Kokhav Nolad

Zvika Hadar, host of Kokhav Nolad

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.

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.

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.

On 20 May 2013, it was announced that judge Moshe Peretz was leaving the show to host the first season of The X Factor Israel on a competing station, Reshet. The other judges from season 10 Miri Mesika and Gidi Gov also confirmed they were leaving and would not return to the show. Kokhav Nolad that show was later officially replaced by HaKokhav HaBa.

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, inhabited by mainly Sephardi/Mizrahi 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 (Hebrew: השיר שלנו, lit. Our Song) as an unknown country girl who became a big star despite all odds.

Yehuda Saado, 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 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 winner in season 2, a soldier in the Israel Border Police, 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 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.

Season 7 saw a big controversy over contestant Omer Adam, 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. 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 (חוה אלברשטיין) and Yehoram Gaon (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.

• Official website (in Hebrew)
• Kokhav Nolad at IMDb