Israel Continues Partnership for Eurovision 2027 Selection with Kan and Keshet

Israel's public broadcaster Kan and Keshet will maintain their collaboration for selecting Israel's representative for Eurovision 2027, which will be held in Bulgaria. The contestant will be chosen through the televised competition "The Next Star for Eurovision 2027," airing on Keshet 12 this coming fall. This ongoing partnership follows a series of strong Israeli performances in recent years, including Eden Golan's fifth place in Eurovision 2024 in Sweden, Yuval Rafael's second place and audience favorite win in 2025 in Switzerland, and Noam Batan's second place in the latest contest in Austria. The cooperation also recalls Israel hosting Eurovision in 2018 after Netta Barzilai's victory.

Kan representatives will participate in selecting the winner during the semi-finals and finals of the show on Keshet 12. Kan emphasized that continuing this partnership helps significantly reduce the broadcaster's expenses, allowing more resources to be allocated to creating new original Israeli content while maintaining high production quality for the Eurovision performance. The song selection process for Eurovision 2027 will follow new regulations established before Eurovision 2026, designed to ensure equal opportunity for all eligible creators and to select the best song to represent Israel.

Under these rules, submitted songs will be recorded without the creators' voices or any identifying features, allowing anonymous evaluation. Creators may use AI technology for recording vocals to maintain anonymity. A professional committee from Kan and a Keshet representative will review up to 40 songs initially and then select finalists. The Eurovision 2026 final broadcast on Kan 11 attracted over one million TV viewers with a 32.7% rating and more than three million viewers across digital platforms, peaking at 53.7% during Noam Batan's performance.

Broadcast dates for the semi-finals and final in Bulgaria have not yet been set. The shows will be aired live on Kan 11, Kan BOX, the Kan app, and Kan radio stations. Zivit Davidovich, acting deputy director of television at Kan, expressed satisfaction with the renewed collaboration, highlighting its success and pride for Israel. Ilanit Siman-Tov Hirsch, Keshet's deputy director of entertainment and development, described "The Next Star for Eurovision" as more than a TV show, calling it a platform that fulfills dreams and connects audiences to Israel's Eurovision journey. Yoav Tzafir, chief editor of the show, said they look forward to discovering the next generation of stars and continuing the professional and creative process that has successfully chosen Israel's representatives in recent years.