Daniel Shevtsov is the second contestant to bid farewell to HaKokhav HaBa. 19 contestants remain in the race, including Shira Zloof, Shaked Solomon, Gal De Paz, Eitan Aharon, Mentamer Taganya and Noam Bettan. Full recap of Episode 17.

Last Friday’s special episode revealed the 21 contestants who made it into the finalists’ team of “HaKokhav HaBa for Eurovision 2026. The decision was made after a tense evening of repeated performances before the season’s five judges — with one clear goal: only one contestant will represent Israel at Eurovision. The selection process dramatically narrowed the competition, officially positioning the remaining contestants in the opening lineup for the battle to represent Israel at Eurovision.

Tonight, seven contestants took the show’s main stage, facing off head-to-head. According to the format, the contestant receiving the lowest score would be eliminated at the end of the episode — marking the immediate end of their Eurovision journey. This first elimination round heightened the tension and made one thing clear: the road to Eurovision is short, competitive, and unforgiving. The grand finale is expected to take place in about a month.

The second seven contestants to perform tonight were Shira Zloof, Shaked Solomon, Gal De Paz, Eitan Aharon, Mentamer Taganya, Daniel Shevtsov and Noam Bettan.

Shira Zloof

Shira Zloof chose to perform the song “Drivers License” (originally by Olivia Rodrigo). Shira begins her performance sitting at the edge of the stage, directly in front of the judges – a truly bold decision! She has such a soft and pleasant voice, and it is genuinely refreshing to finally hear her singing in English. As the song builds, she starts to open up the throttle and highlights her raspy, distinctive tone. She is simply perfect and must go far in the show.

Shiri opened:

“You are so in your element, you draw everything toward you, everything converges around you. No matter what you sing, it will always be you”.

Assaf responded:

“I wanted to say that I really loved how you started the song. You began amazingly – it was effortless, so beautiful and unique. But I think the more intense continuation suits you less”.

Keren summed it up:

“My God, I could just devour you, you are a perfect creature. I can see that you are going to explode out there, and I really hope you make it to Vienna. I am simply in love with you”.

Four judges voted in her favor, Assaf voted against. Shira received 79%, setting the bar for the next contestant — hoping they score lower.

Shaked Solomon

Shaked Solomon chose to sing the song “VeAt” (originally by Israel’s representative in Eurovision 2010, Harel Skaat) and needed to score at least 80% to secure his place in the next round. A pianist accompanies Shaked throughout the performance. He begins the song in a very beautiful and moving way, approaching it differently from the original and adding very tasteful and emotional vocal runs. It is a very authentic and beautiful performance, but is he truly the right choice to represent us at Eurovision? We are not sure about that.

Eden said:

“You delivered the song in a very beautiful way and your voice is very soft. But I still have a small remark – I feel that you showed a lot of respect to the song itself but respected the pianist less”.

Shiri added:

“I was moved by you. I would not touch this performance at all. You brought yourself fully, it was emotional! I got chills all over my body and it was simply magnificent in my eyes”.

Assaf concluded:

“First of all, you are a good singer, but I do not really understand how this performance fits Eurovision”.

Four judges voted in his favor, Assaf voted against. Shaked received 76% and now stands at risk of elimination.

Gal De Paz

Gal De Paz chose to sing the song “Cryin’” (originally by Aerosmith). She needed to score at least 77% to secure her place in the next round. Gal shared that she opened for Aerosmith at their concert in Yarkon Park together with her band, “The Paz Band”. She takes the stage with a striking, standout look and continues to establish herself as one of, if not the, most unique and stylistically distinctive contestants this year. Wow, she is so good! She is an absolutely outstanding vocalist – what are these insane vocal abilities? She simply owns the stage and must, without a doubt, reach the show’s grand final.

Itay began:

“There is no taking away from the fact that you are a singer. But I am afraid that at some point something about you will start to bore me”.

Shiri replied:

“This was such an excellent, fantastic number. You are such a woman, and you are anything but boring”.

Keren summed up:

“You came here like royalty, you came to represent Israel and it is clear you came to do exactly that. Your competitors have their work cut out for them”.

All five judges voted in her favor. Gal received 90% and advanced to the next round.

Eitan Aharon

Eitan Aharon chose to sing the song “She’eriyot Me’Atzmi” (originally by Shir Levi). He needed to score at least 77% to secure his place in the next round. Before the performance, Eitan shared that he volunteers in Rosh HaAyin, taking children with disabilities who cannot walk on their own out for drives. On stage, transparent bubbles fill the space. Eitan has a beautiful and impressive voice, and his performance is truly moving. He delivers stunning melismatic runs and reaches particularly impressive heights. However, despite the strong performance, his lack of stage experience is very noticeable here.

Eden began:

“I was overwhelmed from within, I was with you throughout the entire performance. There is something in your frequency that prevents me from even explaining what I am hearing and simply moves me on the highest emotional levels possible. What you do to my heart, no one else can do”.

Assaf said:

“I think you are a wonderful singer. But our time is quite short and we will soon have to send a representative to represent us at Eurovision. In terms of stagecraft and visuals, you are not there yet. During the performance you looked at the percentages, you checked who voted”.

Itay added:

“There are no rules, you are a walking soul, you are a spectacular singer. People have so much to learn from you”.

Four judges voted in his favor, Assaf voted against. Eitan received 81% and advanced to the next round.

Mentamer Taganya

Mentamer Taganya chose to sing the song “Traitor” (originally by Olivia Rodrigo). She needed to score at least 77% to secure her place in the next round. The stage features a stunning flower bed, with Mentamer standing in its center. The LED screen displays a magical, spectacular backdrop of trees and lights, creating a Christmas-like atmosphere. Wow, what a gorgeous voice – a real improvement compared with her first audition. It is a lovely performance that absolutely deserves to take her through to the next stage. She is just one percentage point below Shaked Solomon, and is therefore currently up for elimination.

Assaf began:

“That was something, it was on an international level. I was fully in your zone and it was very beautiful”.

Keren responded:

“I do not know how it ended up this way, because you truly sang flawlessly. But your performance did not reach me, I could not connect with the lyrics. On stage I felt you were too closed off”.

Shiri added:

“You are an excellent singer and this was an excellent number. But you are a bit closed, we need a bit more from you. We need something from within to come out”.

Four judges voted in her favor, Keren voted against. Mentamer received 75% and now stands at risk of elimination.

Daniel Shevtsov

Daniel Shevtsov chose to sing the song “The Scientist” (originally by Coldplay). He needed to score at least 76% to secure his place in the next round. The LED screen shows a dark, moody backdrop filled with clouds. The performance is very different from his first audition. Daniel begins in a gentle, intriguing way, and later delivers very soft, beautiful falsettos. However, he appears less at ease on stage without the piano. Daniel is a good singer, but it seems Mentamer clearly delivered the stronger performance and is more deserving of advancing to the next stage.

Shiri began:

“I think you are a really good singer. But this was not precise, it was not stable and it missed the mark for me a bit”.

Eden responded:

“I think this was a very accurate performance. There is something in your tone, and you carry the song in a very beautiful and classy way”.

Keren said:

“It was not accurate, but you did reach me. It is very clear you came here to fight. And you also have a crazy learning curve, you know how to improve very quickly”.

Itay concluded:

“I felt a bit of scattering in the performance. The song was not a good choice in my opinion, and that is why I voted against you. I really appreciate you as an artist and musician”.

Itay, Assaf and Shiri voted against. Daniel received 50% and now stands at risk of elimination.

Noam Bettan

Noam Bettan chose to sing the song “Ahava Chola” (originally by Peer Tassi). He needed to score at least 51% to secure his place in the next round. Noam shares that he woke up sick today and hopes it will not affect his performance. He makes the song his own and performs it differently from the original. What a voice he has – even when he is sick, he sings incredibly. He is so talented, he absolutely must be in the final! He could represent us with great honor in Vienna. Noam lifts the screen with ease and speed, as expected. In the last chorus, he switches the lyrics from Hebrew to French – a perfect addition. The French is still not enough for him, as he tops it off with highly impressive, beautiful falsettos at the end of the song. If this is how he sings when he is sick, what will happen when he feels well? Absolutely amazing.

Eden began:

“To choose a song that Peer Tassi performs in such a beautiful and unique way, to take it to a rock direction and then add French – you stepped into very big shoes and you pulled it off phenomenally. I will sleep very soundly if you represent us at Eurovision”.

Itay declared:

“You are my representative for Eurovision!”

Assaf said:

“The moment you locked into it, especially when you switched to French, it was: okay, here I am, here is your representative for Eurovision. I am convinced”.

Keren added:

“You are one of the best singers in Israel. You have that voice, you know how to write a killer song, and you are simply an excellent performer. Let us just say – you are in the final”.

All five judges voted in his favor. Noam received 96% and advanced to the next round.

Daniel Shevtsov, who achieved the lowest score of the evening, became the second contestant eliminated from the show.

“HaKokhav HaBa” for Eurovision

Ahead of Eurovision 2026, the Israeli national broadcaster decided to continue its collaboration with Keshet 12 in selecting the next Israeli representative for the contest. This partnership between the broadcaster and Keshet has brought Israel seven consecutive qualifications to the Grand Final, highlighted by Netta Barzilai’s victory with the song “Toy”, which brought Eurovision to Israel.

We’ll be here throughout the entire season, reporting on all the latest news, updates, and predictions – stay tuned!

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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.