By COLlive reporter
An all new format of A Jewish Star will have 3 veteran judges of the international singing talent competition replaced in Season Four which will be launching this week.
Singer Avraham Fried and entertainer Mendy Pellin who have been with the contest since its novel inception in 2009, will not be evaluating contestants this round.
Another two familiar faces leaving are composer and conductor Eli Gerstner, who was a judge, and entertainer Country Yossi, who hosted Season Three’s live finals show in Brooklyn College last year.
“Unfortunately this year due to previous commitments I’m not going to be a judge,” Gerstner wrote on his Facebook page.
Having composed and produced the song “Nisbia” for Season 3 winner Choni Goldman, he added that he was “looking forward to working on the next song with the winner of A Jewish Star 2013.”
As part of the major changes planned in Season Four, COLlive has learned that producers of the competition are aiming to broaden its audience and to give a larger segment of the Jewish community a shot at stardom.
Yossi Soffer, Executive Producer of A Jewish Star, said the new slate of judges will be 5 known names in the Jewish music world, each representing another niche market.
One of them is legendary composer Yossi Green who also judged last year’s contest.
The most significant change in the new season will be its format, which will resemble a full fledged reality show with ongoing episodes being released online.
Soffer said the show’s episodes, produced by filmmaker Danny Finkelman of Sparks Next, will document the live auditions, elimination process and the contestants being narrowed down to a few finalists, taking a closer look at their personalities and musical aspirations.
“We experimented with the episodes idea last season, which became wildly popular with viewers,” said Soffer. “Now we are going all out, which we hope will gain an even larger, and enthusiastic following,” Soffer said.
He said the new judges needed to meet the requirements of continuous filming on location in the New York area. “We are very excited about the caliber of talent we chose as judges,” he noted.
The names of the new judges will be announced Wednesday on the competition’s social page Facebook.com/JewishStar.
Until then, all Soffer agreed to reveal was that one of them is a major name, another is pop star in Israel, a third is part of a dynasty that released hit albums and a fourth is a member of a popular band.
i think one will be a marcus brother
AVRAHAM FRIED ISNT GOING 2 B THERE? 🙁
Kineret, bracha jaffe, shaindel antelis
Lipa pester rebbe yankel miller now the chassidim r innn
matasyuhu will be a judge
He’s the Israeli pop!!
I HAVE BEEM WAITING FOR THIS FOR A LONG TIME
CANT WAIT
esther fridman, shandel antelis, and fellig should be the judges
You’re so right. This reminds me of the loud, pushy kids who are noticed and looked up to while the less pushy kids,often quite talented, go unnoticed. True, a performer must have a degree of stage presence, but who the heck cares about what he’s like when he goes shopping for shoes, or whatever. (Unless,of course, he’s one of those “unforgettable” customers the storekeeper wishes would go buy his shoes elsewhere… I also agree that we should be circumspect about who we choose as judges. Hopefully, these folks will not be people who you’d think twice about before you’d allow… Read more »
He would make an awesome judge! Check out the Moshe Show- he’s really funny and has a good voice too!
we need a womans one
its not fair that due to religeon we should be held back from expressing ourselves
pls look into it seriosely thanx alot
Umm, maybe that’s the point?
A lot of people don’t want their kids to watch tv and this is a kosher alternative to that kind of entertainment, which is not appropriate for us and our families.
🙁
Really excited to see new Judges. But I don’t want to lose Mendy Pellin, he makes the whole show exciting and funny!!
“elimination process?” “reality show?” There’s plenty of that on TV.
As long as you keep you feet rooted to the ground, much hatzlacha
We are so excited for the New season!!
I agree! Woman and girls need a chance to express there talents as well! I think the judges for females should be Chanale Motchkin,Chanale Fellig,Morah Music, and Yehudis Bluming.
It is going to be an interesting season!
Israeli pop star = Ishai Lapidot, Haim Israel, or Gad Elbaz.
Dynasty = Yeedle or Yisroel Werdyger
Big name = Shwekey or Lipa
Band = can’t guess
Thanks
Looking forward! Can’t wait!
luv that song!!!!!!
So so excited!! Such a fantastic idea..
Ishai, Benny, Benny or Shmully
mbd? he is great
and dudu fisher
Moshe Hecht is a judge…
really looking forward to it
my kids keep asking when its starting
Looking forward to the new format. Cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
go choni goldman !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s gonna be the voice!!!! Oh yeh!!!!!!
1) Having audition previews – helps NOT to be able to actually hear the talent of a singer. Sometimes an entertainer has a very quiet, ordinary lifestyle – but could be a magnificent and charismatic entertainer . Going into the personalities and lifstyle of the entertainers – may prove prejudicial and make it seem like someone is not so amazing in real life – and that could prejudice the vovting of an outstanding performance, as someone may end up winning – not on performance on stage – but on charisma and lifestyle OFF the stage!. 2) Having an Israeli pop… Read more »
can u do a show like this fro women?? (btw this isnt close to as gr8 as amrican idol since they r all jewish they r 2 afriad to say u have a horrible voice! n thats the point)
this is a spoof of american idol!
There are too many exceptional female artists who need a show like this!
MBD,meydad tasa,a piamenta,and a marcus bro
i cant wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its gonna be an awesome season!