🇮🇱 The X Factor Israel finalist line up complete

The X Factor Israel lineup is now complete! While two finalists had already been announced in part one of the semi-final on January 23rd, the other two finalists were announced in part two of the semi-final, which took place on January 27th.

The X Factor Israel finalists

Inbal Bibi

Inbal is 24 years old. Although she may be young this isn’t the first time Inbal has participated in The X Factor Israel. Back in 2013 at just 15 years old, Inbal placed fifth in the first-ever edition. Inbal has also had a go at acting as a teenager. In the Eurovision round, Inbal showed off her linguistic skills by belting out Celine Dion’s winning song “Ne partez pas sans moi”.

Eli Huli

Eli was the next X Factor finalist to be announced, throughout the competition Eli has favored singing ballads to see him through. In the Eurovision challenge round he took that to new heights when he reworked Netta’s winning song from 2018 “Toy”

Michael Ben David

Michael is 25, He has his unique style so stands out from the crowd. He likes to sing in a falsetto style, which would certainly make him stand out at Eurovision. For his Eurovision Challenge, he took on “Emor Shalom”. Michael turned this 1976 song into a modern club banger.

Sapir Saban

Sapir made it through to The X Factor Israel final by the finest of margins. Going into this week’s final a bit of a dark horse after having to be saved by the judges. Sadly Sapir didn’t get to partake in the Eurovision challenge round due to Covid-19. Sapir sang “bsuf msrglim lhkhl” as her final performance to see her through to The X Factor Israel final.

What Happens now?

Now The X Factor finalists are announced, it is time to bring Eurovision into the equation. On January 30th the 8 potential Eurovision songs will be revealed. There are two songs for each finalist.

On February 3rd HaShir Shelanu L’Eurovizion (which translates to “Our Song For Eurovision) will take place, where it will be revealed which of the 2 songs chosen for the artists will be performed in The X Factor final.

Then on February 5th, the final of The X Factor will take place. The four artists will perform a cover song before being cut to three. The final three artists will perform their potential Eurovision song before the winner is announced.

How will the winner be decided?

The winner will be decided by a jury, a professional committee, and televoting. The weighting of these votes is 25% Jury vote (consisting of the X Factor judges), 25% Professional committee, and 50% televoting. The jury is as follows

Israel’s Eurovision Journey

Israel has a long and wealthy history in the Eurovision Song Contest, making their debut in 1973 with Ilanit and “Ey Sham”. Their first entry scored 97 points, placing 4th. Israel has since gone on to win the Contest on four separate occasions – in 1978, 1979, 1998 and 2018.

Eden Alene returned to represent Israel in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic meant that she was not able to perform in Rotterdam the previous year. Alene scored 93 points and finished in 17th place with her song “Set Me Free”.

What do you think of Israel’s finalists? Who do you want to see represent the country in Turin? As always, let us know what you think in the comments below or on social media. Don’t forget to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ over at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

News Source: Reshet 13

Photo Source: Reshet 13