Israel’s representative for the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest will once again be selected through the reality TV singing competition “The Rising Star,” public broadcaster Kan announced Sunday.
Kan said it would continue its partnership with the program because the arrangement provides “significant savings” for the public broadcaster, allowing more resources to be directed toward new and original indigenous programming while maintaining a high production standard for Israel’s Eurovision performance.
Israel's Eurovision 2026 representative Noam Bettan
(Photo: Yuval Chen)
Kan representatives will again take part in selecting the winner of “The Rising Star for Eurovision” during the show’s semifinal and final stages.
The song-selection process will follow a format similar to the one used the previous year. Recordings submitted to Kan’s selection committee will not include the voices of the songwriters or anyone else whose voice could reveal the creators’ identities to the professional panel.
Songwriters will be permitted to use artificial intelligence technology to produce the vocal recording, helping ensure that submissions remain anonymous.
The committee will listen to all entries and select up to 40 songs in the first round. Those songs will then be considered by the final selection panel, which will include music professionals appointed by Kan and a representative of Keshet, the commercial broadcaster behind “The Rising Star.”
Yoav Tzafir, editor-in-chief of “The Rising Star for Eurovision,” said the show had become the home of Israel’s Eurovision representatives in recent years.
“Every season, we meet exceptional talents, and the combination of a professional process, Israeli creativity and our excellent cooperation with Kan allows us to choose the artist who will represent Israel on the world’s biggest stage,” he said. “We are already looking forward to meeting the next generation of stars.”