The cross-continental race to Turin is quickly approaching its climax in Australia. On Saturday 26 February, 11 acts will go head-to-head for the Aussie ticket to Italy in the grand final of Eurovision — Australia Decides 2022.
Ahead of the show, we asked our readers to vote for which act deserves to win. And coming out on top is Sheldon Riley with “Not The Same”.
Scroll down for full poll results.
Sheldon Riley should win Eurovision — Australia Decides 2022
Sheldon Riley bids to fly the Aussie flag at Eurovision with his emotional ballad “Not The Same”. The 21-year-old made waves when he burst into the spotlight as a contestant on The Voice season seven, later returning to compete as an all-star act on season eight. His Eurovision track is an anthem for queer youth, who have felt shared collective pain as a result of exclusion. In our poll, Sheldon picked up 656 votes — that’s 21.43% of all votes cast.
Speaking about his song, Sheldon told SMH:
“It was actually never supposed to be a Eurovision song; it was more a reflection on me and how far I’ve come and what I’ve learnt about myself.
“It’s reflective of not being the same as everybody else. Most Eurovision songs are very big, and they’re for everyone, but this one… you really get invited into a one-on-one conversation. It’s very personal.”
A close second in our poll goes to Voyager with “Dreamer”. The progressive metal band have seven albums to their name, and now they’re ready to make the continental leap to Eurovision and pick up a new batch of international fans. In our poll, Voyager received 586 votes — that’s 19.14% of the total vote.
Our readers awarded the wiwibloggs bronze medal to Andrew Lambrou with “Electrify”. The Sydney-based pop star is ready to light up the Gold Coast stage with his club-ready, catchy dance-pop anthem. Andrew Lambrou received 465 votes in our poll — that’s 15.19% of all votes cast.
Charley and Jaguar Jonze round out the top five, with G-Nat!on, Jude York, Paulini, Erica Padilla, Isaiah Firebrace and Evie Irie, and Seann Miley Moore falling to the lower half of the leaderboard.
Poll results: Who should win Australia Decides 2022 and sing for Australia at Eurovision?
- Sheldon Riley “Not The Same” — 21.43% (656 votes)
- Voyager “Dreamer” — 19.14% (586 votes)
- Andrew Lambrou “Electrify” — 15.19% (465 votes)
- Charley “I Suck At Being Lonely” — 11.60% (355 votes)
- Jaguar Jonze “Little Fires” — 8.56% (262 votes)
- G-Nat!on “Bite Me” — 7.12% (218 votes)
- Jude York “I Won’t Need to Dream” — 5.39% (165 votes)
- Paulini “We Are One” — 3.76% (115 votes)
- Erica Padilla “To The Bottom” — 3.04% (93 votes)
- Isaiah Firebrace and Evie Irie “When I’m With You” — 3.01% (92 votes)
- Seann Miley Moore “My Body” — 1.76% (54 votes)
Total votes: 3,061 votes
What do you think of the poll results? Could Sheldon Riley win Australia Decides 2022? Let us know in the comments below.
Sheldon may sing about how he is not the same. Unfortunately he is a little too much the same to Poland and Italy. Voyager really would bring something different to the contest. Love Charley too
This song is just dire ! I couldn’t even finish listening to it..a case of, so done ..so been there..so many t-shirts ..ufff just awful
I’ll be so disappointed if we send Seldon
Sorry, I don´t like it…
My clear favourite is Voyager, followed by Andrew Lambrou
Not a great field of songs from Australia this year… Sheldon Riley definitely seems like the best of an average bunch and was the only one that stopped me dead in my tracks.
Voyager are okay but their song feels too innocuous and a little outdated.
How was Andrew 3rd? Horrific club filler track.
Charley is my 2nd favorite.
You have no taste
“Not the same” has nice lyrics, but the melody is so boring for me and it has been done so many times… also I feel zero emotion from the singer’s voice…
“it has been done so many times” – as has a singer wearing wings
Jaguar, Voyager or Paulini pls.
But please please please not Sheldon… I really can’t stand caterwauling in songs.
Me neither….
I’m very much behind Sheldon! Imagine the staging with this song omg
off topic: do someone knows why Portugal is suddenly climbing so much in the odds?
If this song wins , i wont be super super mad but i’ll be upset cause its not the best out of NF
my top 11
I Like Jude York too…he sings like an angel…
Given how several YouTubers really praise I Suck At Being Lonely I figured that song would be higher up
The staging looked a little awkward
It’s not a landslide, it seems the eurofans are divided on the outcome of this NF. It will be interesting to see how it will turn.
“Electrify” was third? That’s kinda unexpected.
Maybe a result of voting down other songs