The twelfth season of the reality show “HaKokhav HaBa LeEurovision 2026” will premiere next Tuesday, November 11th. The show’s winner will represent Israel at Eurovision 2026, in Vienna, Austria.
The reality show “HaKokhav HaBa LeEurovision 2026” will air exactly one week from now, next Tuesday, November 11th, with the broadcast of the first audition episode. Audition episodes began filming about a month ago. Once again, this season will be hosted by the beloved presenters Assi Azar and Rotem Sela. The judging panel for this season will again include Assaf Amdursky, Keren Peles, Shiri Maimon, Eden Hasson, and Itay Levy. Occasionally, guest judges such as Netta Barzilai, Dana International, and Yuval Raphael will join. The winner of Season 12 of “The Next Star” will represent Israel at Eurovision 2026, in Vienna, Austria.
A few days ago, we reported on the site that the reality show had already kicked off with an official promo and a minor change to its name. “Shel Israel” (in English: “Of Israel”) was added to the familiar “HaKokhav HaBa LaEurovision”, apparently to emphasize the show’s national affiliation and remind Europe of Israel’s readiness for Eurovision. Especially at a time when Israel’s participation in Eurovision is still uncertain, the show’s team highlights its Israeli identity and even added an Israeli flag to the new logo.
The promo for the new season opens with the words:
“After we won second place, imagine how perfect it would be to bring Eurovision home – now, of all times”.
In the background, Yuval Raphael is shown excitedly receiving her points in the Eurovision 2025 final, along with scenes of joy and celebration across Israel after Netta Barzilai’s first-place win at Eurovision 2018.
The promo continues with the phrase “We can start dreaming”, accompanied by highlights from the previous season. The production team of “HaKokhav HaBa LeEurovision 2026” seems determined to recreate the tremendous achievement of 2018.
The show’s success is also evident in its impressive ratings data. The last season of “HaKokhav HaBa LaEurovision” was the most-watched since 2019, with an average rating of 20 percent throughout the season and record numbers in the finale. Eurovision broadcasts themselves also reached new peaks. The public broadcaster KAN 11, responsible for airing the final from Basel, Switzerland, achieved a resounding success when no less than 939,000 Israelis watched the broadcast – representing a 32.6% rating. This was the highest figure of the day across all channels, by a significant margin.
Agreement Between KAN 11 and Keshet 12
On September 29th, we reported that the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) and the franchise Keshet 12 had agreed to continue their collaboration ahead of Eurovision 2026. This agreement makes it possible for the popular show “HaKokhav HaBa LaEurovision” to keep choosing Israel’s representative for the contest, set to take place in Vienna, Austria. This marks the ninth time the two entities will work together to select Israel’s Eurovision representative.
The decision to continue the collaboration follows the remarkable success of Yuval Raphael, Israel’s representative for Eurovision 2025, who earned a respectable second place with the song “New Day Will Rise”. Raphael, who was chosen last season on “HaKokhav HaBa LaEurovision”, reached the grand final and brought great pride to the country during a particularly challenging year. Since the start of the partnership between KAN and Keshet in 2015, every artist selected by the show has qualified for the Eurovision final. The peak came in 2018, when Netta Barzilai took first place with her hit “Toy”, bringing the competition to Israel. Israel has secured three additional top-ten finishes since then by artist wo were chosen via “HaKokhav HaBa LaEurovision”.
Impressive Ratings
The success of the show is also evident in its impressive viewing figures. The latest season of “HaKokhav HaBA LaEurovision” is the most successful and most watched in the program’s history, surpassing last season’s “HaKokhav HaBa LeEurovision 2024” and achieving an average rating of 20 percent during the season, compared with 18 percent last year. This success was already apparent from the premiere episode of “HaKokhav HaBa LeEurovision 2025”, which recorded a 20.3 percent rating, compared with 19.1 percent for “Eurovision 2024”.
The ongoing rise in the program’s ratings may reflect the increasing interest of the Israeli public in the Eurovision contest. Moreover, the most recent Eurovision final broadcast on May 17th on KAN 11, combined with Yuval Raphael’s second-place result, totaled nearly 1.5 million views through the corporation’s digital platforms and another 31.4% (933,000 viewers) on television. The peak television rating of the final evening – 51.3% – was recorded during Yuval Raphael’s live performance.
Challenges and Expectations
Despite the success, the last Eurovision was not without challenges. Political and security tensions due to the war in Gaza were keenly felt behind the scenes. Nevertheless, the broadcaster hopes that next year’s contest will go more smoothly. The decision to continue the collaboration with Keshet was also motivated by economic considerations. Working together allows the broadcaster to save the significant costs associated with preparing for the contest, securing and sending the delegation, producing the music video, and organizing the live performance. These savings allow the broadcaster to invest in new, high-quality, original content not related to Eurovision.
Israel at Eurovision 2025
“New Day Will Rise” is the song performed by Yuval Raphael, who was chosen to represent Israel after winning the 11th season of “HaKokhav HaBa”. Israel advanced to the final after winning the second semi-final with 203 points and finished second overall with 357 points in the grand final. Israel ranked first in the public vote but only 14th with the jury. This marks the third consecutive year that Israel has reached the top five – an unprecedented achievement.
Eurovision 2026: This will be Israel’s 48th participation in Eurovision. Israel joined the contest in 1973 and has won four times. Its most recent victory was at Eurovision 2018 with the song “Toy”, performed by singer Netta Barzilai.
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Ilay Gaist is a leading Israeli content creator and writer specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest. He is a well-known commentator with extensive expertise in the contest’s history, rules, and dynamics. His passion for Eurovision drives him to deliver rich, professional, and innovative content to his audience.
Ilay holds a bachelor’s degree in Arabic and has a multilingual background. He also engages in cultural research, with a particular focus on global culinary traditions and the evolution of local cuisines around the world.
