Season 24 of “American Idol” is well underway.
After launching the latest season of the longrunning singing competition earlier this year, the show’s judges – Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie – have narrowed down “thousands” of hopeful contestants to a list of just 127 who earned a golden ticket to Hollywood.
On March 2, the second half of Hollywood Week saw nearly 100 singers eliminated from the competition, leaving just the 30 best and brightest voices to continue on in hopes of scoring their very own recording contract and a $250,000 grand prize.
Amongst their ranks is 26-year-old Australia native Sheldon Riley, who secured his spot in the Top 30 with a rendition of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!” during Hollywood Week.
While some viewers got to meet Sheldon for the first time when he auditioned for “American Idol” Season 24 earlier this year with a powerful cover of Matt Corby’s “Brother,” the contestant is already a superstar in other parts of the world, having appeared on shows like “The X Factor Australia,” “The Voice Australia,” “America’s Got Talent” and “The Masked Singer Australia.” He even represented his nation during the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest.
Here’s a look back on “American Idol” Top 30 contestant Sheldon Riley’s illustrious singing career and the chart-topping superstars who’ve trained his voice along the way.
Sheldon Riley’s 2016 ‘X Factor’ Debut (ft. Adam Lambert)
Sheldon Riley made his reality TV debut on the cast of “The X Factor Australia” Season 8 at just 16 years old.
After failing to impress former “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert with his rendition of Elton John’s “Circle of Life” in the auditions, the judging panel offered Riley the chance to sing a new song – an a cappella version of John Legend’s “Ordinary People” – that ultimately convinced Lambert to take Riley under his wing.
Sheldon was later eliminated as a solo artist during the bootcamp stage of the competition before being invited to return by Iggy Azalea – the mentor of the Groups category – who paired him with other eliminated solo acts to form an all-new boy band called Time and Place.
While the short-lived boy band delivered stellar performances of Olly Mars’ “You Don’t Know Live” and Twenty One Pilots’ “Ride,” they were ultimately eliminated in the first week of live shows.
Sheldon Riley Stunned Boy George on ‘The Voice’ in 2018
Just two years later, Sheldon Riley returned to the reality TV sphere, this time as a contestant on Season 7 of “The Voice Australia.”
During his blind audition, Riley performed a powerful cover of Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” earning a coveted four-chair turn, ultimately selecting Grammy winner Boy George as his coach.
Riley’s run on the season would see him perform show-stopping covers of tracks like “Believe” (Cher), “Diamonds” (Rhianna”), “Creep” (Radiohead), “Scars to Your Beautiful” (Alessia Cara), “Born This Way” (Lady Gaga), “Rise” (Katy Perry), and “Young and Beautiful” (Lana Del Rey), as well as a duet performance on “Sweet Dreams” with Boy George.
Sheldon made it all the way to the finale episode, ultimately wrapping up a respectable third place finish.
Just months later, he was invited to return for the following season – an “all-stars” edition – selecting Australian superstar Delta Goodrem as his coach after auditioning with a cover of Madonna’s “Frozen” with an all-new masked persona.
His follow-up run on the 2019 season saw the singer add a fresh twist to tracks from artists like Ke$ha, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande and Queen before being eliminated in the semi-finals.
Sheldon Riley’s Two-Season Stint on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Having momentarily exhausted the list of reality singing competitions in Australia, Sheldon Riley moved to the United States for his next TV appearance as a contestant on Season 15 of “America’s Got Talent” in 2020.
After impressing the judges with a rendition of Billie Eilish’s “idontwannabeyouanymore,” Riley earned a spot on the season’s live shows, though he was ultimately eliminated in the third quarter-final after his performance of Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” failed to impress voters.
Regardless, Riley was welcomed back to the franchise for 2024’s “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” installment, joining Mel B’s team.
Prior to his elimination in the season’s semi-finals, Sheldon wowed American audiences with his covers of “Tattoo” by Loreen and “Golden Hour” by JVKE.
Sheldon Riley Became a Global Superstar in Eurovision Song Contest
GettyWith five seasons of reality TV experience under his belt, Sheldon Riley set his sights on the world stage in 2022, being selected to represent his native Australia in the Eurovision Song Contest after winning over viewers on 2021’s “Eurovision – Australia Decides” singing competition.
Sheldon performed an original track – “Not the Same” – for the global competition, placing 15th out of 40 competing countries.
Sheldon Riley Went ‘Incognito’ on ‘The Masked Singer’
Most recently, Sheldon Riley returned to his reality TV roots by appearing on Season 4 of “The Masked Singer Australia” as “Snapdragon.”
Thanks to show-stopping renditions of “Sorry Not Sorry” (Demi Lovato), “How Will I Know” (Whitney Houston), “Therefore I Am” (Billie Eilish), “Strong” (London Grammar), “Stay” (Rhianna), “Valerie” (Amy Winehouse), and “Never Enough” (Loren Allred), he managed to secure his spot in the season finale.
Riley finished the 2022 season as a runner-up, ultimately losing the competition to Pussycat Dolls alum Melody Thornton.
Sheldon Riley is a Well-Established Recording Artist
While Sheldon’s pre-”American Idol” performances have been focused on covering tracks from other singers, Riley is similarly a well-established recording artist in his own right, having released six hit singles over the course of his career.
The tracks include “Fire” (2018), “More Than I” (2020), “Left Broken” (2021), “Again” (2021), “Never Enough” (2022) and, most recently, “Insane” (2023). To this day, however, Riley remains best-known for his 2022 Eurovision song, “Not the Same,” which debuted at No. 3 on the Australian Independent Label Singles chart.
Check out Sheldon Riley’s full discography on Spotify here.
Fans can catch the continuation of Sheldon Riley’s trajectory to fame when “American Idol” Season 24 returns on Monday, March 9 at 8:00pm ET, exclusively on ABC.
