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Sheldon Riley

© EBU/Nathan Reinds About Quick Facts NameSheldon Riley Hernandez Born14 march 1999 Nationality🇦🇺 Australian National SelectionEurovision – Australia decides 2022 In Eurovision2022 Turin SongNot the same (2022) Biography Sheldon Riley Hernandez, known by his stage name Sheldon Riley, is an Australian singer. Riley was born in Sydney to an Australian mother and Filipino father. He grew up in the Gold Coast. Riley was diagnosed with the asperger syndrom. Riley also faced difficulties in his live being gay in a Christian family. Sheldon Hernandez started his career in 2016 by auditioning for the eighth season of The X Factor Australia. He was originally mentored as a young solo singer by Adam Lambert. However, he did not make it. Riley returned to The X Factor after the mentor of the groups category, Iggy Azalea, selected him to be a part of a new boy band of eliminated solo artists. The band was called Time and Place. They made it to the first week of the live shows. In 2018, Riley took part in the seventh season of The Voice Australia. Riley chose Boy George to be his coach. He became 3rd in the final of The Voice. It resulted in the release of his debut single “Fire”. A year later, Riley returned to The Voice to compete in its eighth season as an all-star contestant. This time, he chose Delta Goodrem as his coach. He reached the semifinal. In 2020, Riley competed in the fifteenth season of America’s Got Talent. He reached the quarter finals here. In 2022, Sheldon Riley won the Australian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest, and thus represented Australia with the song “I’m not the same”. Entries Not the same Country🇦🇺 Australia Year2022 LanguageEnglish LyricsSheldon Riley Hernandez MusicSheldon Riley HernandezCam Nacson Backings– Results Semi Points: 243Position: 2Running order: 8 Results Finals Points: 125Position: 15Running order: 21 https://youtu.be/wosfFz2FJPU?si=QOvajMHv3KuEIlnE

Vasil Garvanliev

© EBU/Thomas Hanses About Quick Facts NameVasil Garvanliev Born2 november 1984 Nationality🇲🇰 North Macedonian🇧🇬 Bulgarian National SelectionInternal Selection 2020 and 2021Skopje Fest 2007 In Eurovision2021 Rotterdam2020 Rotterdam (Cancelled) SongHere i stand (2021)You (2020) Biography Vasil Garvanliev is a North Macedonian singer. He was born in Strumica, at the time of his birth part of Yugoslavia. When he was 7 years old, Vasil scored a hit called “Marionka”. With that song, Vasil became a child star. When he was 10 years old, his family moved to the United States, where he sang at the Chicago Childrens Choir. He did a lot of performances in these days, among others in front of president Clinton. When he was 17, the family moved back to North Macedonia. Vasil also lived and studied in Milan. As a pop singer, he participated in the 2007 national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Soon after this, he moved to Toronto where he was admitted to the Royal Conservatory with a full scholarship and remained there for 9 years.After his return in 2018, He released several singles like “Gerdan” and “Patuvam”. He was a backing vocal for Tamara Todevska in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. In 2020, he was chosen to represent North Macedonia in the contest himself. Unfortunately, due to the cancellation of the contest, it didn’t happen. However, North Macedonian television invited him again to do the job in 2021, with the song “Here I stand”. Not everything went smoothly; in the video of the song, the Bulgarian flag or something that looked like that, was visible. Vasil also has the Bulgarian nationality. A petition against Vasil as a representative of North Macedonia was, in the end, rejected. Shortly before the contest, Vasil came out as being gay, which made him the first openly gay North Macedonian participant. In 2022, Vasil released an EP in English, “Porcelain soldier”, an EP he calls a journey of self discovery. In april of the same year, his single and video “Beautiful” came out. Entries Here i stand Country North Macedonia Year2021 LanguageEnglish Lyrics & MusicVasil Garvanliev Backings– Results Semi Points: 23Position: 15Running order: 6 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/WRcSHPb_Qwc You Country North Macedonia Year2020 LanguageEnglish LyricsNevena NeskoskaKalina NeskoskaAlice Schroeder ComposersNevena Neskoska Backings– Results Semi Points: –Position: –Running order: – Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPZumQQExQc

Axel Hirsoux

© Albin Olsson About Quick Facts NameAxel Hirsoux Born26 September 1982 Nationality🇧🇪 Belgian National SelectionEurosong 2014 In Eurovision2014 Copenhagen SongMother (2014) Biography Axel Hirsoux is a Belgian singer. He was born in Gosselies on the 26th of September, 1982. Axel’s journey in singing contests began in 2001, where he also met his vocal coach, Ness, in 2002. When he was 23, he auditioned for the fifth season of Star Academy in France, where he was almost selected. In 2007, he performed the duet “Vivo per lei” with Hélène Ségara in front of an audience of 1,500. He also performed the musical Notre-Dame de Paris with an amateur group. He participated in the second season of The Voice Belgique in 2013 where he performed Daniel Balavoine’s “Tous les cris les SOS”. He was picked by Quentin Mosimann and Natasha St-Pier, and he decided to join Natasha’s team. However, he was eliminated during the duel rounds. On March 16, 2014, he was the winner of Eurosong, the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. Axel Hirsoux secured more than 50% of the audience votes and four times the maximum score of 12 from seven countries’ judges. With 224 points, he was chosen to represent Belgium at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, performing the song “Mother”. He ended up in 14th place out of sixteen participants, not progressing to the final round. He signed a deal with Universal Music Belgium and released a single “Bellissimo” on July 21, 2014. This was a cover of the Italian song “Anche se Fuori È Inverno” by Deborah Iurato, penned by Fiorella Mannoia, which ranked No.1 in Italy. In December 2014, he released the single “Because You Need Me” in duet with Camille. He also performed this title in duet with Suzy, Portugal’s representative at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, on Portugal’s national RTP channel. While his album was slated for release in June 2015, he announced the end of his partnership with the record label in January. In June 2015, he launched his first French single, “Haut L’humain…”, marking the start of a new collaboration with Gun / Lali Factory. In December of the same year, the song “Après l’hiver” penned by Iza Loris, Sabine Cardinal, and Elias was released. In March 2016, he released another single, “Au plus près de mes rêves”. Like Mégan Giart, another participant of The Voice Belgique, he promoted the national release of Beauty and the Beast by performing the title track “Histoire éternelle”. In May 2017, he appeared on the television show “Les talents chantent l’Eurovision” on RTBF, with Johnny Logan, Sandra Kim, and Tom Dice. He made a comeback in October 2018 with the single “Être aimé”, produced by Pierre Jaconelli for THN International. During the promotion of this song, the singer discussed his weight loss of sixty kilos. In 2019, he performed at the Palais des Sports in Paris in the rock opera Siddhartha. He also performed at the Eurovision related event J’Aime La Vlie in The Netherlands. In 2022, Axel Hirsoux qualified during the talent show The Voice: La Plus Belle Voix, aired on TF1. Entries Mother Country🇧🇪 Country Year2014 LanguageEnglish LyricsAshley HicklinRafael Artesero MusicAshley HicklinRafael Artesero Backings– DancersIsabelle Beenaert Results Semi Points: 28Position: 14Running order: 10 Results Finals Points: –Position: –Running order: – https://youtu.be/wr3m4ghnq6w

Hovi Star

© EBU About Quick Facts NameHovav Sekulets Born19 November 1986 Nationality🇮🇱 Israeli National SelectionHaKokhav HaBa La’Eirovizion 2016 In Eurovision2016 Stockholm SongMade of Stars (2016) Biography Hovav Sekulets (born in Kiryat Ata in 1986), known by the stage name Hovvi Star, is an Israeli singer, actor, composer, writer, voiceover and presenter. Hovi studied at the religious youth village, near Kfar Hassidim, until the age of 14. In the 10th grade, he decided to drop out of school in order to release an album, so after this didn’t work out, he returned to school a year later. He did his military service in military bands. About six months before his release from the IDF, he auditioned for the seventh season of the reality show Kokhav Nolad, and was accepted. After being eliminated from the show in tenth place, he returned to the program using the “Lifebuoy” mechanism, and finally finished in seventh place. Immediately after “Kokhav Nolad”, he participated in “The Children’s Song Festival 2009” with the song “Little boy, big boy”, which he wrote and composed together with Assaf Aberbuch. On January 29, 2010, he appeared at a fundraise for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti and sang Ilanit’s song “Bashana Nehsah” in his own arrangement. In 2010, he hosted the show “Kokhav Live”, which followed the contestants behind the scenes of “Kokhav Nolad 8”, and at the same time presented a column on Kokhav Nolad in a morning show. In June of that year, he appeared at the opening event of the Pride Week in Tel Aviv. In 2016, he participated in the reality program HaKokhav HaBa La’Eirovizion. As part of a collaboration with the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the program was designed to select Israel’s representative for Eurovision 2016. Hovi Star won the contest and represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song “Made of Stars”. In the Grand Final of the contest, Hovi reached a 14th place. Hovi Star played roles in children’s plays “Little mermaid” and “Aladdin”. On 3 March 2019, Hovi Star made a comeback with a new song, “Silver spoon”. In January 2020 he opened a new YouTube channel called Mr. Star. He published cover versions of songs on the channel. In 2021 he released a new single in Hebrew. Entries Made Of Stars Country🇮🇱 Israel Year2016 LanguageEnglish LyricsDoron Medalie MusicDoron Medalie BackingsMatan AgamiAlmog KapachImri ZivJennifer CohenAmir Ner-Goan Results Semi Points: 147Position: 7Running order: 4 Results Finals Points: 135Position: 14Running order: 7 https://youtu.be/SS5TB2XUdgs