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​

 

[midnightsun]

It's already revealed that he wears a mask because of his Asperger Autism.
I still think the mask is a bit too much and while I don’t like it from a visual point it’s totally relatable why he wears it. I mean, it would be better to get rid off it to let see people his face (facial expressions) to connect better with him but he might have difficulties to perform then. The visual impressions could be too much for him.

 

[Matt]

Please give your score for the Austalian entry Not The Same. As always, this will be included in the annual ESC Jury score. Just give a score from 10 GREAT to 1 BAD. #eurovision

Australia: Sheldon Riley – Not the Same

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[escEndre]

Haven't you checked out our interview with amazing Sheldon Riley?

Check it out here!

Please subscribe ESC Norway on YouTube for following the latest interview's with the Eurovision-contestants!

 

[Ianp16]

I think I can safely say this is my least favourite entry this year.

Whiney crap.

 

[Mainshow]

It's already revealed that he wears a mask because of his Asperger Autism.

I honestly don´t get this "point" - I don´t want to come across as "offensive" but hasn´t he been successfully performing without a mask throughout two entire editions of "The Voice of Australia"?

 

[Jonkonfui]

He wears a mask because of his Asperger Autism??? O my!

 

[midnightsun]

I honestly don´t get this "point" - I don´t want to come across as "offensive" but hasn´t he been successfully performing without a mask throughout two entire editions of "The Voice of Australia"?

I think the mask is somehow part of the show. I guess he does wear it for the drama too but a part of him surely struggles with the pressure and a larger crowd than at The Voice. He IS able to perform without the mask (otherwise he wouldn’t put it down at the end of the song) but it will help him to control his tension when the song starts. Some autistic persons aren’t able to look directly in the face of their person opposite so they look away. It could come across weird during the performance. (Blind singers in the past wore sunglasses on stage to avoid that and Sheldon has his mask.) You may have noticed that he never looks straight ahead, even after the mask is taken off.

 

[ESC94]

I think the mask is somehow part of the show. I guess he does wear it for the drama too but a part of him surely struggles with the pressure and a larger crowd than at The Voice. He IS able to perform without the mask (otherwise he wouldn’t put it down at the end of the song) but it will help him to control his tension when the song starts. Some autistic persons aren’t able to look directly in the face of their person opposite so they look away. It could come across weird during the performance. (Blind singers in the past wore sunglasses on stage to avoid that and Sheldon has his mask.) You may have noticed that he never looks straight ahead, even after the mask is taken off.

I can confirm that, it´s very hard for me to look directly into the face of other persons, the only persons where I manage to do this are my family, and even there I don´t always succeed.

 

[Mainshow]

I´m still not very convinced that he "has to wear the mask because of his Asperger autism" since he looked straight into other people´s eyes and into the camera whilst performing on several occasions on the Voice of Australia. If it was a necessary thing for him to do, he would have - at least - partly performed with some sort of mask on in each other live performance - unless his Asperger autism has significantally changed - I assume? - Granted, even though I have been a huge fan of him on The Voice of Australia, I can´t tell if he already felt very insecure or less confident on stage whilst performing "maskless".

BUT - if the mask makes him feel more confident, then he really should go for it. He´s the artist and it´s his choice, obviously.
I just heavily dislike the very theatrical "reveal" at the end of the song.


@ESC94 Thanks for being so open about it! I think it was an interesting point in this thread.

 

[Jonkonfui]

Is that really for real? He wearing a mask (not really a mask) because Asperger? And what exactly is the mask for? How does it help Asperger wearing a piece of cloth over your head?

 

[ESC94]

I´m still not very convinced that he "has to wear the mask because of his Asperger autism" since he looked straight into other people´s eyes and into the camera whilst performing on several occasions on the Voice of Australia. If it was a necessary thing for him to do, he would have - at least - partly performed with some sort of mask on in each other live performance - unless his Asperger autism has significantally changed - I assume? - Granted, even though I have been a huge fan of him on The Voice of Australia, I can´t tell if he already felt very insecure or less confident on stage whilst performing "maskless".

BUT - if the mask makes him feel more confidence, then he really should go for it. He´s the artist and it´s his choice, obviously.
I just heavily dislike the very theatrical "reveal" at the end of the song.


@ESC94 Thanks for being so open about it! I think it was an interesting point in this thread.

You´re welcome.

But for some reason your mention wasn´t shown to me.

 

[midnightsun]

I'm just assuming that a huge event like Eurovision could put Sheldon under a lot of pressure. It’s different from The Voice or an interview with a few people. It’s just speculation. But I agree he'll probably use it for dramatic reasons too and I also don’t like the mask very much despite sympathizing with him.

However, every situation is different for an autistic person. Their behavior is depending strongly on their form of the day. One day they can handle the stress, the other they can’t. Also, autism doesn’t change. Ever. It’s possible that an autistic person is able to adapt their behavior successfully to a neurotypical environment but that doesn’t change the fact it can be very stressful for them. (ESC94 will probably confirm this? By the way, kudos for your frankness.)

 

[crashworld]

I just heavily dislike the very theatrical "reveal" at the end of the song.

You pretty hit the nail for me with this. I empathize with him and his struggles (ie. sexuality/autism) and welcome Sheldon as a participant in the contest for what he represents, but I just find the whole revealing part way too pretentious (almost to the point that it feels like it's creating the dramatic effects just for the sake of it). It's borderline off-putting.

But whatever, the juries will eat it up anyway. It's whether the televoters will be able to connect with him and the song and the overall performance.

 

[mauve]

Honestly I don't care much about the mask - it shouldn't be a problem as other participants also have their way to express their staging/look in different ways. But I simply don't get into the song at all. It is - for me personally - one of the most repititive songs of this ESC-season. I have the feeling that he sings only one sentence the whole song thru. This is getting on my nerve.

 

[Chalphon]

Repetative, this is my toilett break of this season. What happened Australia?

 

[midnightsun]

I have the feeling that he sings only one sentence

I can relate to this. The verses are much better yet people only remember the one line chorus because he sings it over and over again and especially the chorus lacks a bit of musical diversity.

 

[AlienSoul]

My problem with Not The Same is that it seems to be half a song with a repetitive vocal exercise added to extend the length.

 

[Chorizo]

I originally gave this song 7 points in the poll, which is already quite good compared to most others. I've come to appreciate it more since I shared my original impression in this thread. I like that the song provides some drama with strong vocals. There are just too many boring songs this year, which makes Australia stand out and draw my attention. It might end up at the lower end of my top 10 based on the staging. For now I have chosen nine songs for my pre-contest top 10 and have problems deciding on the tenth out of a few candidates.

 

[ESC94]

I'm just assuming that a huge event like Eurovision could put Sheldon under a lot of pressure. It’s different from The Voice or an interview with a few people. It’s just speculation. But I agree he'll probably use it for dramatic reasons too and I also don’t like the mask very much despite sympathizing with him.

However, every situation is different for an autistic person. Their behavior is depending strongly on their form of the day. One day they can handle the stress, the other they can’t. Also, autism doesn’t change. Ever. It’s possible that an autistic person is able to adapt their behavior successfully to a neurotypical environment but that doesn’t change the fact it can be very stressful for them. (ESC94 will probably confirm this? By the way, kudos for your frankness.)

Yes, there are better and worse days for me. Sometimes I handle it very well at work and on other days I just wanna scream and freak out. Fortunately the past few weeks were good in this regard.

 

[crashworld]

Performance @ London Eurovision Party

I mean it's a given he sounded really good (though he got a little pitchy when he tried to hit the high notes). I am quite surprised the response was pretty lukewarm though.