Sheldon Riley Hernandez (born 14 March 1999) is an Australian singer. He represented Australia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

with his song " Not the Same". He first appeared as a contestant on the eighth season of

The X Factor Australia ''The X Factor'' is an Australian television reality music competition, based on the original UK series, to find new singing talent. The first season of the show premiered on Network Ten on 6 February 2005. Ten dropped ''The X Factor'' after ...

. Riley later competed on the seventh season of

The Voice Australia ''The Voice'' is an Australian singing competition television series. It premiered on the Nine Network on 14 April 2012, before moving to the Seven Network in 2021. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice '' ...

, and in 2020, he appeared on America’s Got Talent for its fifteenth season.

Early life

Riley was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, to an Australian mother and a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

father. He grew up on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

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 ''

'' with the songs "

Circle of Life "Circle of Life" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film ''The Lion King''. Composed by English musician Elton John, with lyrics by Tim Rice, the song was performed by Carmen Twillie (the deep female lead vocals) and Lebo M. (opening vocals ...

" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and "

Ordinary People ''Ordinary People'' is a 1980 American drama film directed by Robert Redford in his directorial debut. The screenplay by Alvin Sargent is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Judith Guest. The film follows the disintegration of an upper ...

" by

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

. He originally participated in the 14–21s category, which was mentored by

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

, 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 Amethyst Amelia Kelly (born 7 June 1990), known professionally as Iggy Azalea (), is an Australian rapper. At the age of 16, Azalea moved from Australia to the United States in order to pursue a career in music. Azalea earned public recognitio ...

, selected him to be a part of a new boy band of eliminated solo artists. 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

'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. In 2018, Riley appeared in the seventh season of ''

''. He auditioned with the song "

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" is a song written and performed by English new wave band Culture Club. Released as a single in September 1982 from the group's platinum-selling debut album, '' Kissing to Be Clever'' (1982), it was the band's fir ...

" by

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

. All of the four judges turned their chairs and Riley chose

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

to be his coach. Riley made it to the final of the show and finished in third place. Immediately following the final, Sheldon released "Fire" via

Universal Music Australia Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. (UMA) is the largest Australian music corporation. It is a division of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Australia's corporate headquarters are located in Sydney, Australia. Labels Universal Musi ...

. In 2019, Riley returned to

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

to compete in its eighth season as an all-star contestant. Riley auditioned with " Frozen" by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

and received chair turns from both eligible coaches. He chose

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive week ...

as his coach. He was eliminated in the semi-final of the show. In 2020, Riley competed in the fifteenth season of

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

. He auditioned with the song "

Idontwannabeyouanymore "Idontwannabeyouanymore is a song by American singer Billie Eilish from her debut EP, ''Don't Smile at Me'' (2017). Eilish and her brother, Finneas O'Connell, co-wrote the song, with the latter solely handling the production. It was released t ...

" by

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...

. He was eliminated in the third quarter-final of the season.

2021–present: Eurovision Song Contest, The Masked Singer

On 26 November 2021, he was announced as one of the participants in the ''

Eurovision – Australia Decides ''Eurovision – Australia Decides'' was an annual song competition organised by Australian public broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and production partner Blink TV. It determined for the Eurovision Song Contest between 2019 and ...

''. 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. 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. In 2022, Riley took place in the fourth season of ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' as "Snapdragon" where he finished as runner-up. Riley later released a cover of " Never Enough", the song that he sang on the grand final.

Personal life

Riley is openly gay. He was diagnosed with

Autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

at age six. He currently lives in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Discography

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Sheldon Living people 1999 births 21st-century Australian male singers 21st-century Australian LGBT people America's Got Talent contestants Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest Australian people of Filipino descent Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Australia Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2022 Australian LGBT singers Australian gay musicians People with Asperger syndrome Gay singers Singers from Sydney Musicians from Gold Coast, Queensland