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 Dutch singing competition '' The Voice of Holland'', a ...

'', and in 2020, he appeared on ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an 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 distributed by) and ...

'' for its fifteenth season, and was brought back by the judges in 2024 as one of the top 40 all-time ''

Got Talent ''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. It has spawned spin-offs in over 60 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Frema ...

'' performers to compete in the '' America's Got Talent: Fantasy League'' during which he was advanced by fan voting to the semi-finals.

Early life

Riley was born in Sydney, to an Australian mother and a Filipino father. He moved to the Gold Coast at a young age where he grew up and attended

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School Palm Beach Currumbin State High School is an independent public, co-educational, secondary school, located in the Gold Coast suburb of Palm Beach, in Queensland, Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment ...

throughout his upbringing.

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 feature film ''The Lion King''. Composed by British musician Elton John and composer Hans Zimmer, with lyrics by Tim Rice, the song was performed by Carmen Twillie (the deep female lead ...

" by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

and "

Ordinary People ''Ordinary People'' is a 1980 American Tragedy, tragedy film directed by Robert Redford in his List of directorial debuts, feature directorial debut. The screenplay by Alvin Sargent is based on the Ordinary People (Guest novel), 1976 novel by ...

" by

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

. 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, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after ...

, 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. Born in Sydney, Azalea moved to the United States at the age of 16 in order to pursue a career in music. She earned public recognition ...

, 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), this ballad was the b ...

" by

Culture Club Culture Club are an English new wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (musician), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), and Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and formerly included Jon Moss ( ...

. 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 and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

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 Music ...

. In 2019, Riley returned to The Voice 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, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

and received chair turns from both eligible coaches. He chose

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem Order of Australia, AM (born 9 November 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, television personality and actress based in Sydney. Goodrem signed a recording contract with Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut studio album ...

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

''. He auditioned with the song "

Idontwannabeyouanymore "Idontwannabeyouanymore" is a song by American singer Billie Eilish from her debut extended play, 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 ...

" by

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

. 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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. 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 placed runner-up in the fourth season of ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' 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. In 2024, Riley appeared on '' America's Got Talent: Fantasy League'' on

Mel B Melanie Janine Brown, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the Pop mus ...

's team. He progressed to the semi-finals after the studio audience advanced him after the first round, but was eliminated during his semi-final episode.

Personal life

Riley is openly gay. He was diagnosed with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

at age six. He currently lives in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Discography

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Sheldon 1999 births 21st-century Australian LGBTQ people 21st-century Australian male singers America's Got Talent contestants Australian gay musicians Australian LGBTQ singers Australian people of Filipino descent Australian people with disabilities Autistic LGBTQ people Autistic musicians Eurovision Song Contest entrants Gay singers LGBTQ musicians with disabilities Living people Musicians from the Gold Coast, Queensland People educated at Palm Beach Currumbin State High School People with Asperger syndrome Singers from Sydney Singers with disabilities The Voice (Australian TV series) contestants