4 Sagi Trabelsi "" — 46% Eliminated 5 Racheli Tareka "Issues" 87% Advanced 6 Nicki Goldstein "Someone You Loved" 85% Advanced 7 Stefanie Dúnio "Whenever, Wherever" 65% Eliminated 8 Lihi Toledano "" 91% Advanced + Audition 61 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Shira Gavrielov "Shallow" 91% Advanced 2 Dave Spektor "Caruso" — 58% Saved 3 Itzik Shamli "" 81% Withdrewאיציק שמלי מסיים את דרכו ב"הכוכב הבא לאירוויזיון", mako + Audition 72 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Daniel Ben Haim "" 81% Advanced 2 Kim Kate Rose "Addicted to You" — — 49% Eliminated 3 Or Eddie "Barcelona" 77% Advanced + Audition 84 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Yinon Hagag "" 80% Advanced 2 Oneg Israel "Turning Tables" 80% Advanced 3 Barak Biton "" — 46% Eliminated 4 Ofer Naveh "" 71% Advanced 5 Shira Tzafari "Karma Police" 58% Saved 6 Judah Gavra "Somebody to Love" — 33% Eliminated 7 Galit Weizman "The Show Must Go On" 77% Advanced + Audition 97 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Eden Zohar Sivan "Who's Lovin' You" 92% Advanced 2 80 Vemashu "Big in Japan" 55% Eliminated 3 Nethanel Sherf "" 86% Advanced 4 Eilon Elkayam "" 80% Advanced 5 Layla Suleiman "Beautiful" 80% Withdrew 6 Alan Butcher "" — 84% Advanced 7 Lidor Sailo "Cry Me a River" 53% Eliminated + Audition 108 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 HaTavlinim "" — 59% Saved 2 Noa Farag "Without You" 66% Eliminated 3 Eldad Cohen "" 78% Advanced + Audition 119 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Gaella Brown "Ain't Nobody" — — 75% Advanced 2 Nave Mamo "Hello" 51% Eliminated 3 Liora Itzhak "" 74% Advanced + Audition 1211 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Chen Hadar "Jealous" 83% Advanced 2 Michael Tsidon "" — 72% Advanced 3 Atara Oryah "" — 73% Advanced 4 Hila Vaknin "" 17% Eliminated 5 Dikla Malka "Stone Cold" 66% Saved 6 Wonder Years "It Must Be Love" 77% Advanced 7 Bar Furman "Something's Got a Hold on Me" 78% Advanced + Audition 1314 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 HaHertzelim "Soldi" 77% Advanced 2 Oren Ettinger "Crazy" 85% Advanced 3 Yuval Gez "Over the Rainbow" 69% Eliminated 4 Eden Shabi "" 72% Advanced 5 Lital David "Jealous" 46% Saved 6 Zion Huri "Hurricane" 77% Advanced 7 Rotem Edri Tuchner "Djadja" — 47% Eliminated + Audition 1415 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Yossi Asher "" 51% Saved 2 Noy Halperin "Never Enough" 72% Advanced 3 Maya Eliyahu "" 48% Eliminated 4 Ron Peretz "" 81% Advanced + Audition 1518 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Lidor Ben Atia "" 70% Advanced 2 Linoy Akala "Get Lucky" — — 41% Saved 3 Ben Tzur "" 56% Eliminated 4 Shir Argi "" 88% Advanced 5 Amit Sadan "You Should See Me in a Crown" 41% Eliminated 6 Shiran Avayou "It's My Life" 92% Advanced
Shortlisting rounds + Shortlisting Round 121 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Ohad Shragai "" 60% Saved 2 Lali Kolishkin "Addicted to You" 100% Advanced 3 Yahel Yaish "Perfect" — 20% Eliminated 4 Gaya Shaki "Bad Romance" — 80% Saved 5 Ella-Lee Lahav "Into You" 100% Advanced 6 Galit Weizman "Russian Roulette" 60% Eliminated 7 Atara Oryah Original song — 20% Eliminated 8 Eden Shabi "" 40% Eliminated 9 Zion Huri "Proud" 20% Eliminated 10 Lidor Ben Atia "" — 80% Eliminated 11 Orr Amrami-Brockman "" 100% Advanced + Shortlisting Round 225 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Raviv Kaner "Sign of the Times" 100% Advanced 2 Moran Aharoni "Love Runs Out" 100% Advanced 3 Dikla Malka "Who's Lovin' You" — 20% Eliminated 4 Michael Tsidon "Aramam" — 80% Eliminated 5 Ofer Naveh "" — 60% Eliminated 6 HaTavlinim "Tango" 80% Saved 7 Lital David "Freedom" — — 0% Eliminated 8 Eilon Elkayam "" — — 0% Eliminated 9 Alan Butcher "Impossible" — — 0% Eliminated 10 Or Eddie "" 60% Saved 11 Avihu Pinhasov Rhythm Club "" 100% Advanced + Shortlisting Round 328 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Dorel Saadon "Heaven" 100% Advanced 2 Eden Alene "Fallin'" 100% Advanced 3 Yuval Beider-Peretz "" — 20% Eliminated 4 Omer Eliyahu "" 80% Saved 5 Sarah Hoffman "Womanizer" — 80% Withdrew 6 Nicki Goldstein "Million Reasons" 60% Saved 7 Yohai Tzarfati "" — 60% Eliminated 8 Bar Furman "Skyfall" 60% Eliminated 9 Dana Lapidot "" 100% Advanced + Shortlisting Round 429 December 2019 Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result 1 Nathan Katorza "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" 100% Advanced 2 Linoy and Gil "You're the One That I Want" 100% Advanced 3 Yossi Asher "" — 80% Eliminated 4 Ron Peretz "" — 0% Eliminated 5 Lihi Toledano "" 60% Eliminated 6 Shiran Avayou "Poison" — — 60% Eliminated 7 Nethanel Sherf "Hello" — 20% Eliminated 8 Eden Zohar Sivan "I Wish" — 60% Saved 9 Loai Ali "" 80% Saved 10 Oneg Israel "" 60% Saved
Eliminated contestants whose performances were not included in the shows Chen Hadar Ido Kolton Shira Tzafari Daniel Ben Haim Liora Itzhak Wonder Years Danielle Ben Efraim Noy Halperin Yanai Ben Hamo Dave Spektor Oren Ettinger Yinon Hagag Eldad Cohen Racheli Tareka Zohar Manor Gaella Brown Shir Argi HaHertzelim Shira Gavrielov
Top 20 round + Top 20 RoundShow 14 January 2020 Duel Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result I 1 Eden Alene "Power" 86% Advanced 2 HaTavlinim "" 70% Saved II 3 Or Eddie "" 50% Eliminated 4 Orr Amrami-Brockman "" 88% Advanced III 5 Nathan Katorza "Uptown Funk" 70% Eliminated 6 Gaya Shaki "Crazy" 92% Advanced IV 7 Ella-Lee Lahav "Hey Mama" 90% Advanced 8 Nicki Goldstein "Creep" 73% Saved + Top 20 RoundShow 25 January 2020 Duel Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result V 9 Avihu Pinhasov Rhythm Club "" / "" 52% Saved 10 Linoy and Gil "Diamonds" 67% Advanced VI 11 Ohad Shragai "Wake Me Up" 57% Saved 12 Eden Zohar Sivan "Doo Wop (That Thing)" 80% Advanced VII 13 Dana Lapidot "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" 61% Eliminated 14 Moran Aharoni "River" 85% Advanced VIII 15 Raviv Kaner "The Show Must Go On" 55% Saved 16 Dorel Saadon "All of Me" 88% Advanced + Top 20 RoundShow 39 January 2020 Duel Draw Artist Song Judges' Vote Score Result IX 17 Oneg Israel "Proud Mary" 47% Eliminated 18 Lali Kolishkin "Turning Tables" 88% Advanced X 19 Loai Ali "" 60% Saved 20 Omer Eliyahu "" 68% Advanced
Elimination shows Heat 1