The Next Star for Eurovision Changes Format, Judges React
Translated & summarized from Ice by baba
The Israeli reality competition "The Next Star for Eurovision" is introducing a new scoring system where judges award points from 4 to 12, combined with audience votes, requiring a 70% threshold to pass. Singer Osher Cohen joins the judging panel, which includes Keren Peles, Shiri Maimon, Assaf Amdursky, and Itai Levi. Hosts Assi Azar and Rotem Sela return, with Azar joking about Sela's dancing during her "Dancing with the Stars" stint.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- The Next Star for Eurovision adopts a new European scoring system with judges awarding 4-12 points.
- Contestants must now achieve a 70% weighted score to advance in the competition.
- Singer Osher Cohen is the new addition to the judging panel.
- Hosts Assi Azar and Rotem Sela will return for the upcoming season.
- Judge Shiri Maimon described her "Dancing with the Stars" experience as post-traumatic.
The upcoming season of "The Next Star for Eurovision" is set to debut with a significant format overhaul, moving away from the binary "pass" or "fail" decisions by judges. In a strategic shift, each judge will now award contestants a personal score between 4 and 12 points. These scores will be combined with audience votes from the studio, and contestants must achieve an overall weighted score of 70% to advance. This new model aligns the show with European competition standards, a departure from the previous system where each judge's vote represented only 7-8% of the decision.
The show's judging panel has been strengthened with the addition of singer Osher Cohen, who joins returning judges Keren Peles, Shiri Maimon, Assaf Amdursky, and Itai Levi. Cohen admitted in an interview that he feels less comfortable in front of the cameras than his model wife, Eden Pins, expressing a preference for staying in the studio to create music. He revealed that the pressure of interviews and the fear of saying something inappropriate are significant stressors for him.
Hosts Assi Azar and Rotem Sela will continue to lead the program. At the show's launch event in Tel Aviv, judge Shiri Maimon, who recently placed third in "Dancing with the Stars," humorously described her experience as suffering from "post-traumatic stress," with certain songs triggering anxiety and making it difficult to watch herself dance.
Azar, recalling Sela's participation in the dance competition, playfully remarked that Sela seemed to believe she danced well, while he observed her with pity. He humorously recounted her focus on keeping her head towards the camera during a spin, but concluded that perhaps that was the moment he fell in love with her.
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