The Australian Final (Australia Decides) was held on February 26th at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, hosted by Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey. The winner was chosen by 50/50 mix of jury and phone voting which actually started the day before the final. Going to Turin is Sheldon Riley singing "Not the same"
Sheldon Riley (real name Sheldon Hernandez) first started to play the piano and write songs at the age of ten. This was his outlet for dealing with bullying and his Aspergers diagnosis. He started to take part in school productions and in 2015 he won best actor in a school/youth musical at the Gold Coast Theatre Awards for his performance in "13". He first came to national prominence during the 2018 series of The Voice Australia. During his blind audition all 4 mentors turned but he chose to be on Boy George's team - this comes as no surprise when you sing "Do you really want to hurt me?" by Culture Club as your opening gambit! Eventually Sheldon made his way to the final, coming in third place. In 2019 he returned to the Voice in an 'all stars' series where he was eliminated in the semi final. He also appeared on the 2020 series of America's Got Talent getting through to the live shows. Many of his performances have been in a dramatic ballad style and sporting his customary stylised masked look.
The singing begins immediately with a moody and emotionally driven lyric on top of a piano backing. The verse starts off low and quiet but as it develops his voice and tone gets bigger before retreating again for the rather minimalist chorus. At about 45 seconds in the second verse comes with a thready beat and influx of violins. The chorus here extends to 4 lines rather than two and allows the backing to maintain its volume into the bridge. This part is much more staccato; full of shorter lines and rhymes made more urgent by the more prominent drum beat. At the 2.15 the song comes to a peak, mirroring Sheldon's 'unmasking' then drops away again before a final emotional repetition of the chorus.
The styling and setting is dark and mysterious which reflects the story being told. Sheldon is wearing an elaborate black gown (possibly coat/cape) with many layers. Over his face he wears his trademark mask which he takes off during the last minute. Although his face may be obscured, emotion comes pouring through his voice and his body language, especially the middle part of the song. His voice seems to soar in his higher register and has great control and skill going through his vocal registers.
I just feel like something is not quite right with the song. For starters the whole mask narrative is fine If you know about it before. Had I not had this explained during the postcard I might not have understood its meaning. Although the actual unmasking is dramatic and very much the moment of the song, I feel like this comes at the wrong point in the song. It either needs to come earlier in the song so there is more time to grow OR needs to come as close to the end as possible to make that part the high point. At least this song and performer has a story and personality which weave intrinsically together seamlessly. being the only male ballad (up to now) may well work to their advantage.
ARTIST -Sheldon Riley
SONG - Not the same
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Cam Nascon, Brendon Riley
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