The Next Star For Eurovision 2017 final took place last night, with four contestants in with a shot of winning. The Israeli national selection show crowned Imri Ziv as the winner. He has not yet chosen the song he will be singing in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The contest, which is actually named HaKokhav HaBa L’Eurovizion (which means “The Next Star For Eurovision” in English), is the original version of the international singing show “Rising Star”. The winner sung a range of songs on the show, including “The Edge of Glory“, “Rude Boy“, “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing“, “Halo”, and “Because of You”.
The judges couldn’t help commenting on his good looks, which will surely help his bid to win Eurovision for Israel; but they also praised his voice.
Watch The Promotional Clip Eurovision’s Imri Ziv Put Up On Instagram:
Israel has won the contest a toal of three times. The last time was in 1998 with Dana International, who sang “Diva”. Last year, Hovi Star represented the country with “Made of Stars”. He managed to place 14th out of 26, with a total of 135 points. No doubt, Imri Ziv will try to do better this year.
As for himself, he’s had previous experience with the Eurovision Song Contest. He was on stage in 2015 and 2016 as a backing singer for the respective Israeli representatives. Now, it’s time for him to take the spotlight.
Many acts have already been announced for Eurovision 2017, alongside Imri Ziv; these contestants are: Cyprus’ Hovig, The Netherlands’ O’G3NE, Belgium’s Blanche, Macedonia’s Jana Burceska, Azerbaijan’s DiHaj, Ireland’s Brendan Murray, Austria’s Nathan Trent, Albania’s Lindita, Armenia’s Artsvik, Montenegro’s Slavko Kalezic, Greece’s Demy, Georgia’s Tako Gachechiladze, Belarus’s Navi, The United Kingdom’s Lucie Jones, Finland’s Norma John, Switzerland’s Timebelle, France’s Alma, Germany’s Levina, Spain’s Manel Navarro, and Italy’s Francesco Gabbani.
After Jamala won last year, with “1944”; the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine. The semi-finals will take place on the 9 May and 11 May, while the Grand Final will take place on 13 May 2017.
What do you make of Imri Ziv? Do you think he might have a shot at winning the contest? Let us know on Twitter @CelebMix.