About the Artist
The now Melbourne-based artist was born on 14 March 1999 to an Australian mother and Filipino father. He grew up in the Gold Coast, where he started watching Eurovision.
The self confessed Eurovision fan is well known to Australian audiences following visual impactful performances on two seasons of 'The Voice Australia' including a third place finish in 2018. He previously competed on The X Factor Australia in 2015 and also competed in the US on America's Got Talent in 2020.
He is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community and has been open about his struggles growing up with the notion of masculinity and what it meant to be a man in Australian culture. His life has shaped him into the incredible artist he is today, not afraid of showing a more androgynous front to his exuberant persona.
About the Song - 'Not The Same'
'Not the Same' was written by Sheldon back in 2015. He wrote the song six years ago and has continually been working on it. He went on to give it a major revamp turning it into a "dark Bond movie-inspired orchestral pop number".
About his Australia Decides entry Sheldon stated in an interview with Aussievision:
"This song that I've just written. Well, I've written it a while back now but the song that I wrote that I'm going to be performing in Australia Decides is the most proud I have ever been of a song in my life. It just it feels like everything I've ever wanted to release. It almost makes up for all of the negotiating I have had to do with you know, my team or my partner, my manager like the producers, like I'm always changing little things to make sure that it's appropriate for lots of different audiences and this song, because it's Eurovision, I'm like, I just I want it to be me and I don't want to have to change anything to fit someone else or fit the year even fit, you know, Eurovision I want to write and I’m really excited about it.”
What can we expect at Australia Decides?
Expect a big performance from Sheldon with all the bells and whistles to match the big song.
When it comes to the visual aspect of his performance Sheldon revealed that he worked closely with designers on all parts of his performance:
"It's really exciting. And visually, I'm just so proud. I haven't even done it yet. And I'm so proud of what it's going to be and musically it just all ties in. Yeah, I'm wearing a mask...."
"It's stunning. Everything is beautiful. But there's a big surprise. And so all I can say is just be prepared because it's very, very personal. And it builds like crazy. And just don't blink, because there's a massive, massive ending. Yeah, I'm excited.”
This week he revealed the outfit he will be performing in on the weekend.
Watch our interview with Sheldon Riley
Listen to our review and rank podcast episode
Other Aussievision Resources
Article written by Kyriakos and Cooper
Find out everything you need to know about Australia Decides 2022 here.
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