Australia AUSTRALIA 2022 - Sheldon Riley - Not The Same

[escYOUnited]

I was told at six years old
They'd avoid me if my heart was cold
Found it hard to talk and speak my mind
They'd never like the things that I would like

'Cause you're told to play, but you're not the same
As the other kids playing the same game
Tried to jump on in, but they push away
So far away

I'm not the same, no
I'm not the same, no

Years go by, I tried and tried
My father asked if today I smiled
I said, "Yes I did", but that's a lie
Oh, I always tell those lies

And you run and hide, hide the break inside
Do you realise that the light shines bright?
Through those, oh, who broke inside

I'm not the same, no
I'm not the same, no
I'm not the same, no
I'm not the same, no

'Cause you never want to be a kind of person
You can work it for those ones who cannot word it
Because you've been the kind of person who felt this pain
Yeah, I felt this pain

So you're gonna leave the pain and find another way to make yourself another game
Maybe one for all to play
'Cause it's not just me who's not the same
We are not the same

I'm not the same, no
We are not the same, no
We are not the same, no
We are not the same, no​

 

[crashworld]

Seems like we got a pretty good LGBTQIA+ representation in this NF.
Seann, Sheldon and Jude are part of the community.

So the other 3 songs are finally out. They are just fine. Nothing great.
I will officially root Jude's song then. Hopefully it will do well enough.

 

[RainyWoods]

Voyager - Dreamer = 11/10 the first annual RainyWoods award for outstanding achievement in the field of excellence
Jaguar Jonze - Little Fires = 8/10
Isaiah Firebrace and Evie Irie - When I'm With You = 6/10
Jude York - I Won't Need to Dream = 6/10
Charley - I Suck At Being Lonely = 5.5/10
G-Nation - Bite Me = 5/10
Andrew Lambrou - Electrify = 5/10
Paulini - We Are One 5/10
Erica Padilla - To the Bottom = 4/10
Seann Miley Moore - My Body = 4/10
Sheldon Riley - Not the Same = 4/10


You already know what I think of Dreamer so I won't repeat myself (WIN *points gun*). Little Fires is frustrating. It's almost there. SO close. I just need it to be sludgier. More raw. The song itself is cool and the vibe going on with it is totally my thing, but the studio version feels too... I don't know.. polished? It's missing an edge I come to expect with this particular sound. I hope the live version can help to bring some more spunk to it. This would kick my ass with a Shannon Shaw-esque vocalist going wild on it.

Other than those two songs, I can't say I'm into anything else on offer. This will be all or nothing for me.

 

[FabiESC]

My Ranking

01 Sheldon Riley - Not the Same 10/10
02 Andrew Lambrou - Electrify 9/10
03 Seann Miley Moore - My Body 8/10
04 G-Nation - Bite Me 8/10
05 Isaiah Firebrace & Evie Irie - When I'm With You 7/10
06 Jaguar Jonze - Little Fires 6/10
07 Charley - I Suck At Being Lonely 6/10
08 Paulini - We Are One 5/10
09 Voyager - Dreamer 4/10
10 Erica Padilla - To the Bottom 4/10
11 Jude York - I Won't Need to Dream 3/10

 

[Datura]

I only like Voyager in this selection. From the odds it seems sheldon riley is the runaway favourite but i don't hear why tbh

 

[Iker]

It would be hilarious if Australia chooses To The Bottom and then finishes at the ... bottom.

 

[Mrlazzyjazzy]

Unpopular opinion but I think Paulini will do better on the televote than Jaguar, Voyager and Charley lol. I think the jury will decide if it's Sheldon, Jaguar or Voyager.

 

[Kaz]

I'm fairly convinced that this is going to be a two-horse race between Voyager and Sheldon.
Surprisingly, I think it could be Voyager who wins the jury whereas Sheldon wins the televote - remember that Casey Donovan won the televote in 2020 with a belter ballad over the more upbeat entries. Overall my tentative predictions (prior to rehearsals) would be:

1-2 Voyager, Sheldon Riley
3 Charley
4 Paulini
5-7 Jaguar Jonze, Isaiah & Evie, G-Nation
8-11 Andrew Lambrou, Jude York, Erica Padilla, Seann Miley Moore

 

[Preuss]

So Sheldon's got 1.02 in odds BETFAIR Anything but him winning would be a shock at this point, and I suspect he'll seal the deal once we see it live

I've pointed it out before, but like, the jury in Australia Decides consists of the delegation (at least some of them), and they obviously know which song they prefer going to Europe, so anything but Sheldon winning the jury would be a total surprise to me, lmao

 

[BorisBubbles]

I don't really care who wins this as long as Sheldon loses. I'm SO sick of these misguided, narcissistic "ME!!! ME!!!! ME!!!!! MYSELF!!!!! I!!!!!!!!" type of theatre kid ballads that weaponize sob stories and beg for pity while containing ZERO empathy of their own. I bet listening to his own music makes him cry.

I fucking hope he stubs a toe.

 

[BorisBubbles]

Ps: being gay is NOT a sob story. A homosexual person is like any other person, only with divergent sexual preferences .THAT'S IT! Stop acting like it's a special trait, or worse, a fucking TRAUMA. #NORMALIZEHOMOSEXUALITYNOW

 

[BarefootBoogaloo]

Dreamer performed by Voyager
Electrify performed by Andrew Lambrou

Little Fires performed by Jaguar Jonze
I Won't Need To Dream performed by Jude York
To The Bottom performed by Erica Padilla

Bite Me performed by G-Nation
We Are One performed by Paulini
I Suck At Being Lonely performed by Charley
When I'm With You performed by Isaiah Firebrace feat. Evie Irie
Not The Same performed by Sheldon Riley
My Body performed by Seann Miley Moore

 

[Kaz]

Ps: being gay is NOT a sob story. A homosexual person is like any other person, only with divergent sexual preferences .THAT'S IT! Stop acting like it's a special trait, or worse, a fucking TRAUMA. #NORMALIZEHOMOSEXUALITYNOW

Eek.

Tell me you're privileged without telling me you're privileged.

I don't know what your sexual/gender identity is, but your argument that sexuality is not traumatic for LGBT+ people is completely baseless and incorrect. I don't mean to come off rude, but this comment is severely lacking in perspective and I hope that you will be able to understand where I am coming from.

We live in a world which was created by and dominated by straight men. Anyone who is not a straight man has had to fight for equality, tolerance, and recognition, and this is a fight which continues today. The whole idea of 'coming out' is evidence of this - society naturally assumes that you are straight until you say otherwise. And this can be extremely traumatic if the people in your life don't accept that. There is a reason why rates of mental illness, homelessness, and su***de attempts are much higher amongst LGBT+ youth compared to heterosexual youth.

Being gay is being in a constant state of trauma. I have personally been too afraid to hold my ex-boyfriend's hand in public when walking past groups of strangers. I have had teenagers yell slurs at us while on a date. I have had classmates calling me gay as a child before I even knew what gay meant.

As a member of the LGBT+ community, your very existence is a political act.

 

[BorisBubbles]

Eek.

Tell me you're privileged without telling me you're privileged.

I don't know what your sexual/gender identity is, but your argument that sexuality is not traumatic for LGBT+ people is completely baseless and incorrect. I don't mean to come off rude, but this comment is severely lacking in perspective and I hope that you will be able to understand where I am coming from.

We live in a world which was created by and dominated by straight men. Anyone who is not a straight man has had to fight for equality, tolerance, and recognition, and this is a fight which continues today. The whole idea of 'coming out' is evidence of this - society naturally assumes that you are straight until you say otherwise. And this can be extremely traumatic if the people in your life don't accept that. There is a reason why rates of mental illness, homelessness, and su***de attempts are much higher amongst LGBT+ youth compared to heterosexual youth.

Being gay is being in a constant state of trauma. I have personally been too afraid to hold my ex-boyfriend's hand in public when walking past groups of strangers. I have had teenagers yell slurs at us while on a date. I have had classmates calling me gay as a child before I even knew what gay meant.

As a member of the LGBT+ community, your very existence is a political act.

Well, I am sorry to upset you, so accept my apologies before I tackle the contents of your post.

I am gay myself, and I've been through the whole homophobia into bullying gamut, followed by depression and years of self-loathing. I've gotten out of it, but it has shaped my life more than anything else has.

So I KNOW what it's like to experience trauma. I understand how painful it is to be willing to show public displays of affection but not doing so because you're afraid to getting hate slung at you.

So don't worry, I read your post and it made me... emotional. I'm not saying I cried but it affected me enough to reach out to you, because I just want to hug you and make you feel less upset, ok?

However, what you're refering to is the cultural bit (which I foolishly forgot to address), while I was looking at things from a purely biological perspective. That is my coping mechanism, if you will. People are mean and harsh towards things they don't understand or are different from what they consider normal. Thus, I feel the need to point out how stupid the logic behind "homosexuality is an affliction" is. Science itself desputes it. But anyway, more on that later.

As far our society, yes. You're right. Majority rules. However, we as minorities need to understand that we NEED the straights if we want to ensure our own survival. We need them as allies. If we want to fight for our rights, we need to speak a language *they* understand and can empathize with. We need to understand their way of thinking, if we want them to listen to us.

This regardless of what a few individuals have put us through. Regardless of the fear that we have that history will repeat itself. We must be strong. We cannot show fear. We must be willing to put our own personal trauma's aside for the sake of progress because the cause we're fighting for is greater than any of us. We need to stay rational at least in public.

Looking at things from a purely biological perspective I believe is more likely to yield empathy, and with it, progress. Homosexuality has long since been proven to exist in animals. It's been around for longer than mankind has been. Biologically, it's a divergence in sexual preferences and nothing more.

Socio-culturally speaking, everything surrounding Gayness is still very much alien to the everyday heterosexual because each society is shaped by whatever is in charge and in a majority. Normalizing divergences takes time. If your objective is to preach inclusivity in a short, three-minute time frame, you need to give it thought. It often is better NOT to do it, than to do it poorly.

You CANNOT make it all about yourself, because this problem is BIGGER than any individual. Self-centeredness is the death of empathy.
You CANNOT victimize yourself because this is ADMITTING that your sexuality is a disability. Pity is the death of respect.

Being gay is NORMAL, and it's about time everyone got the memo.

 

[Mrm]

@Morocco2021

You like/love Jude York - "I won;t need to dream"??

If live is good, this will be so high for me!!

 

[Mrm]

Voyager - Dreamer = 11/10 the first annual RainyWoods award for outstanding achievement in the field of excellence
Jaguar Jonze - Little Fires = 8/10
Isaiah Firebrace and Evie Irie - When I'm With You = 6/10
Jude York - I Won't Need to Dream = 6/10
Charley - I Suck At Being Lonely = 5.5/10
G-Nation - Bite Me = 5/10
Andrew Lambrou - Electrify = 5/10
Paulini - We Are One 5/10
Erica Padilla - To the Bottom = 4/10
Seann Miley Moore - My Body = 4/10
Sheldon Riley - Not the Same = 4/10


You already know what I think of Dreamer so I won't repeat myself (WIN *points gun*). Little Fires is frustrating. It's almost there. SO close. I just need it to be sludgier. More raw. The song itself is cool and the vibe going on with it is totally my thing, but the studio version feels too... I don't know.. polished? It's missing an edge I come to expect with this particular sound. I hope the live version can help to bring some more spunk to it. This would kick my ass with a Shannon Shaw-esque vocalist going wild on it.

Other than those two songs, I can't say I'm into anything else on offer. This will be all or nothing for me.

And your last place has more than 50% at betting odds..

 

[Mrm]

Who's gonna watch this on Saturday 10:30 AM here?

@Morocco2021

 

[Mainshow]

I really love Sheldon´s voice and he´s such a good performer but that song is an uneventful and boring mass (minus the great middle 8 part). His whole entry is just being carried by his angelic, distinctive and absolutely gorgeous voice.

 

[Looren]

Who's gonna watch this on Saturday 10:30 AM here?

@Morocco2021

10:30AM ? Oh gosh xD

Yeah am gonna try to wake up tbh

 

[Mrm]

I have just went through all of the and here is what i love/like based on studio versions:

1. Jude York - "I won't need to dream" 10/10
2. G-Nat!on - "Bite me" 9/10
3. Voyager - "Dreamer" 9/10
4. Charley - "I suck at being lonely" 8/10
5. Andrew Lambrou - "Electrify" 8/10
6. Sheldon Riley - "Not the same" 7/10

 

[Preuss]

God no, why does it have to be this Saturday? I hope I’ll be able to tune in