Kochav Nolad

''Kokhav Nolad'' ( he, כוכב נולד) (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 in 2003, Kokhav Nolad has become popular and turned out many new musical stars. The show was hosted by Zvika Hadar.

Summary

Format

The format of ''Kokhav Nolad'' was similar to Pop Idol and its spinoffs, like American Idol, 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 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, Tsedi Tzarfati and Roni Brown. In the third season Svika Pick replaced Ronny Brown. The fourth season had two new judges, Gal Uchovsky and Margalit Tzan'ani, who joined Tzarfati and Pick. Dana International joined the ranks in the 7th season and Pablo Rosenberg in the 8th season. In the 9th season the singer Miri Mesika and the musician Yair Nitzani replaced Gal Ochovsky, Dana International and Pavlo Rozenberg. In the 10th season Moshe Peretz and Gidi Gov replaced Margalit Tzan'ani and Yair Nitzani.

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 Skaat & Adi Cohen, Kokhav Nolad 4 had "Kol Kakh Harbe Shirim" ("So many songs"), composed by Yoni Bloch and performed by the 3rd season winner, Yehuda Saado, 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 & Maya Rotthman, Kokhav Nolad 5 was the same with "Mi haya ma'amin?" ("Who would believe?") from Keren Peles and performed by Boaz Mauda & Marina Maximillian Blumin. For Kokhav Nolad 7, Israeli musician & singer Dudu Tassa 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 and is performed by season 7 winner Roni Dalumi. 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