Sheldon Riley
Riley in 2022
Riley in 2022
Background information
Birth nameSheldon Riley Hernandez
Born (1999-03-14) 14 March 1999 (age 24)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
GenresPop, Folk
Occupation(s)Singer
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2016–present

Sheldon Riley Hernandez (born 14 March 1999) is an Australian singer. He represented Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with his song "Not the Same".[1] He first appeared as a contestant on the eighth season of The X Factor Australia. Riley later competed on the seventh season of The Voice Australia, and in 2020, he appeared on America's Got Talent for its fifteenth season.

Early life

Riley was born in Sydney, New South Wales, to an Australian mother and a Filipino father.[2] He moved to the Gold Coast[3] at a young age where he grew up and attended Palm Beach Currumbin High School throughout his upbringing.[4]

Career

2016–2020: The X Factor, The Voice, and America's Got Talent

In 2016, Riley, who then performed under his full name Sheldon Hernandez, auditioned for the eighth season of The X Factor Australia with the songs "Circle of Life" by Elton John and "Ordinary People" by John Legend.[5] He originally participated in the 14–21s category, which was mentored by Adam Lambert, and was eliminated as a solo artist at the bootcamp stage of the competition. Riley returned to The X Factor after the mentor of the groups category, Iggy Azalea, selected him to be a part of a new boy band of eliminated solo artists.[3] The band was called "Time and Place" and its members, in addition to Sheldon, included Sami Afuni, Matthew McNaught, and Leon Kroeber. The group was selected as one of Iggy Azalea's three acts, moving on to the live shows following the three-chair challenge. They were eliminated in the first week of the live shows.[citation needed]

In 2018, Riley appeared in the seventh season of The Voice Australia. He auditioned with the song "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" by Culture Club.[6] All of the four judges turned their chairs and Riley chose Boy George to be his coach. Riley made it to the final of the show and finished in third place.[citation needed]

Immediately following the final, Sheldon released "Fire" via Universal Music Australia.[7][8]

In 2019, Riley returned to The Voice to compete in its eighth season as an all-star contestant.[9] Riley auditioned with "Frozen" by Madonna and received chair turns from both eligible coaches. He chose Delta Goodrem as his coach. He was eliminated in the semi-final of the show.[citation needed]

In 2020, Riley competed in the fifteenth season of America's Got Talent. He auditioned with the song "Idontwannabeyouanymore" by Billie Eilish.[10] He was eliminated in the third quarter-final of the season.[citation needed]

2021–present: Eurovision Song Contest, The Masked Singer

Main article: Eurovision Song Contest 2022

On 26 November 2021, he was announced as one of the participants in the Eurovision – Australia Decides.[11] Later, it was announced that his song for the contest was called "Not the Same", which released on 15 February 2022. He won the show with 100 points and therefore had the chance to represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin.[12][1][13] Riley was one of the 10 qualifiers that advanced to the final of the competition on 14 May, where he reached 15th place with 125 points. Of the points he received, 123 were from national juries, and 2 points were from televoting.[14][15]

In 2022, Riley took place in the fourth season of The Masked Singer as "Snapdragon" where he finished as runner-up.[16][17][18] Riley later released a cover of "Never Enough", the song that he sang on the grand final.[19][20]

In 2024, Riley appeared on America's Got Talent: Fantasy League on Mel B's team. He progressed to the semi-finals after the studio audience advanced him after the first round.[21]

Personal life

Riley is openly gay.[2] He was diagnosed with autism at age six.[22] He currently lives in Melbourne.[3]

Discography

Singles

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
AUS
Ind.
[23] 		LIT
[24] 		SWE
Heat.
[25]
"Fire"[7] 2018 — — — Non-album singles
"More Than I"[22] 2020 — — —
"Left Broken"[22] 2021 — — —
"Again" — — —
"Not the Same"[22] 2022 3 47 19
"Never Enough"[20] — — —
"Insane"[26] 2023 — — —

References

  1. ^ a b Farren, Neil (26 February 2022). "Australia: Sheldon Riley to Eurovision 2022". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b Alfonso-Gregorio, Nikki (11 January 2022). "Sheldon Riley of The Voice Australia: 'I get to be the person I've always wanted to be'". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Olsen, Cooper (26 November 2021). "Australia Decides 2022: Getting to know Sheldon Riley". aussievision. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Inside Eurovision star's amazing school past". Gold Coast Bulletin. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  5. ^ "What AGT didn't tell you about Sheldon Riley | America's Got Talent". EPIC Top Trending. 2 August 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  6. ^ "The Voice Australia: Season 7, Blind Auditions 2". Reality Recaps. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Get behind the beautiful Sheldon Riley from The Voice Australia and download his song 'Fire'". Facebook. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Fire - Single by Sheldon Riley". Apple Music. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  9. ^ "The Voice Australia 2019: The All-Star artists returning in Season 8". celebrity.nine.com.au. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  10. ^ Keegan, Kayla (19 July 2020). "Twitter Recognized 'AGT' Contestant Sheldon Riley From His Past on 'The Voice' Immediately". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  11. ^ Granger, Anthony (26 November 2021). "Australia: Three More Artists for Eurovision Australia Decides 2022 Revealed". Eurovoix. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  12. ^ Tang, Isabella (26 February 2022). "Sheldon Riley wins Australia Decides 2022 with "Not the Same"". ESCXTRA.com. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  13. ^ Tamer, Rayane (13 May 2022). "'Dream come true': Australia's Sheldon Riley through to Eurovision grand final". SBS News. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Eurovision 2022: The Second Semi-Final Qualifiers". Eurovision.tv. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  15. ^ Gbogbo, Mawunyo (15 May 2022). "Australia's Sheldon Riley garners support from national juries at Eurovision". ABC News.
  16. ^ Smith, Laura (28 August 2022). "The Masked Singer's 'Snapdragon' revealed to be Aussie Eurovision star". aussievision. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  17. ^ "Sheldon Riley ended as the runner up of The Masked Singer Australia!". ESCBubble. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Sheldon Riley Removes a New Kind of Mask, Teases Upcoming Projects". escYOUnited. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  19. ^ Tsinivits, Kyriakos (5 October 2022). "Sheldon Riley releases rendition of 'Never Enough' from The Masked Singer". aussievision. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  20. ^ a b Caeluris (13 October 2022). "For any fans of Sheldon Riley, he recently released his own cover for Never Enough. I'm in love with it". r/eurovision. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  21. ^ "Here Are the 40 Acts Returning to Compete in the AGT: Fantasy League Spinoff". NBC Insider Official Site. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  22. ^ a b c d "Sheldon Riley heads to Eurovision with 'Not the Same'". OutInPerth. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  23. ^ "Singles Chart (Independent Labels) 7 March 2022". Australian Independent Record Labels Association. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  24. ^ "2022 20-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  25. ^ "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 20". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Sheldon Riley celebrates Eurovision one year later with release of broody track, INSANE". DNA. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
Preceded byMontaignewith "Technicolour" Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Succeeded byVoyagerwith "Promise"
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