Australia's 2022 Eurovision Song Contest entrant Sheldon Riley has brought style, big vocals and spectacle to the stage in Turin for the competition's second semi-final.
Riley, who performed wearing a crystal mask and a dramatic white dress with a long train, sang Not the Same.
The big ballad is inspired by Riley's experience with Asperger's syndrome and feeling different to everyone in his appearance and how he related to the world.
In front of crowds in Italy, how did the singer — who has previously competed on reality TV singing shows in Australia and the United States — fare in his bid to make it through to the grand final?
**SPOILER WARNING**
This Eurovision recap is absolutely full of spoilers, so only continue reading if you've watched the second semi-final — or alternatively, keep reading if you can't wait until Saturday night to watch the replay.
You've been warned.
Riley has made it through to the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest, along with singers from nine countries out of the other 17 that were also vying for a spot.
Half of the votes were cast by a professional jury and the other half remotely by viewers.
Performers from Belgium, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Poland, Finland, Estonia, Australia, Sweden, Romania and Serbia garnered enough votes to make the cut for the final.
Ireland, Montenegro, Georgia, North Macedonia, Cyprus, Malta, Israel, and San Marino all missed out.
The 10 successful nations will join Lithuania, Switzerland, Ukraine, Netherlands, Moldova, Portugal, Iceland, Greece and Norway which qualified from the first semi-final — in Sunday's decider.
Hosts Italy, Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom — the big five countries that make the biggest financial contributions to the European Broadcasting Union, which broadcasts the song contest — have all bypassed the semis per the rules.
In a tense finale, the names of the 10 qualifying countries were read out in random order.
Australia was read out seventh, sparking celebrations from Riley and his delegation in the green room.
"It's a huge thrill that people across Europe have appreciated Not the Same, and I'm so happy I get to be on the stage again this weekend."
The stage at PalaOlimpico included a large Sun motif behind the performers and running water at the edges. Hosts Alessandro Catellan, Laura Pausini and Mika took the crowd through the contest, bantering and introducing the performers.
Veteran Finnish rockers The Rasmus kicked things off with their song Jezebel. The crowd was involved from the start, roaring for the guitar solo and shouting out the name of the song.
Israeli X-Factor winner Michael Ben David produced a flamboyant, high-energy performance complete with a dance routine for him and his backing dancers, who were clad in all white, for his number IM.
Konstrakta from Serbia came up with a piece of performance art for her song In Corpore Sano, designed as commentary on the state of the health system, complete with Meghan Markle references and on-stage washing of her hands. The crowd joined in with hand-clapping.
Nadir Rustamli — an Azerbaijan winner of The Voice, produced a big vocal performance for his ballad Fade to Black.
One the odder moments of the evening came from Georgia's Circus Mircus with Lock Me In. Out-there costumes, visions of clowns and talking mouths on the big screen accompanied a psychedelic number sung by a lead singer resembling Willie Wonka.
Maltese singer Emma Muscat performed in a glitter-ball dress, standing atop a piano for her empowerment anthem I Am What I Am. She and her backing dancers were the first to use the PalaOlimpico's B-stage as they had the crowd clapping along.
San Marino's Achille Lauro then brought a raunchy number, called Stripper, with the singer appearing in a mesh outfit with a big feather boa and boots.
Members of his band were performing in cages as Achille Lauro — whose stage name is taken from a cruise ship hijacked by terrorists in the 1970s — cavorted around the stage, riding a pimped-up mechanical bull and kissing a male band member during the performance.
Then it was time for Sheldon Riley to perform — but only after a delay because of extra time needed to set up his staging.
He competed wearing a 40kg designer creation in white, complete with crystals and feathers and a crystal mask.
He stood at the bottom of a pair of stairs, singing a song he wrote at 15 as a message to his younger self.
With dry ice around him, and plenty of spotlights cutting through a dark stage, Riley had a Moon-rising effect on the big screen. The crowd roared as he climbed the stairs, before removing his mask. The 23-year-old nailed his vocal and got a big reception in the hall.
Cyprus's entrant Andromache had the crowd clapping along with her song Ela, which mixed traditional sounds with a dance track.
Ireland brought a more up-tempo number than usual, with pyro and a light show as Brooke Scullion brought a feisty performance for her ode to a bad boyfriend, That's Rich. At the end, she led the crowd in a football-style chant of "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole".
Next was Andrea for North Macedonia with Circles, before Estonia's Stefan came on stage with a guitar strapped to his back to sing Hope, before taking a running jump onto the B-stage mid-song, prompting a big response from the crowd.
Romania's WRS had a big reception for their Latin-inspired dance number Llamame, which had the crowd singing "Hola mi bebebe" back at the group.
Poland's Ochman performed next, with one of the favoured songs for the semi-final, River. His big ballad included plenty of water images and effects, including the effect that there was water running down the camera lens. He received a huge reception.
Montenegro's Vladana produced an emotional performance for her song Breathe, written about her late mother.
Belgium's Jeremie Makiese sang soulful number Miss You, before one of the favourites for the whole contest, Sweden's Cornelia Jakobs, performed her break-up song Hold Me Closer.
In a spare staging, Jakobs crouched on stage in close-up to start, singing to the camera before it swung around to show the crowd.
Singing to the backdrop of a giant disc turning from green to red, Jakobs had the crowd clapping along before ripping into the chorus, including the lines "Oh it kills me I've found the right one at the wrong time".
The final chorus was punctuated with big pyro and a light show.
If Sweden wins, it will equal Ireland with seven Eurovision victories, the most in contest history.
Czech Republic's We Are Domi finished the show off with a dark dance number, Lights Off.
The grand final will begin at 5am AEST on Sunday. ABC will live blog the final from 4:30am AEST.
