Israel will select its 2025 Eurovision representative tonight in the culmination of the months-long singing competition HaKokhav HaBa or ‘Rising Star’, choosing one of four contestants to perform for Israel’s public broadcaster KAN at the 69th Eurovision contest in Basel, Switzerland.
Last year, singer Eden Golan finished 5th in the contest and faced harassment for her participation, but took third place in the public vote.
A year later, with Israel’s inclusion in the competition no less controversial, here are the final four singers fighting for a chance to represent Israel in Europe’s most beloved song contest:
Daniel Wais
A survivor of the October 7 massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri where he grew up, Daniel Wais, 29, has turned to music as a way of processing his grief over the murder of both his parents, Shmulik and Yehudit. Shmulik was killed at the kibbutz on October 7 while Yehudit was murdered after being abducted to Gaza.
In December, Wais sang a moving duet with fellow contestant and finalist Valerie Hamaty, who is an Arab Christian Israeli. sharing during the show that he and Hamaty had competed against each other in another singing contest that took place before October 7. Wais’s father, who attended that event, told his son that he needed to find a way to perform with Hamaty someday. “When I realised we’d be singing together on ‘Rising Star’, I got goosebumps,” Wais said.
The young singer-songwriter, who has been releasing music on Spotify since 2022, frequently pays tribute to his parents through music, and since their passing has performed the song ‘Ani Gitara’ – one of his father’s favourite songs – in venues across the globe.
Valerie Hamaty
Ninth-generation Jaffa native and polyglot of five languages, Valerie Hamaty, 25, may soon add “first Arab Christian Eurovision contestant” to her list of accolades. In 2021, she competed in ‘Rising Star’ only to take second place, missing the chance to represent Israel at Eurovision by an inch. Since then, Hamaty has released several singles and acted in several Israeli TV shows.
Hamaty often performs well-known Hebrew and English songs in Arabic, which she reportedly translates herself, and was praised for her performance of the October 7-inspired song “Hurricane” with Wais during this year’s ‘Rising Star’ contest.
The singer, who has regularly visited hospitals to sing for soldiers wounded in Gaza and performed at the funerals of October 7 victims, shared during an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 that she was inspired to sing more in Arabic after an encounter she had with former hostage Shani Goren, who was released in the November 2023 hostage deal.
Goren reportedly told the singer that hearing Hamaty sing in Arabic helps her reconnect with the beauty of the language despite the trauma she endured.
“If this is my mission, and these are the people who have given me their blessing, I have nothing left to prove,” Hamaty told Channel 12. “Music constantly amazes me — if Arabic triggers fear in some, singing transforms it, reaching their hearts in a different way.”
Yuval Raphael
On October 7 Yuval Raphael, 24, survived the Nova music festival by hiding in a bomb shelter among 50 other people and playing dead while Hamas terrorists bombarded them with explosives. Of the 50, only 12 emerged with their lives.
“I think my relationship with music took a very emotional part of my life, always,” Raphael told Israeli model and activist Noa Tishby in an interview last week. “But I think now for me it’s a way to give a message, and I was left [alive] to tell the story of my country. I know I have my own story but I'm not the only one who has experienced something like that.”
Raphael has been a fan favourite, singing English pop songs like Demi Lovato’s “Anyone” as well as beloved Israeli tunes.
Moran Aharoni and Red Band Live
Red Band, an American-Israeli puppet rock band (yes, you read that right) formed by a trio of musicians in 2005, started as a TV series on HOT Network and Comedy Central Israel but morphed into an actual tour group that performs live with famous Israeli artists.
Puppet characters Red Orbach, Poncho and Lefty are joined in the ‘Rising Star’ competition by singer-songwriter Moran Aharoni, who participated in the contest back in 2020 but was eliminated in the semifinals. Together, the artists combine heartfelt vocals with the humour inherent to the puppet figures.
The final tonight will include two rounds of voting, first to narrow the four finalists down to three after their first performance, and again for the ‘super final’ following another round of performances by the remaining three singers. The public will vote during the first round and the judges and a jury will select the winner of the super final.
Last year’s winner of HaKokhav HaBa was Eden Golan, who went on to earn fifth place in the final ranking of the Eurovision contest with her October 7 tribute song “Hurricane”.
