AUSTRALIA EUROVISION 2022 - REACTING TO SHELDON RILEY ‘WE’RE NOT THE SAME’
Vložit
- čas přidán 26. 05. 2024
- Hi guys! Welcome back to my channel! If you’re new here, my name’s Rachel and I’m a huge Eurovision fan. In todays video, I reacted to Australia’s song for ESC 2022, ‘We’re Not The Same’ by Sheldon Reilly.
Australia have previously had a cracking success rate at Eurovision, up until last year where they failed to qualify for the first time ever, with Montaigne. So my hopes were that Australia would get there mojo back this year, and aim to get to the final.
Australia Decides resulted in Sheldon Reilly being selected to represent his country, with ‘We’re Not The Same’.
The main point to note is the vocal, which is flawless in almost every aspect. Sheldon sings with conviction and really delivers a vocal that is rich in dynamics, storytelling and great tuning.
However, I felt other moments of the song weren’t as flawless. The melody felt clunky, and often at times unrefined, like it wasn’t organically trying to push to higher and higher notes. Sheldon dealt with this comfortably and professionally through his great vocal control. But I just couldn’t get behind the unnatural and almost premeditated quality of the melody.
The lyrics are strong in the verses, but do lack depth and length in the chorus. ‘we’re not the same noooooo’ is not enough length for a chorus, it doesn’t leave enough to the imagination.
I also felt a lack of emotional connection and investment in the song, primarily because I couldn’t see Sheldon’s face, which created a barrier. And when the mask slipped, I couldn’t invest in that either after not connecting to the first 2/3’s of the song. Therefore, it all felt a little awkward, melodramatic and verging in corny, even pretentious as some may describe.
I’m a little disappointed. I think they tried to take Sheldon, someone with a really good and solid voice, and play with it too much that the overall vision of the song felt lost.
Therefore, I can’t score it any higher at this stage, than what a did.
Initial Score: 5.5/10 (although vocals near a 10/10)
Intro 00:00
Reaction 01:03
Thoughts and Comments 08:13
Outro 11:02
Thanks for watching my video! Consider subscribing if you haven't already, and stay tuned for more content coming soon :)
"Copyright Disclaimers Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use"
#Australia #Eurovision2022 #SheldonReilly - Zábava
I dont have musical ears but I think this performance and his voice is amazing! 🇦🇺
There’s plenty of other reviews “with trained ears” that love it. This is only one opinion
His face covering is part of his look. This is something he uses as a defence mechanism for himself. Last time he performed without it was 4 years ago. Taking that off is him finding his comfort and being accepted of who he is, he has always said that the Eurovision stage is possibly the only stage in the world where you can be the person you want without being judged. His family and friends were in the front shouting at him to " stop crying and keep singing", they muted the audience audio a bit for that reason. He is a passionate performer and truly only sings songs that are meaningful to him, hence why he is so emotional, and even more so during his encore performance. That said, Australia always brings a grade-A top notch polished performance at Eurovision. No doubt there will be enormous changes to the staging (as stated in a recent interview) and it will be something that will catch the eyes and ears of every single viewer.
Hi Rachel, this took me by surprise! I guess there is a difference in how a trained ear like yourself and an untrained one (like me) hears this song. When I listen to it, it definitely sounds stirring and atmospheric to me, emotional and not confused at all. It comes across as so genuine and personal to me, makes me cry every time, the story is so powerful, and I can relate to it completely. I found your review very interesting.
Maybe we will be in for a shock with how this does with the juries if they also pick up on the musical aspects you have described here as to why the song isn’t working for you? I think people are generally thinking this it going to be up there with the juries, maybe we will be in for a surprise?
You are not the only person to say that the mask is preventing you from emotionally connecting to the song, I think I am in the minority as I think it really works in telling the story 😊.
To be fair, I think the emotions click a bit more for me after reading Sheldon’s back story, so it’s a bit more tangible to me. My main concern was with the chorus melody, I think the verses were pretty decent. I’m interested to see how this does - thanks for your comment :)
I totally agree with you. Very few people will be listening to this as a trained ear, and I felt it gave exactly what you mentioned above. I guess some songs/music, you just click with quicker then others.
The first time I heard Australia's entry this year which was the National Final performance, not the studio version I was instantly drawn in like last year and 2020 with Gjon's Tears from Switzerland.
Hearing Sheldon sing I felt every word he said and that's before I even read that he'd written the song himself about having Asperger's which I relate to having a cousin with that and my sister being autistic as well.
This song showcases Sheldon growing up gay in a religious family being moved from house to house and how he felt he didn't quite fit in school being bullied and things so, of course, the emotion he showed when singing was real because the song was personal to him even though the message can be interpreted with other things too naturally.
This out of all the National Final songs was my favorite although the others were good within themselves I'm glad this won first and foremost.
Having known Sheldon from the Voice before I knew his vocals would be good here. I also understood the importance of the mask being art as the man said recently in a Eurovision interview.
Some people might want Sheldon to take that off earlier to connect with him more but I get why the reveal happens when it does because it's Sheldon accepting himself of course.
Yes, the performance to some might've seemed overdramatic but as I previously mentioned the song was personal to Sheldon hence the crying. If people have followed Sheldon's career they'd know he's quite dramatic in his performances anyway.
My male vocalist of the contest so far this year is divided between Sheldon, Ochman, and Mahmood from Italy.
Jury wise this song might have a four-way split between Poland, the UK, and Italy which it would do better in than televoting although I'd hope other countries showed their love for Australia like with Dami Im in 2016 and if a country who'd never won Eurovision did or one that hadn't for a long time it would be a nice change than something like Sweden again for instance.
Whatever happens, I look forward to Sheldon's Eurovision performance and hope the staging proves fruitful so Australia makes it into the top 10 because this song deserves to be there in itself overall.
I think this will do extremely well. I've watched eurovision for 35 years now and I can tell you THIS song brought out emotions that I have never experienced listening to any other song ever. His voice is just incredible, the story behind this whole "dramatic" performance is very significant and it certainly resonates with many people. Yes it can be repetitive but he fluently goes from "I'm not the same" to "We're not the same" throughout the performance. Duncan Lawrence's "Arcade" also had repetitive lyrics throughout the whole whole song and he finished 1st in 2019, why? because it was an absolute masterpiece, you felt every single emotion. There are two types of people when it comes to criticism of music, those that feel it and those that just sit there, deconstruct it and analyse, not taking in the full context of the song and actually listening to those lyrical changes, that would just put anyone off listening to music. If I cannot "feel" a performance then it is just a song and a "meh" one at that. The beauty of this song is that it was not made for Eurovision, he wrote this in 2015 which describes his life from a 6 year old to adulthood diagnosed with Aspergers, unaware of his sexuality, living in public housing, moving home to home in a religious community. It is alot about trying to fit in the normal reigns of life. This is HIS song and is pure emotion and it will do very very well, I guarantee it, 10/10. The best part about this review is seeing all the negative comments, alot of regular trolls I've seen on other reaction videos of Australia. This is a perfect platform for them to have their little whinge, lol.
Right!
There's many songs this year that bringing emotions, and were better.
And yeah when I heard it first, it's very pretentious! 👎
@@ayumisanyuki7116 If that was pretentious to you then you must think 90% of entries are narcissistic. There is absolutely nothing pretentious about the performance. I think by saying that you really are insulting those that can resonate with the song. Lol. IMO I think he has the best male vocals this year.
@@klaudijabogdanovski i didn't comment to change your pov, rather point out that there's people see it as pretentious as there are some people who see it as a world changing song, like you. My point is her comment about the song pretentious is valid.
Best vocals pffttt should I comment on this too? lul
Well IMO it is the best vocals I have heard this year with all the entries locked in, you will obviously have a completely different opinion and that is fine, everyone has a right to their own.
Finally someone thinking the same as me. Sheldon has an amazing voice but the performance is just too much actingwise. Overdramatic. That put me off completely.
The song is amazing a pure art. I'm really hope to win Eurovision :)
ukraine war won bro, next time i hope, hes so fucking good.
I'm totally totally totally agree with you
I do not agree about this, I really like this song tbh, I would give It an 8 maybe
When it comes to music and singing you are usually never able to see the singer because we all listen either on a car radio or an electronic device...so seeing someones face to "connect" to a song and it's meaning just means the listener can't understand the tone of voice and mood of the song by sound aone.
Just like some people are introverts and extroverts...some people can live life without the need for constant interaction with other people and others can't...or some people can look at someone and tell their mood while others can sense it in the tone of their voice.
Just depends on where you are on that spectrum.
It sounds as if someone was playing the same 4 chords in a loop and the singer would improvise over them - something that would normally happen in more of an open form context after the chorus had been reiterated many times and we move into an improvisation. Except here that’s literally happening during most of the song and the remedy for lack of concept behind the melody seem to be arrangement tricks (like let’s stop the music and insert a drum roll - that’ll create tension for sure) which make it come across as pretentious. The best thing about this are the verses, sadly.
Thanks. You articulated perfectly why I couldn't connect with the song either.
Great vocals but song not so much, and I'm the one that loves ballads, it seems very basic and cliché.
Good voice but too much repetition of 'Not the Same'. And that bit at the end, although emotional, feels very contrived. You hit the nail on the head on this one. Based.
6:00
Trenuletul?
AUS - This isn't my cup of tea, but I do love the message behind it (as someone who often thought of himself as a bit "odd" as a kid), as well as the crescendo leading from "I'm not the same" to "we're not the same". But I find it a bit been there, done that musically speaking, and overall I'm just neither drawn to nor repelled by it, and you kind of need to go one way or another in ESC. Still, I think it'll receive quite a bit love, so good luck to them!
Thank you for articulating the musical reasons why this one left me cold ! I watched this song as part of the Australia Decides show, so it was introduced with an interview with the contestants talking about their background and inspiration for their song. My first impression was of very powerful vocals, lots of belting, but the polished, controlled nature of the vocals seemed to be odd in this emotional coming out. Some colours would have been nice, like a bit of cracking. It is so heavily played as a coming out song to the point that I could tell from the first line that the mask was going to come off as the climax to the performance. It's worth noting that Tix did a similar thing but with glasses last year.
For me, the lyrics seemed literal and it's strange that I don't find them all that relatable, as I had similar experiences growing up. I get 'pain and shame' vibes that come across as self-contained in the performer, like I am a witness to something I can't access. In the Australian context it feels pre-2017. For that reason, I feel this misses the cultural moment when we are up to Mahmood & Blanco with 'Brividi'. It doesn't help that I cried to Jaguar Jonze's 'Little Fires' in contrast :D
You’re the first person who I saw reacting and saying some of negative qualities of this performance but yeah thank you for your honest opinion!
Great video as always. :-) First time I watched this I was gobsmacked by the emotions and his performance. Totally loved it and still do, even felt a few tears coming on. I must say though this is one of those rare songs I find better live than the studio version. I think its the staging and the drama that does it for me. The studio version lacks the emotion he brings on stage. I have seen a few others saying its a bitt OTT on the drama side, and I can get that. But I really enjoy the drama of it all, its so theatrical. I feel like in watching a musical almost.
100%. 1st time I listen that in Spoty I felt like.. where is the song I felt shivers?
I couldn't listen to this song. As someone who was bullied in my childhood, this song triggered many painful memories and gave me a panic attack. I'll probably skip this performance on the semi & finale night though.
Did you hear
Jaguar Jonze - LITTLE FIRES (Official Music Video) Australia Decides 2022
&
Voyager - Dreamer [Official Music Video]
There's not much to this one that I can latch on to... Heavily relies on the vocal, but even that gets old towards the end
Always a very insightful breakdown of the song. For me I do like this song but felt something was slightly ineffective about it yet couldn’t easily put my finger on what it was.
But Rachel has here revealed it to me.
The song creates a bit of a disconnect with the face covered so that we don’t quite feel the emotion.
So by the time he takes the mask off, he’s weeping but we aren’t there with him.
Rachel explained this all very well.
I still like the song it would be within my top 15 probably.
The Song called: Not the Same.
Hge is so amazing! You surprise me with your negative review. He is that emotional. He is an 11 plus!
I do understand people's notions about the chorus being too repetitive even though Sheldon performs those differently each time. Perhaps if it was changed slightly lyrically then people might engage in the song more possibly.
The crying at the end, especially in his winning performance was because he couldn't believe he was actually going to represent Australia at Eurovision which had been his life's dream since watching Conchita in 2014 so I understood the nature of that obviously.
Come May Sheldon will probably have been taught how to keep his emotions in check so that doesn't happen on stage when he first appears in the second semi-final naturally.
Hi Rachel, great video and very insightful comments. I thought this would be one of the songs I really like considering that I tend to like ballads but somehow I do not like this as much as Poland and Azerbaijan despite the similarities. I initially do not know why but after many listen and your comments, I think what bugs me is that ultimately it is a bit too simple musically? I know that the singer is obviously connected to the song but it feels lacking in terms of depth. The chorus does not really progress and there is also a sense of "manufactured" atmosphere as well due to the arrangements and melody, so it relies so much on the performer's efforts... But maybe the May live performance can change my mind.
Great voice bland lyrics. You nailed your critique.
Ciao Rachel, Questa canzone sarebbe perfetta per San Remo, la passione che mette l'artista è molto simile alla forma della lirica italiana, il piano è perfettamente amalgamato alla voce. Se posso trovare un punto debole è troppo lineare, priva di contrasti armonici il che la rende un po' piatta, ruota tutto attorno alle grandi doti canore dell'artista ma credo sia un po' poco se si punta a vincere. Bye Rach. Peace and love from Italia. 🇮🇹🎶
When I first listened to it became a winner alert for me, if they changed the chorus a bit so it's less repetitive would be better
I think you don’t understand the reasoning behind it. He’s talking about growing us queer and with Asperger's Syndrome. He’s also never sung without a mask of some sort. This was the first time live taking it off, so I think once the audience knows some of the reasoning behind it, it’s very easy to truly understand the song. Also my first watch without know any of that, and I was totally emotionally invested. So everyone will react differently
His voice is phenomenal, this guy knows how to sing but the song is a bit flat and although it is built to really touch emotions, i dont think it succeeds, at least not for me.... Good luck Australia, great reaction as always Rachel.
uhh.... I think its Riley, not Reilly...
Can you please react to Romania's song?
Please react to Armenia's song ❤
Totally agree! This guy has a great voice but the song is absolutely insignificant and also...it remind me another song 🙄🤨😕
very short.... its a good entry but. He is kind a overdramatizing. And that "fix the hair" twice thing is not working either. To me it simply looks like an act backed up with a voice out of this world. Would work a bit better if he actually looked just a bit messy.. bad hair day, anything to make him not perfect. Know what i meen?
Anyways.. i love the song. I call Jury winner.
I felt like the melody was so predictable in a way and nothing interesting or outstanding happened (vocals were incredible don't get me wrong)
6/10
I dont need to seen his face to connect with him, i just feelt, try you too, you talking to much, he amazing, diva, the best and please do not comment any more, you need to have heart and soul to listen this song and you dont have, shame from you
How about this: let’s all have differing opinions on music without having to insult people. Maybe re-evaluate the way you talk to people in the future? otherwise don’t watch other peoples commentary if you’re too sensitive to criticism or objectivity…
Da di da, da di da, da di Zzzzz.
Good analysis, agree to most of your comments. This entry is slightly underwhelming.
Maybe you should look into his life story and then you might realize that his emotions are real and his voice will crush the majority of the opposition. Australia expects bias and jealousy still sadly from many Europeans as Australia isn't apart of Europe. I haven't seen one decent English act yet maybe they could learn from us.
careful she removes reviews that in any way don't agree
typical of a know-it-all narcissist
If she's a musician - lets see a link to that - I imagine she's just brilliant (LOL)
@@mrb8993 spot on mate and to be honest wouldn't worry me plenty of better reactor's on CZcams
I think it’s very moving, and has a good chance of winning, and I disagree with pretty much everything she said and have the opposite opinion, very good build for me and gives me that feeling I’m there with him. But 🤷🏼♀️. However I will say, why you you think there jealousy from Europe? Your not the first Aussie I’ve hear say that same and I don’t get where the attitude is from? I feel auz is very aligned with my culture in Ireland and same for the Uk. And I think auz has done good in the Eurovision so far. Except maybe last year. If your comment relates to standards of living then I’d say travel Europe more, because there’s nothing you can buy that I couldn’t equality buy, only difference we don’t have hot weather in Ireland 🤣
@@itsjonathanbitch ?? what are you on about I was talking about those Europeans who have clearly done their best to stop Australia from getting the results they deserve like Dami, wasn't talking about the standard of living between Australia and Europe lol
@@stephenmarshall1918 just because she didn’t win isn’t a problem. There was better songs then hers. Doesn’t mean we’re against you winning. Anyone can win with a good song. It’s the right song on the right year.
It's o.k. and has a nice vocal performance but the song is bland. 5 out of 10.
Sorry , I think this song is amazing and the meaning I think you don't understand it. There is a reason behind how the song is orchestrated. I think you should watch it over again. I think he is one of the better singers in this.
A lack of emotion? OMG are you serious! The mask is about having to hide behind a mask which people of difference often live behind. You don’t get it at all. One of the few reactions I’ve heard that don’t feel it. He wrote the song when he was 15 about being different having been diagnosed with Asperger’s at 6 years old. I’ve heard the song about 100 times and still have chills every time I hear it as do most reactors.
Sorry 😞 it’s just I didn’t feel it at first. It’s definitely grown on me and I really liked his performance at the semi final! Everyone has a different music taste and that’s okay.
You don't know what you are talking about dear
U lost me at lack of lyrics
I still don't understand why Isreal and Australia can participate at the Eurovision song contest?
a lot of other countries are not european
Because of them being members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). They run and host Eurovision every year. So as long as a country is a member of that they can participate in the contest and don't have to be European either obviously.
Because there both members of the European Broadcasting Union which host and run Eurovision every year so both countries are allowed to participate even though they're not in Europe then.
I find the whole performance extremely melodramatic and the lyrics are so repetitive. Not one I'll be listening to outside of the contest.
Your actually NOT GETTING IT