Sheldon Riley wins Eurovision - Australia Decides 2022: 'So honoured'

Sheldon Riley has officially won Eurovision - Australia Decides and will represent Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy later this year with his song, Not The Same.

The singer, who previously competed on The X Factor, The Voice and America’s Got Talent, was declared the winner after receiving the most votes combined from both the public and the jury on Saturday evening.

Sheldon received 100 votes, closely followed by heavy metal band Voyager with 97 points for their song Dreamer and Jaguar Jonze who scored 91 points for Little Fires.

“It means everything,” he tells Yahoo Lifestyle in an exclusive chat following his victory.

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“As a kid, I was actually diagnosed with Asperger’s and told that I was going to have problems speaking and problems communicating and I was always told I wasn't sane from a very young age. So to stand so proudly as myself now, it means the world to me.

“It's happening and I've worked with the most amazing people to get me here. I’m just so honoured.”

The 22-year-old will now begin preparations to travel to Europe in May and face off against 40 other countries in the official competition.

“I'm going to stop eating bread so I'm fit and healthy before Italy, I think that's a good start,” he jokes.

“And then I'm going to I guess get ready. I mean, this has been the dream for such a long time. But not only that, I've got sketches ready, I've got my whole idea of what Eurovision is ready in front of me, so it's just going to be about creating and working with my team to make it happen.”

Sheldon, who is a self-proclaimed “super-fan” of Eurovision, also adds that he’s “already obsessed” with the competing countries’ entrants.

“I'm looking forward to seeing who France selects, but Spain is going to be unbeatable, I think. The hairography is everything,” he says.

Sheldon performed alongside 10 other Australian acts at Eurovision - Australia Decides, which also included special appearances from Norwegian supergroup KEiiNO, who represented Norway in Eurovision in 2019, and last year’s representative for Australia, Montaigne.

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