Highlights
- Eurovision has always been Sheldon's ultimate dream.
- His song 'Not the Same' is based on a poem he wrote when he was 15 and trying to come to terms with being on the spectrum.
- He wants his performances to be immersive both visually and sonically.
Being different can be hard. It can be painful and isolating. But being different can also be beautiful. It can be that thing that makes you stand out in the world.
Filipino-Australian singer Sheldon Riley was built different and that's more than okay. It's a gift he's learning to live with and sending out into the world.
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Australia’s Sheldon Riley will take the Eurovision stage with his song 'Not the Same'
SBS Filipino
10/05/202207:53
Sheldon Riley. There is beauty in 'different'. Source: SBS / Nick Wilson
The biggest, most unrealistic dream
Sheldon is Australia's representative to this year's Eurovision in Turin, Italy.
"I've been wanting to do Eurovision since I was a little kid. It's a dream that was the biggest, most unrealistic dream, and then it comes true.
"It's proven to me that anything is possible. I really never thought this was going to happen. I wished for it every day. I worked very hard for it as well; but, sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you work for something, you just need to accept that it's not going to happen. [This dream], I never wanted to let it go."
"I've been wanting to do Eurovision since I was a little kid. It's a dream that was the biggest, most unrealistic dream, then it comes true." Source: Sheldon Riley
The dream that he never wanted to let go of has arrived during a particularly fragile time in the world.
"The pandemic has been hard. We've had to organise so many things before we go to Italy. I didn't even know if we would be able to travel, but we're doing it. I don't want to do it from Australia. I want to be there with everybody else.
"It's crazy that this [virus] can prevent me from living out my dream, so I am living very safe."
The dream that he never wanted to let go has arrived during a particularly fragile time in the world. Source: SBS / Nick Wilson
He admits that living very safe can be quite difficult because he's had to attend pre-parties in Europe and Eurovision is a big "people project".
"So I do a lot of Zoom calls, staying away from people, social distancing. We're doing everything we need to; but yeah, you can't really do Eurovision over the phone," Sheldon laughs.
It's okay not to be the same
Sheldon will be representing Australia with his own song, 'Not the Same'.
"It was originally a poem I wrote when I was 15. I was diagnosed with Aspergers when I was six. At that time, it was a full-on thing because there wasn't a lot of public knowledge about autism and neurodivergent people.
"I come from a pretty religious family as well, so it was something that was prayed over me to be fixed.
"I was told for a long time what I could and couldn't achieve. I was told I wouldn't be able to get a great job because I wouldn't be able to be a normal functioning human being. At around 15, I decided that I wasn't going to allow anyone to tell me what I was capable of anymore."
"I decided that I wasn't going to allow anyone to tell me what I was capable of anymore." Source: SBS / Nick Wilson
No longer dictated by what others thought, Sheldon came out as gay and, learned to accept his neurodiversity and all the things that came with it.
"I wasn't the same, but that doesn't mean that has to set me back," he shares.
He rediscovered the poem he wrote as a 15-year old when he was 19.
"I've changed that poem around and made it into a song. Now it's a song representing Australia," he laughs.
He shares that his favourite line in the song now representing Australia is 'Til you realise that the light shines bright / Through those, oh, who've broken inside.'
"At that time, I was just so broken. It was like I couldn't put myself back together again
"It's so crazy and amazing to me that [the way I feel now,] I've never felt so bright and so happy.
"When I'm singing a song that I wrote myself in front of people that I don't need to explain myself to, a group of people who just understand who I am, it gets me really emotional because there are still not many places in Australia where I can be super proud of myself."
Immersive
Sheldon, known for the crystal masks he wears, admits that the facial coverings serve both a mental and aesthetic purpose.
"For a very long time, I didn't like the way that I looked. I really hated who I was.
"I was always a performer. I always wanted to sing, but the hard part for me was having to be photographed and videoed. I'd come home and watch my performances at the end of the night and I couldn't even listen to what I was singing because I always hated what I looked like.
"When I was in [The Voice Australia for the second time], they came to me with an idea of wearing this crystal mask. It was gold with real crystals. For the last four years, I've just been covering my face. It was kind of this beautiful distraction...to kind of shield who I was to allow me to do what I loved the most - sing.
"I never wanted to be an advocate for running away or hiding away from something because you don't like who you are. [I'm] a work in progress, but during my performance in [Eurovision - Australia Decides] I thought it was the perfect time to finally take this thing off."
Sheldon admits that although his masks are beautiful pieces of art, the reason for wearing them isn't exactly healthy.
"I need to be able to say that I can wear them and I can take them off. It just becomes this beautiful thing I wear rather than be a piece of something that I have to [wear]."
"I need to be able to say that I can wear them and I can take them off." Source: SBS / Nick Wilson
Crystal masks aside, Sheldon shares that he will always stay true to wearing extravagant, distinctive garb.
"[Fashion is as important as my music -] 1000%. I want people to come and watch the show and be guaranteed that it's just as immersive visually as it is sonically.
"I haven't spent this much time in Australia working so hard to find gigs to just be the guy at the guitar singing with jeans and a T-shirt on.
"I love to dress up. I think it's so exciting. I love when people react to it. It's fun!
"In Filipino TV, they want to see everything big, right? I think it's something that I've taken from my culture as well. I love to be the showman."
The 66th Eurovision Song Contest featuring Sheldon Riley will be broadcast live and in primetime exclusively on SBS and SBS On Demand from 11 to 15 May.
