"Rigged Selection?" Scandal erupts as Israeli Creators Question Eurovision Song Choice and Demand Transparency, involve the Minister of Communications

Translation:

The selection of the Israeli Eurovision song is not going smoothly - and this time from Israeli creators. Now claims are surfacing of conflict of interest in the selection of Keren Peles' song for the competition and a demand from the "Kan" Corporation to cancel the decision.

The letter, which reached ynet, is addressed to the "Kan" Broadcasting Corporation and the Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi, in which creators claim that an alleged flaw occurred in the selection process. The writers note that representatives of "Teddy Productions" - the company that produces the program "The Next Star," which chooses Israel's representative for Eurovision - were part of the committee, which, according to them, raises concern for a significant conflict of interest.

It is also emphasized that this year a song by Keren Peles was chosen again (after last year's "Hurricane" which she participated in writing), who serves as a judge on the program, which, according to the creators, raises doubts about the process.

The creators demand that the committee also disclose its protocols and establish a new committee or conduct a transparent process in which the public can choose.

At the end of the week, the "Kan" corporation announced that Keren Peles' song was chosen out of 54 songs by the professional committee chosen by "Kan."

KAN stated:
"We have not yet received the letter, but we strongly reject the claims. The committee for selecting the song that will represent Israel at Eurovision is mostly composed of senior music editors of the corporation, senior television and production people of "Kan" and a public representative, who are not related to any private production company. The committee is closely supervised by the Deputy Legal Advisor of the corporation throughout all its decisions and meetings.
The song selection process in Israel is anonymous and the vote on the selected song is secret. This year, exceptionally, the winning song was chosen unanimously by all members of the committee - and the matter speaks for itself about the significant chance that the judging team gives to the song's success in the competition compared to the rest of the songs submitted to the committee.
Over the years - there have been quite a few creators and performers who have represented Israel more than once, and even year after year. Israel's successes in the competition in recent years (first place win, third place and fifth place) testify more than anything to the professionalism of the selecting team and the quality of its choice."

Link:
https://www.ynet.co.il/entertainment/article/sj8qt4sfke