WHEN YOU WATCHED THE AUDITION EPISODES AND YOU SAW YOU WEREN'T SHOWN AS MUCH, WERE YOU CONCERNED AT ALL?

Oh yeah, I was a little, 'cause I would see how people were getting excited about other people. And I was like, "Uh oh." Like (they were) already getting fans ... and I knew why they weren't airing my stuff [because] it didn't clear so I was okay with it, but still it wasn't fun.

NOW THAT YOU'RE GOING HOME, WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO GET BACK TO?

Well, I don't know how soon it's happening, because what I'm hearing is that I won't get to go home. We're going to New York this next weekend, then I have to come back for the finale. I don't really know when getting home will be. When I do, though ... I just miss home and I love being home in the summer. I kind of miss working in the summers with my dad, but I don't know if that will happen again.

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR WORK WITH YOUR DAD?

He has a company that designs and builds custom swimming pools, and I've been working with him since I was 15. I just did drafting and did some outside work like survey lots and clean pools and stuff like that.

ARE YOU AS MELLOW IN REAL LIFE AS YOU APPEARED ON THE SHOW?

I am very much; I'm kind of laid-back and grounded in everything. Nothing comes as a surprise if you don't expect it. I am like that. I'm not always so calm, I am kind of goofy. I think a lot of people don't see my hyper-ness sometimes. I still have fun but I'm pretty relaxed about everything.

HOW DID YOU FEEL LAST WEEK WHEN SIMON SAID YOU WEREN'T THE JASON THEY BROUGHT INTO THE COMPETITION?

I was feeling the same thing. I was just feeling me losing that power just because I couldn't connect with the songs at the given time. I really had a hard time when we picked it up to two songs, like I wasn't committed to either one and I just couldn't connect with them. I couldn't fall in love with them -- you need time for that.

WHAT'S THE MOST DIFFICULT ASPECT OF BEING ON AMERICAN IDOL?

It has everything to do with the song, either selecting the song or finding the time to rehearse it. That's the biggest challenge. It's all about the song, and if you try to make things original, as time goes on you get less and less time to do that. It really becomes harder. The day-to-day running of things is hard to do.

DID THE SHOW PORTRAY YOU HOW YOU REALLY ARE?

I think it very much does. I am a goofy person. I have fun. I'm kind of an awkward conversationalist (I'm doing my best right now). All my friends, they love it, because what you see is what you get. I didn't change at all coming out here. That's me.

AFTER YOU FORGOT LYRICS TUESDAY, DID YOU GO BACKSTAGE AND CHECK THEM OR DID YOU REMEMBER THEM IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS?

Yeah, I knew them. I know when I got up on stage that day it was really rushed. I had barely sat in my seat when they told me to go, and so my mind was in a blur, and I just sang and got to that part and I think I forgot where in the chorus I was. I didn't know which ending I was supposed to be doing and then I went on from there.

DID YOU REMEMBER THE LINES BY THE TIME YOU FINISHED THE SONG?

Yeah, I sang the same chorus at the end and I sang the words then, I just don't know where they went for that second.

SOME CONSPIRACY THEORISTS THINK YOU MOUTHED THE WORDS "DON'T VOTE" AFTER THE FIRST SONG WHILE RYAN WAS ANNOUNCING THE NUMBERS. WHAT DID YOU REALLY SAY?

I was saying "vote," and then I said it again 'cause I was trying to emphasize that, but nobody heard me. And I remember going to sit down and thinking about it and that it kind of has the same syllables so it's going to look like "don't vote," like that went through my mind. I was like, "Dang it!" And the second time I consciously said "vote" once while they were doing the numbers, 'cause I had thought of that.

WHAT SONGS WOULD YOU HAVE SUNG NEXT WEEK?

Usually the songs I want to do don't clear 'cause I've already tried to clear them a few times. There's a song I hadn't tried to clear yet by the Cary Brothers called Blue Eyes. That was one I wanted to do next week that I knew and loved. That one would have been good. I don't know about the other two.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM IDOL?

I've learned I can do a lot more than I thought. Before I did this I wasn't really confident as a performer and I wasn't doing it a whole lot. Well, now I did it for a few months straight on TV (laughs). I just gained a lot of confidence and learned that I can do it. It's cool.

WHAT WAS THE BEST ADVICE YOU'VE RECEIVED AND FROM WHO?

I don't know, I generally think I have a good idea of music and what I think it is. There's always improvements I can have on the technical aspects of things, which I had on a weekly basis from my vocal coach, Byrd. But as far as all the artists go, it was always a reaffirming thing, about loving the music and doing that from the heart, and I think that's the core of music. It's easy to forget that when you're in something like American Idol and always feel like you're in such a rush to do these things. But that was always good advice.

YOUR INTERVIEW SKILLS HAVE CLEARLY IMPROVED

I try to think of them now more as conversations than interviews.

SIMON'S COMMENTS TOWARD THE END WERE PRETTY HARSH, AND YOU NEVER SEEMED OFFENDED. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR MELLOWNESS COMES FROM?

Well, I mean, it all, I don't know ... that night I was having fun with my songs. He could say whatever he wanted. I was confident with what I was doing. I had nothing be ashamed of and so if he didn't like it, fine. We need him for the competition. Sometimes it affects me if I wasn't prepared for a song and I feel like that, like going on stage and I'm feeling like it's not the best it could be, then they say that too, it's kind of reaffirming. But still it's just another day, it's just a song. People see past that. I see past that.

ANY REGRETS?

Not at all, I did everything as best as I can given the circumstances.

HEARD FROM ANYONE FAMOUS WHO HAS CALLED YOU OR EXPRESSED INTEREST IN WORKING WITH YOU?

Nothing about wanting to work with me. Chris Sligh called me the other day. He was hanging out with one of my friends, who is a guitarist, doing studio work in Nashville, and I came up in conversation. He gave him my number and he was extending his friendship. I haven't called him back yet. I haven't had time -- that's how busy this thing is. I can't even call back a celebrity.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO DO NEXT?

You know, after the tour, I'm looking forward to that. That's going to be a blast. After that, wherever music leads me. I just want to play some music somewhere.

WHAT SONGS THAT YOU SANG DIDN'T GET CLEARED?

In the first two auditions I sang Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, but in the style of Ray LaMontagne, one of my favorite singer/songwriters ever. He just did a really cool version of it, so that's what I did, but it never cleared. Another song I love to do is Santaria by Sublime. I tried to do that Hollywood week for my second day and they said it cleared, then they changed their minds. I don't know how that all works. Then I tried again while we were out here but it never cleared.

WITH SO MANY OF THE OTHER CONTESTANTS HAVING PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUNDS, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE JUDGES SAW IN YOU?

I think it was the potential. Because I was so new at it and what I had done so far, I think it showed enough potential that I could be something especially with the nature of the show. I'm very much what the show is originally about. I am as raw as it gets. I haven't done much of anything singing-wise. Or maybe I'd just be good on TV, I don't know.

ON THE SHOW YOU LOOKED LIKE THE GUY WHO WANDERED IN AND WAS JUST HAVING FUN. SO YOU WANTED TO WIN?

Yeah, I did come in with that attitude. I made it farther than I had ever imagined. I didn't really consider it a real possibility that I could win until these last few weeks. I did just wander in and see where it would go. Then I was like, "All right, I'm here, I'm in it to win it." I never had the mindset to win first place, more like every week I want to give it my best and that leads to winning it.

DID YOU WATCH IDOL BEFORE?

Yeah, I was a fan of the show. I forgot until last night when my brother was talking during my exit interview, but sophomore year of college we were living together and I remember the last semester we watched Idol every night every week. I had totally forgotten about that. We would come home and we'd be cooking and watching it. I loved what the show was and all the challenges. I thought it'd be fun, and it was fun and it was hard.

YOU'D REALLY NEVER HEARD OF THE MUSICAL CATS BEFORE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER WEEK?

I had heard of the show but I had never…I mean by the time I sang in front of Andrew Lloyd Webber I knew [the song was sung by] a cat, but when I first heard the song I didn't even know it was from Cats. I just heard the song and was just trying to find a good song.

SO IN REAL TIME, WHEN YOU MET ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER YOU KNEW THAT SONG WAS SUNG BY A CAT?

A few minutes before that, but those interviews are after we exit and they're asking all sorts of questions. Like they asked if I knew that song was from the musical Cats, and I actually knew it was from the musical Cats, but I didn't realize it was a cat singing it until that moment when the producer told me.

DID YOU KNOW YOU DROVE THE JEFF BUCKLEY VERSION OF HALLELUJAH TO THE TOP OF THE iTUNES CHARTS?

Yeah, that was awesome. I couldn't believe it. When I saw that I realized the power that American Idol has. That I could sing a song and -- I don't know, it was such an honor. How cool if people hadn't heard that song -- they should have, and I'm glad that now they have.

LAST NIGHT YOU SEEMED SO RELIEVED. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT?

I've been telling people I was as happy last night as I was when I found out I made it to the Top 24. This whole time I've had a blast, and I've been trying, but it's just been hard. That night I remember I was thinking, I just started to fear the week ahead. 'How am I going to do three songs, I can't even do two right.' And you know, with the hometown visit it was going to be a lot of work, even though it would have been so much fun. I was just freaking out about it. That was all building up. I was ready to go either way. They gave me that, and it was just my natural reaction, I felt relief. The pressure was off. I loved my time on there and would have liked to go farther, but I don't think I could have handled it.

WHO'S GOING TO WIN?

I don't have any idea. Everyone's pretty strong. The Davids are really strong and Syesha's been fighting hard all along making it through bottom three like every week. Its really anybody's game. We'll see how America sways.

WERE YOU AWARE OF HOW A LOT OF THE MOVES YOU WERE MAKING WERE BEING ANALYZED? YOU YAWNED BACKSTAGE AND PEOPLE ARE WRITING THAT YOU ARE BORED. ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT?

I heard about the yawn. People that told me thought it was funny. I didn't hear anything negative about it. I really don't read anything like probably what y'all are about to write. I really wasn't bored; I'm just a chronic yawner. Every week before my song, I'm yawning and I don't know where it comes from or why.

DOES IT STRIKE YOU AT ALL THAT EVERY MOVE YOU WERE MAKING HAS BEEN ANALYZED?

I remember before, like that other thing going on, the presidential race, I always remember watching the news and them analyzing every move they make. It doesn't come as a surprise when you're trying to decide someone to vote for, you want to really know what's going on with them. I think it's natural to observe everything that they do.

FANS ON MESSAGE BOARDS HAD CHOSEN JAMES TAYLOR'S FIRE AND RAIN, BOB MARLEY'S NO WOMAN, NO CRY OR PRINCE'S ACOUSTIC WHEN DOVES CRY FOR YOU TO SING THIS WEEK. HAD YOU CONSIDERED ANY OF THOSE CHOICES?

I had not read that. I did get suggested for the James Taylor one, the day I was preparing my songs. I just kind of wanted to stick to what I knew 'cause I wasn't familiar with those other songs. I did consider the Bob Marley one because I really like that song, but I thought it needed more time. A lot of Bob Marley, you just need more time. The one I did was a little off, like they said; the arrangements were awkward 'cause the [time constraints ] doesn't give it time to groove.

WHAT'S THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT YOU?

I think there's an interview last week that I had said I wanted to go home or something. I think this week everybody had the idea that I was ready to go, and that wasn't my mindset at all going in. Every week has its ups and downs, and that morning when I had that interview I was kind of frustrated with a lot of things.

LIKE WHAT?

My music and the way it was coming across. There was a lot of stuff going on that morning, and I think that came across wrong. The way I was on the show, I guess people were thinking I didn't want to be there, which was never my mindset.

DO YOU THINK IT ACTUALLY MATTERS WHO WINS? OR HAVE YOU ALL GOTTEN ENOUGH EXPOSURE?

I think it very much does matter who wins or at least how far you get. Every week you're on gives you that much more of a chance, because you're never guaranteed anything in this business. We've all been given this opportunity to have some exposure. Now people know who you are and will maybe take a second to listen. So I think it matters but we've all got an opportunity...

ARE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE WITH BEING FAMOUS?

Yeah, we haven't gone out too much. It's kind of a weird thing. I don't really get it yet. I've never been starstruck, so it kind of takes me off guard when people are so crazy. But, I mean, it's cool, 'cause it means they like you, so it's flattering.

YOU SEEMED REAL FREAKED OUT BY PEOPLE SENDING BALLOONS WHEN YOU WERE SICK.

Oh no, I wasn't freaked out by that. That was nice.

HAD YOU BEEN SICK?

I was. A few weeks ago, I think it was Neil Diamond week. I woke up with a terrible, just everything wrong possible, I was running a fever, my nose was runny, my throat was hurting and I was coughing. I was terrible that day. That was on a Sunday and we were doing a music video all day. So Monday morning I went to the doctor and got two shots on my rear end and got some antibiotics.

SO BY THE TIME YOU MADE IT ONTO THE SHOW YOU WERE OKAY?

Well, I was exhausted. It was the week of Andrew Lloyd Webber, because I remember my recording sounds kind of nasally. I was drained. In all the rehearsals I was just about ready to fall asleep at any second, but I made it through and didn't think it was so bad.

HOW HARD WAS IT TO SING THE SECOND SONG LAST WEEK WHEN PAULA MISTAKENLY JUDGED IT BEFORE YOU HAD PERFORMED IT?

It was kind of funny. I was just kind of confused by what was going on. "By the second song, did you mean David? What does that mean?" It was an honest mistake. I don't think it affected my next performance.

DID YOU THINK AFTER YOU FORGOT THE WORDS THAT YOU WERE GOING HOME?

I was split both ways. I really didn't know what would happen. I felt that I was the one who deserved to go, because I felt that I had the weakest performances that night. At the same time I know I have some very loyal fans. I was really unsure either way.

HOW DID PEOPLE REACT TO YOU WHEN YOU WERE OUT ON STREETS AND WHAT WAS ALL THAT REACTION YOU GOT IN LAS VEGAS LIKE?

You know, we really never go out at all. Maybe once a week I go out to dinner with my parents and try to be as inconspicuous as possible. That was really the first time we were in public, and it was crazy.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT ALL THE GIRLS THAT LIKED YOU? COULD YOU HEAR ALL THE SCREAMS WHEN YOU WERE PERFORMING?

Yeah, there were a lot of screaming people.

DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?

I do. She's from Texas. She just finished school and is headed home.

(closing remarks): Thanks, y'all.