''Kokhav Nolad'' (; meaning "A Star Is Born") was an Israeli
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
show searching for talented new vocalists, based on the British ''
Pop Idol
''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...
'' model. Since its debut on Israeli
Channel 2 in 2003, Kokhav Nolad has become popular and turned out many new musical stars. The show was hosted by
Zvika Hadar
Zvika Hadar (, ; born 7 April 1966) is an Israeli actor, comedian and television host.
Biography
Zvi (Zvika) Fruchter (later Hadar) was born in Beersheba, Israel, to Romanian Jewish family. As a child, he studied piano. Early in his career, he ...
.
Summary
Format

The format of ''Kokhav Nolad'' was similar to Pop Idol and its
spinoffs
Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media
*Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work
*''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine
* ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
, like
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
, but was independently produced and not a licensed adaptation. The contest was open to aspiring singers, most of them in their late teens and early 20s, who appeared before a panel of judges, who evaluated their performances. The audience was then asked to vote for their favorite singer. In every round, whoever gets the fewest votes leaves the competition until only one is left, who is declared the winner. ''Kokhav Nolad'' was preceded by another program called ''
Lo Nafsik Lashir'', in which the participants competed in their knowledge of
Hebrew songs, not on the quality of their singing.
The season included a number of preliminary episodes in which open auditions were held across Israel. Immediately after that, the
quarter final round started in which two or three competitors performed every week; the one who got the most votes moved on to the
semi final
A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...
round. The semi final was divided into two shows with 4-5 competitors in each show. The 3 who got the most votes went on to the finale.
Judges
The judges started in the second season, after a small change in the show format. The judge panel included
Riki Gal
Riki Gal (; born July 7, 1950, in Jerusalem) is an Israeli singer. Gal, who reached the height of her career in the 1980s, sings a mix of blues, folk and pop.
Biography
Rivka Menashe (later Riki Gal) was born in 1950 to an Orthodox family in the ...
, Tsedi Tzarfati and Roni Brown. In the third season
Svika Pick
Svika Pick (, born Henryk Pick, 3 October 1949 – 14 August 2022) was an Israeli pop singer, songwriter, composer, and television personality.
Pick first gained traction on a national level after playing a lead part in an Israeli version of ...
replaced Ronny Brown. The fourth season had two new judges,
Gal Uchovsky
Gal Uchovsky (; born September 27, 1958) is an Israeli screenwriter, producer, journalist, activist and Israeli TV personality.
Early life
Uchovsky was born in Hadera. His family moved to Vienna while his father was studying there. They returne ...
and
Margalit Tzan'ani
Margalit "Margol" Tzan'ani (; born December 19, 1948) is an Israeli singer and television personality. Tzan'ani is famous for her repertoire of Israeli oriental music style with soul influences, as well as jazz, blues, rock, and pop.
Biography ...
, who joined Tzarfati and Pick.
Dana International
Sharon Cohen (; born 2 February 1969), professionally known as Dana International (), is an Israeli Pop music, pop singer. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation albums. She was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest ...
joined the ranks in the 7th season and
Pablo Rosenberg
Pablo Rosenberg (; born April 6, 1965) is an Argentine-Israeli singer and musician.
Pablo Rosenberg was born in Argentina in 1965. His family made ''aliyah'' to Israel when he was 6 years old. He joined the Israeli hard rock band Stella Maris. ...
in the 8th season. In the 9th season the singer
Miri Mesika
Miri Mesika (; born May 3, 1978) is an Israeli singer and actress. She is most known for winning several Israeli "Female Singer of the Year" awards, selling more than 200,000 copies of her albums in Israel, and for her portrayal of the title ro ...
and the musician
Yair Nitzani
Yair Nitzani (; born August 22, 1958) is an Israeli musician, songwriter, TV host and comedian.
Early life
Yair Nitzani was born in Beersheba in 1958. He is of Italian-Jewish descent. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces as a broadcaster ...
replaced Gal Ochovsky, Dana International and Pavlo Rozenberg. In the 10th season
Moshe Peretz
Moshe Haim Peretz (; born 10 May 1983) is an Israeli Mizrahi music pop singer-songwriter and composer. Beginning in 2013, Peretz acted as judge for The X Factor Israel.
Early life
Peretz was born and raised in Tiberias, Israel, to a Sephardi ...
and
Gidi Gov
Gideon "Gidi" Gov (; 4 August 1950) is an Israeli singer, TV host, entertainer, and actor. He was married to Anat Gov before her death in 2012 and they had three children.
Biography
Early life
Gov was born in Rehovot to Daniel and Tzipora ...
replaced
Margalit Tzan'ani
Margalit "Margol" Tzan'ani (; born December 19, 1948) is an Israeli singer and television personality. Tzan'ani is famous for her repertoire of Israeli oriental music style with soul influences, as well as jazz, blues, rock, and pop.
Biography ...
and
Yair Nitzani
Yair Nitzani (; born August 22, 1958) is an Israeli musician, songwriter, TV host and comedian.
Early life
Yair Nitzani was born in Beersheba in 1958. He is of Italian-Jewish descent. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces as a broadcaster ...
.
Audition song
Since the 3rd season, each season of the program has had a theme song. The 3rd season theme was "Halomot Mitgashmim" ("Dreams do come true"), composed by
Svika Pik and performed by the 3 finalists of Kokhav Nolad 2 (
Harel Moyal
Harel Moyal (; born April 12, 1981) is an Israeli pop singer-songwriter and stage actor who won the Kokhav Nolad#Second season, second season of the Israeli television series ''Kochav Nolad'' (Hebrew for ''A Star Is Born''). He has released two ...
,
Harel Skaat
Harel Skaat (; born 8 August 1981) sometimes known by the mononym Harel is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Milim" ("", "Words").
Skaat has been singing and performing in publi ...
&
Adi Cohen
Adi or ADI may refer to:
Abbreviations
* Acceptable daily intake, in health and medicine
* Acting detective inspector, a type of police inspector
* Africa Development Indicators, a compilation of data assembled by the World Bank
* Alternating d ...
, Kokhav Nolad 4 had "Kol Kakh Harbe Shirim" ("So many songs"), composed by
Yoni Bloch
Yoni Bloch (; born August 11, 1981) is an Israeli musician, songwriter, composer, rock singer and hi-tech entrepreneur.
Biography
Bloch grew up in Beersheba and at the age of 17 moved with his family to Lehavim. He started taking piano less ...
and performed by the 3rd season winner,
Yehuda Saado
Yehuda Saado (also written Sa'ado; ; born 29 April 1983) is an Israeli singer and the winner of the third season of the Israeli music competition program ''Kokhav Nolad''.
Career
Yehuda Saado, born in Jerusalem was raised in Kiryat Ekron and lear ...
, the 5th season was brought up with "Kashe li lo lehitragesh" ("It's hard for me not to stress") with Kokhav Nolad 4 winner & runner up -
Jacko Eisenberg
Jacko Eisenberg (; born November 30, 1980) is an Israeli singer who won the fourth season of ''Kochav Nolad'', the Israeli version of ''idol series, Pop Idol''.
Biography
Eisenberg was born and raised in Netanya, Israel, to Miriam and Robert Eis ...
&
Maya Rotthman, Kokhav Nolad 5 was the same with "Mi haya ma'amin?" ("Who would believe?") from
Keren Peles
Keren Peles Toor (; born 11 March 1979) is an Israeli singer-songwriter and musician. Peles embarked her musical career in Israel in 2005 as a songwriter and later with her debut album ''If This Is Life (album), Im Ele Ha'Hayim'' (2006), and has ...
and performed by
Boaz Mauda
Boaz Ma'uda (; born April 23, 1987) is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He won the fifth season of ''Kokhav Nolad'', the Israeli version of ''Pop Idol'', and represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, finishing in 9th place.
His vo ...
&
Marina Maximillian Blumin. For Kokhav Nolad 7, Israeli musician & singer
Dudu Tassa
David "Dudu" Tassa (; born February 10, 1977) is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Besides having had a successful solo career in Israel, Tassa has been the leader of Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis which plays new rendi ...
made a theme named "Ratsiti Lashir" - simply translated as "I wanted to sing". The final versions came up with 3 solo version of Kokhav Nolad 6 finalists - winner
Israel Bar-On, runner up
Lee Biran and
Carmel Eckman who took the third place. The 8th season's auditions song is "Achshav Tori (It's my turn now)" written by
Mosh Ben Ari
Moshe "Mosh" Ben-Ari (; born 21 September 1970) is an Israeli musician, lyricist, and composer.
Biography
Ben-Ari was born in Afula, Israel, to a family of Mizrahi Jewish background. He first discovered music as a child through the traditional ...
and is performed by season 7 winner
Roni Dalumi
Roni Daloomi (or Dalumi; ; born ) is an Israeli singer-songwriter and actress. She is the winner of the singing competition show '' Kochav Nolad 7'' in 2009. She starred in the original Israeli series ''Euphoria''.
Early life
Daloomi was born i ...
. The 9th season's auditions song is "Haderech Shelcha (Your way)" composed by
Idan Amedi and is performed by Kokhav Nolad 8 winner & runner up -
Diana Golbi &
Idan Amedi.
Seasons
Season 1 (2003)
The first season of ''Kokhav Nolad'' ran between May and August 2003. The first season was a collaboration with an earlier Israeli TV program called לא נפסיק לשיר (meaning We will not stop singing) that had started in 2002. The 2003 season, the second and last of the original music quiz program and the first of Kokhav Nolad (כוכב נולד) was jointly called "לא נפסיק לשיר - כוכב נולד". After this initial joint season, Kokhav Nolad was launched separately as an independent show in 2004.
The finale was held on 28 August 2003 at the
Nitzanim Beach in front of a live audience of 7,000 people. The judges for the final were the Israeli composer and producer Roni Brown רוני בראון and singer
Izhar Ashdot (יזהר אשדות).
Ninet Tayeb
Ninet Nati Tayeb (; born 21 October 1983), professionally known as Ninet, is an Israeli musician, singer-songwriter, composer, DJ, model, actress, and reality television judge on ''Rising Star (Israeli TV series), Rising Star: Israel''. She is reg ...
won first place with the song "Yam Shel Dma'ot" (A Sea of Tears), after receiving 49.3% of the audience votes in the final.
Shiri Maimon
Shiri Maimon (or Maymon; , ; born ) is an Israeli singer, television personality and actress, who rose to fame as the runner-up in the inaugural season of singing reality competition '' Kokhav Nolad''. She represented her native Israel in the ...
was runner-up with the song "
Don Quixote
, the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
" after receiving 28.2% of the votes.
Shai Gabso
Shai Gabso (; born July 20, 1984) is an Israeli actor and singer. He won third place in the first season of ''Kokhav Nolad'' ("A Star is Born") and first place in the second season of ''The Singer in the Mask''.
Early life
Gabso was born in R ...
came third with 22.5% after performing "Esh" (Fire). Over 1.4 million votes were cast during the final.
Season 2 (2004)
The second season of ''Kokhav Nolad'' was held from February to August 2004. The final was broadcast on August 15, 2004 from
Coca Cola Music Village at the
Nitzanim Beach, in front of an audience of 7,500 people.
Harel Moyal
Harel Moyal (; born April 12, 1981) is an Israeli pop singer-songwriter and stage actor who won the Kokhav Nolad#Second season, second season of the Israeli television series ''Kochav Nolad'' (Hebrew for ''A Star Is Born''). He has released two ...
won the contest with 862,368 votes,
Harel Skaat
Harel Skaat (; born 8 August 1981) sometimes known by the mononym Harel is an Israeli singer and songwriter. He represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Milim" ("", "Words").
Skaat has been singing and performing in publi ...
took second place with 806,292 votes, and
Adi Cohen
Adi or ADI may refer to:
Abbreviations
* Acceptable daily intake, in health and medicine
* Acting detective inspector, a type of police inspector
* Africa Development Indicators, a compilation of data assembled by the World Bank
* Alternating d ...
took third place with 254,926 votes. Almost 2 million votes were cast during the final.
Since Skaat won first place and Moyal second in the first semi-final against Harel Moyal, and since polls held at certain sites indicated that Harel Skaat would win, many were surprised when he did not. A controversy arose about the voting in the final, beginning with claims that the production company had forged the results and ending with claims that voters had used software to send in more votes for their candidate than was allowed by program regulations (250 votes per apparatus). The production staff denied all of these allegations. On Thursday, August 19, a small
demonstration of about 20 Harel Skaat fans was held in front of the offices of Shidurey Keshet. The demonstrators demanded that they investigate the claims and recount the votes.
Keshet Broadcasting
Keshet Media Group, also known as the Keshet company (), is an Israeli private mass media company headquartered in Tel Aviv. Its media and online news outlet Mako is one of the major Israeli ones.
The company has operated Keshet Broadcasting, a ...
reported that the matter was investigated and no irregularities were found.
Season 3 (2005)
The third season of ''Kokhav Nolad'' was held from March to August 2005. The final was held on August 29, 2005 in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
in front of thousands of people.
Yehuda Sa'ado won first place with the song "Sadot Shel Irusim," getting 918,520 votes,
Michael Kirkilan
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* he He ..., a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name
* Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
won second place with "Yesh BeLibi Kinor," getting 370,631 votes, and
Shir Biton
Shir (, "Lion") may refer to:
* Shir, Mazandaran, a village in Fereydunkenar County, Iran
* Shir, South Khorasan, a village in Sarbisheh County, Iran
* Shir, Syria, a village
* Shir (Neolithic site), a site in western Syria, near Hama
See al ...
won third place with "Smakhot Ktanot," getting 322,288 votes. 1.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the winning moment.
Season 4 (2006)
The fourth season of ''Kokhav Nolad'' ran from May to September 2006. The final was held on September 7, 2006 at
Volume Tel Aviv, in front of an audience of 40,000 people, attracting over a million viewers.
Jacko Eisenberg
Jacko Eisenberg (; born November 30, 1980) is an Israeli singer who won the fourth season of ''Kochav Nolad'', the Israeli version of ''idol series, Pop Idol''.
Biography
Eisenberg was born and raised in Netanya, Israel, to Miriam and Robert Eis ...
won 1st place with 846,039 votes and
Maya Rotman was the runner-up with 514,981 votes.
Season 5 (2007)
The fifth season of ''Kokhav Nolad'' was held in 2007. The final of ''Kokhav Nolad 5'' was held on Golan Beach in the eastern side of the
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...
(opposite the city of
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...
, west of the sea) on August 29, 2007. After the first semifinal, Zvika Hadar announced that Marina Maximillian Blumin had qualified. In the second semifinal Boaz Ma'uda won first place in his bracket.
Chen Aharoni
Chen Aharoni (; also known as Chen and also transliterated as Hen Aharoni; born in Holon, Israel on 12 April 1990) is an Israeli singer-songwriter, musician and television presenter.
Career
''Kokhav Nolad'' (2007)
He came into fame after taking ...
went into a head-to-head with Shlomi Bar'el, with Shlomi coming out as the victor. As such Marina, Boaz, and Shlomi were the final three contestants. a first for the series was the participation of
Miriam Tukan, in the fifth season, becoming the first
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
participant of Kokhav Nolad.
Bo'az Ma'uda won with 50% of the vote,
Marina Maximilian Blumin
Marina Maximilian Blumin (; born 15 December 1987), known professionally as Marina Maximilian, is an Israeli singer-songwriter and actress. She was the runner-up on the fifth season of the reality music competition show ''Kokhav Nolad''.
Early ...
- 27% was runner and
Shlomi Bar'el
''Kokhav Nolad'' (; meaning "A Star Is Born") was an Israeli reality television show searching for talented new vocalists, based on the British ''Pop Idol'' model. Since its debut on Israeli Channel 2 (Israel), Channel 2 in 2003, Kokhav Nolad has ...
third with 23% of the vote.
Bar'el went on to sign a contract with
Hed Arzi Music
Hed Arzi Music (, meaning: ''Echo of My Country'') is an Israeli record label founded in 1946.
History
The company was founded in Tel Aviv in 1946 as a partnership of Zvi Levin (also known as Hirsch Lewin) with Josef Grossman, Alexander Borowi ...
and Blumin with
Helicon Records
Helicon () is an Israeli record label.
History
Helicon Records was founded in 1985. Aside from being the label of many Israeli singers, Helicon was the exclusive distributor of Snapper Music, EMI and Universal Music Group (replacing PolyGram) i ...
. In addition,
Chen Aharoni
Chen Aharoni (; also known as Chen and also transliterated as Hen Aharoni; born in Holon, Israel on 12 April 1990) is an Israeli singer-songwriter, musician and television presenter.
Career
''Kokhav Nolad'' (2007)
He came into fame after taking ...
and Adir Ohayon, reached deals with
NMC Music
NMC Music () is an Israeli record label. It was established in 1964 as a subsidiary company of CBS, and became independent in 1988.
Artists represented by NMC include Noa Kirel, Mashina, Yehuda Poliker, Shlomi Shabat, Chava Alberstein, Ehud B ...
.
Season 6 (2008)
The winner was
Israel Bar-On.
Season 7 (2009)
An addition to the new season, of the show, was
transsexual
A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...
singer and former
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
winner
Dana International
Sharon Cohen (; born 2 February 1969), professionally known as Dana International (), is an Israeli Pop music, pop singer. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation albums. She was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest ...
, who joined the show as a judge, fifth in the panel that includes composer
Svika Pik, singer
Margalit Tsanani, director and choreographer
Tsedi Tsarfati, plus writer and music critic
Gal Uchovsky
Gal Uchovsky (; born September 27, 1958) is an Israeli screenwriter, producer, journalist, activist and Israeli TV personality.
Early life
Uchovsky was born in Hadera. His family moved to Vienna while his father was studying there. They returne ...
. The show's host as usual was comedian
Zvika Hadar
Zvika Hadar (, ; born 7 April 1966) is an Israeli actor, comedian and television host.
Biography
Zvi (Zvika) Fruchter (later Hadar) was born in Beersheba, Israel, to Romanian Jewish family. As a child, he studied piano. Early in his career, he ...
.
Auditions were held in Israel in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
,
Beersheba
Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...
, and
Haifa
Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
. While in
Kokhav Nolad 6
Kokhav Nolad 6 was the 6th season (television), season of the popular reality TV show Kokhav Nolad, which focused on finding the next Israeli Celebrity, pop star. It was hosted by Zvika Hadar, Tzvika Hadar with judges Gal Uchovsky, Margalit Tzan ...
, auditions were also held in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
; this time the judges went to find singers in the Americas. The finale was broadcast live from
Eilat
Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...
.
The average age of the seventh season was remarkably low, because many of the contestants had not finished high school when the show aired.
Although the show is mostly dedicated to Israeli and Hebrew music, this year the participants were allowed to sing some songs in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
,
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
.
On August 23, the finalists were announced to be
Mei Finegold
Meital Slominsky (; born 16 December 1982), known by her stage name Mei Finegold (), also credited as Mei Feingold, is an Israelis, Israeli singer. Her third-place finish in ''Kokhav Nolad 7'', Israel's version of ''Pop Idol'', launched her car ...
,
Vladi Blayberg Vladi or Vlady may refer to the following people:
* Vladi Vargas (born 1971), Swedish music producer
* Vlady Kibalchich Rusakov (1920–2005), Russian-Mexican painter
* Marina Vlady (born 1938), French actress
See also
* Vladimir Guerrero (born 197 ...
and
Roni Dalumi
Roni Daloomi (or Dalumi; ; born ) is an Israeli singer-songwriter and actress. She is the winner of the singing competition show '' Kochav Nolad 7'' in 2009. She starred in the original Israeli series ''Euphoria''.
Early life
Daloomi was born i ...
, Ron Dalumi winning the competition with 61% of the votes.
Season 8 (2010)
The winner was
Diana Golbi.
Season 9 (2011)
The auditions started in January 2011 and the televised season in April 2011. The winner was
Hagit Yaso.
Season 10 (2012)
The auditions started in late 2011 and the televised season in May 2012. The winner was
Or Taragan.
Show cancellation
On 20 May 2013, it was announced that judge
Moshe Peretz
Moshe Haim Peretz (; born 10 May 1983) is an Israeli Mizrahi music pop singer-songwriter and composer. Beginning in 2013, Peretz acted as judge for The X Factor Israel.
Early life
Peretz was born and raised in Tiberias, Israel, to a Sephardi ...
was leaving the show to host the
first season of ''
The X Factor Israel
''The X Factor Israel'' () is the Israeli version of the British television music competition ''The X Factor'', created by Simon Cowell. The show started airing fall of 2013 on Reshet.
Judges and hosts
The first three seasons were hosted by Isra ...
'' on a competing station,
Reshet
Reshet (, ''lit.'' "Network") is an Israeli television broadcasting and production company. It was one of the two concessionaires running the Israeli commercial television channel, Channel 2 from 1993 to 2017, and is running channel 13 alongsi ...
. The other judges from season 10
Miri Mesika
Miri Mesika (; born May 3, 1978) is an Israeli singer and actress. She is most known for winning several Israeli "Female Singer of the Year" awards, selling more than 200,000 copies of her albums in Israel, and for her portrayal of the title ro ...
and
Gidi Gov
Gideon "Gidi" Gov (; 4 August 1950) is an Israeli singer, TV host, entertainer, and actor. He was married to Anat Gov before her death in 2012 and they had three children.
Biography
Early life
Gov was born in Rehovot to Daniel and Tzipora ...
also confirmed they were leaving and would not return to the show. Kokhav Nolad that show was later officially replaced by
HaKokhav HaBa
''HaKokhav HaBa'' (; ) is an Israeli interactive reality singing competition, created by Keshet Media Group and broadcast on Channel 2 (from 2013 to 2017) and on Channel 12 (since 2017). It is the basis of the ''Rising Star'' franchise. The ...
.
Impact
The program became a microcosm of the Israeli society. With its massive following became social phenomenon. The first series winner
Ninette Tayeb, came from
Kiryat Gat
Kiryat Gat () also spelled Qiryat Gat, is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies south of Tel Aviv, north of Beersheba, and west southwest of Jerusalem. In it had a population of . The city hosts one of the most advanced semicondu ...
, inhabited by mainly
Sephardi
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
/
Mizrahi
''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' () has two meanings.
In the literal Hebrew meaning ''eastern'', it may refer to:
* Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East and North Africa
* Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberia ...
Jews notably from North Africa. Her win was interpreted as an advance for Sephardic Jews. She would return in a television role in the series ''
HaShir Shelanu
''HaShir Shelanu'' (, lit. ''Our Song'') was an Israeli daily comedy, comical musical telenovela starring Ninet Tayeb that took place for four seasons on the Yes (Israel), yes-5 Israeli Movie Channel (Arutz Ha'kolnoa Hayisraeli) and repeating on C ...
'' (, lit. ''Our Song'') as an unknown country girl who became a big star despite all odds.
Yehuda Saado
Yehuda Saado (also written Sa'ado; ; born 29 April 1983) is an Israeli singer and the winner of the third season of the Israeli music competition program ''Kokhav Nolad''.
Career
Yehuda Saado, born in Jerusalem was raised in Kiryat Ekron and lear ...
, the third season winner, with his religious attire and interpretations was considered as representative of the conservative religious elements in the country.
Fourth season winner
Jacko Eisenberg
Jacko Eisenberg (; born November 30, 1980) is an Israeli singer who won the fourth season of ''Kochav Nolad'', the Israeli version of ''idol series, Pop Idol''.
Biography
Eisenberg was born and raised in Netanya, Israel, to Miriam and Robert Eis ...
raised the question of serving in the Israeli Army. Contrary to first season winner Ninette Tayeb who served in the IDF, and to
Harel Moyal
Harel Moyal (; born April 12, 1981) is an Israeli pop singer-songwriter and stage actor who won the Kokhav Nolad#Second season, second season of the Israeli television series ''Kochav Nolad'' (Hebrew for ''A Star Is Born''). He has released two ...
winner in season 2, a soldier in the
Israel Border Police
The Israel Border Police () is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border guard; its members are colloquially known as ''magavnikim ...
, also composing songs for the military forces, with
Idan Amedi auditioning with a song he wrote while in the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps, Eisenberg said publicly in an interview that he would not serve in the military, raising protests against his defiant declarations and led to calls for his boycott. In response, ''Kokhav Nolad'' held special auditions at various Army outlets to encourage those in military service to try to apply for the competition.
The fifth season scored another cornerstone for the competition with
Miriam Tukan, a
Palestinian Christian
Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine.
*: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
contestant from
I'billin, an Arab town in North Israel taking part as the first ever Arab contestant. Huge media attention focused on her with her insistence in incorporating Arab-themed music in her interpretations rather than the general Jewish content of other contestants. An article in ''Haaretz'' even discussed the possibility of an Arab contestant winning the show. The Arab and international media also focused on her participation with varying views. Some judges also expressed reservations with her accent and pronunciation. Tukan did not make it to the finals and the fifth season title went to
Bo'az Ma'uda who would eventually represent Israel in the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
.
Season 7 saw a big controversy over contestant
Omer Adam
Omer Adam (; born October 22, 1993) is an Israeli singer whose music fuses elements of Mizrahi music (a type of Middle Eastern music) with Western pop instrumentation. In 2023, Ynetnews named Adam "Israel's most famous singer".
Biography
Omer ...
, one of the most popular contestants of the season and tipped to win the title, until blogger Omri Hayon and Ynet online news service revealed that Omer was just 15 years and 7 months when he applied. The minimum age for applying for the show is 16 years. Omer Adam admitted that the allegation was correct and withdrew from the competition mid-way through the season. Omer Adam's disqualification was announced officially on August 5, 2009. Adam went on to enjoy a successful career despite the controversy.
The changing ethnic landscape of Israeli society was also highlighted with the title win by
Diana Golbi, a Russian Jew in season 8. Golbi had been born in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. Of big impact was the participation of
Hagit Yaso, an Ethiopian immigrant, another first for the program in season 9. She was avidly supported by the Ethiopian Israelis as a representative of their community and took the title for the season.
Despite the popularity of the program, ''Kokhav Nolad'' has been accused of promoting theatrics, promoting false stories, banalization of true artistic music and manipulation of contestants and their abuse. Artists publicly criticizing the show included
Chava Alberstein
Chava Alberstein ( , born 8 December 1946 in Poland) is an Israeli musician, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger. She moved to Israel in 1950 and started her music career in 1964. Alberstein has released over sixty albums in Hebrew, Englis ...
(חוה אלברשטיין) and
Yehoram Gaon
Yehoram Gaon (; born December 28, 1939) is an Israeli singer, actor, director, comedian, producer, TV and radio host, and public figure. He has also written and edited books on Israeli culture.
The son of Sephardic Jewish parents—a Bosnian f ...
(יהורם גאון). Contestant, even season winners were accused of not contributing anything original to Israeli music after their wins. Many also criticized the over-commercialization of the program through its sponsors and manipulating presentations to promote commercial interests. But others defended the program for providing opportunities for many new upcoming talents to shine and have success.
References
External links
Official website
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{{Kokhav Nolad
Talent shows
Music competitions in Israel
2003 Israeli television series debuts
2012 Israeli television series endings
2000s Israeli television series
2010s Israeli television series
Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew