From Bowen Beaches to Oscar Victory

On Monday 16^th March, North Queensland–raised Judah Kelly attended the 98^th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, where the short film he starred in, The Singers, was awarded an Oscar.
The film tied for the win with another short film, in an Oscars occurrence that whilst rare, is indeed possible. This is a huge achievement that represents years of hard work, building craft and nurturing talent; Judah has no doubt made the community incredibly proud.

Born in Townsville, Judah attended school in Bowen where he took part in various school choirs, an experience that inspired his musicianship and developed his performance capabilities. He continued his secondary education in Mackay before attending the Junior Academy of Country Music in Tamworth (NSW).

Judah auditioned for the X Factor in 2012 and 2014. Despite not finding success, he was not deterred, deciding to audition for The Voice in 2017. After singing ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ in a blind audition he made it through the finals, where he became the official winner of the sixth season.

His newest achievement is receiving the Oscar as one of the stars of short film The Singers, which received an award for Best Live Action Short at 98^th Academy Awards.

Directed by filmmaker Sam Davis, the film is an 18-minute musical comedy which centres around a spontaneous singing competition that breaks out amongst a group of random patrons in a dive bar. The film is based on the 1850 Ivan Turgenev story of the same name.

Prior to the academy awards, the film had already won 35 awards across 50 film festivals in 2025.

Judah’s inclusion in the film came out of a unique casting process. Rather than hiring actors through traditional means, filmmaker Sam Davis spent months scouring the internet for authentic voices he believed would bring the story to life. As a result, Judah was sought out for his raw vocal talent.

“At first they emailed me to ask me to be in the film and I don’t act so I thought it was just a scam”, Judah said in an interview to Channel Nine’s Today Show prior to the ceremony.

“They were very persistent with getting me to act. Then I found out everyone was a first-time actor and we all thought it was a scam. It turned out they did want us for a film – it’s about men and vulnerability”.

Following the victory, Judah took to Instagram to express his joy.

“We don’t even know how to act. Our film just won an Oscar!”

The film tied with another short feature marking only the seventh time in Oscars’ history that a category closed with two winners.

This is a fantastic achievement, and Judah should be incredibly proud of his efforts. He has certainly made communities across Bowen and Mackay immensely proud.

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Judah Kelly, local legend fresh from Oscar win. Photo sourced: Facebook

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