Netta Barzilai has emerged as the winner of ‘Next Star for Eurovision’ – one of the most protracted selection processes this year. And even though the search kicked off in October, nobody is any the wiser about the song she’ll perform in Lisbon.
The 24-year-old singer is described as having a ‘unique style’ – which mainly consists of singing into a machine that samples her live vocal track and plays it back in real time with overlaid effects. It’s something that puts her on a collision course with purists who feel it goes against the idea of completely live vocals on the Eurovision stage.
Last year, Norwegian performer JOWST was given permission to use a sound loop. This year the rules have been tightened:
“Contestants and Artists shall perform live on stage, accompanied by a recorded backing-track which contains no vocals of any kind or any vocal imitations aiming at replacing or assiting (sic) the live/original voice of the Contestant(s).”
Now that a performer has been booked, the search is on for a song. Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) has announced a call for submissions.