To live
Australian Sheldon Riley has reached the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy.
The 23-year-old singer, who grew up on the Gold Coast, performed a passionate performance of his song Not the same in the second semifinal early Friday (Australian time).
“Thank you very much, Europe! This is the biggest dream come true. Thank you, ”he told the crowd at the PalaOlimpico arena after his performance.
According to Eurovision, Riley came on stage in a crystal mask and a bright white outfit, which contained about 180,000 crystals.
Riley was later quoted as saying “absolutely delighted”, saying that he “just wanted to show his best performance and make Australia proud”.
“It’s a huge buzz that people all over Europe have appreciated Not the Same, and I’m so happy to be on stage again this weekend,” he said.
“Honestly, for me it was a dream come true. I am very grateful for the support from the fans here and everyone who is at home. “
Australia was one of 18 performers in the second semi-final on Thursday night and joins Belgium, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Romania and Serbia in an out-of-court decision on Saturday night (AEST Sunday morning).
They will join 10 successful countries from the first semifinal, including Ukraine, Norway, Switzerland, Armenia, Iceland, Lithuania, Portugal, Greece, Moldova and the Netherlands.
Britain, Spain, Germany, France and Italy do not have to qualify from the semi-finals and get automatic access to the finals.
Eurovision organizers later announced that Riley would perform in the second half of Saturday’s show.
The orchestra of the Ukrainian artist Kalush is considered to be the favorite to win this year’s competition.
Australia was first invited to Eurovision in 2015, where Guy Sebastian performed in the final. Since then, he has competed every year.
The highest performer in Australia was Dami Im, who took second place in 2016.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/music/2022/05/13/australia-sheldon-riley-eurovision/
