This year it will be the 7th time in Eurovision history that Australia will be participating in this unique contest. Mostly the Australian contributions have been successful, but the last two years have been difficult. The talented singer Montaigne was not able to travel to the ESC twice, firstly because of the cancellation of the entire contest in 2020, one year later because of the corona pandemic. This year it looks far better, beside of the political circumstances. The Australian broadcaster SBS has held another national final “Eurovision – Australia Decides” from Gold Coast. Out of 11 entries, the Aussies wanted Sheldon Riley to win. Now he is going to be the one, travelling to Italy.

Sheldon Riley was born in Sydney in 1999 and has Scottish-Irish and Filipino roots. At an early age of six he was diagnosed suffering from the Asperger Syndrome. Nevertheless, Sheldon liked to play the piano and composed his own songs at the age of ten. He could celebrate various awards for his roles in school musicals, like “Little Shop Of Horrors”, etc. Sheldon tried to use his singing talent in taking part in several casting shows e.g. X Factor, The Voice Australia, where he made the third place. Here he is singing “Fire” , or performing Madonna’s “Frozen” . He Sheldon even took part in America’s Got Talent, where he could not perform in person because of the corona pandemic.

This is the song “Left Broken” which he released in 2021.

Beside of his extraordinary voice, Sheldon is known for its extravagant outfits. This is also a method for him to handle his own story, which was not always smooth. That’s what he also reflects in his ESC song “Not The Same”. A very strong message will be told by Sheldon, suffering from bullying at school. It’s hard not being accepted, who you are, because of being different, no matter what it is, look, ethnic, sexuality, etc.. In this respect the outfit with the hidden face in the beginning makes totally sense. Sheldon can be very important icon figure, as the world is still conservative and has a lot of prejudices, even in the year 2022. With this remarkable stage show, combined with Sheldon’s great voice, a good place is guaranteed – this will be awarded by the ESC spectators in the arena and in front of the televisions.