He may not have won Canadian Idol, but the future certainly looks bright for Drew Wright.

Wright was eliminated from the CTV reality show on Tuesday, leaving Theo Tams and Mitch McDonald in the competition.

"I knew it was my time to go and was at peace with that," said Wright. "I never dreamed it would go this far."

Wright's participation on the show quickly sparked a widespread community support, with residents putting signs in their window and some putting Wright's face on their car.

He performed a pair of concerts, the first at the Station drew about 4,000 people and the second on Hurontario St., saw more than 10,000 people attend.

"How do you say thank you?" he asked. "There are people who voted more than 1,000 times."

Before he participated in Canadian Idol, Wright said he was used to sitting on a bar stool with an acoustic guitar. He said his tenure on the show taught him a few lessons about performing.

He said when he was performing, his focus was on making the song the best it could be. Now, he recognizes how important it is to involve the audience.

"It helped me come out of my shell," he said. "You really have to look at how to bring the audience into it."

The Collingwood Collegiate Institute graduate said the show also allowed him to make contacts in the industry.

Wright said it took him a while to get used to the television cameras and it wasn't until he performed Creep by Radiohead that he really got used to it.

"It took me a while to get more comfortable," he said.

Wright cites that performance and his performance of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which judge Jake Gold said he "reinvented," as his favourite performances on the show.

"And Hippo in the Bathtub," he said.

He said he can't pinpoint what allowed him to advance in the competition but said he just tried to do the best he could.

"You look to pride yourself at being good at what you do," he said.

With the Canadian Idol experience behind him, it appears that his days of painting houses for a living are behind him. Wright said his goal was always to play music for living.

"I hope so," he said. "That was my intention from the get go."

Wright has a lot of songs in the bank but will put "pen to paper," and write some new material and put out an album. He said he wants to work with some people from the show and other friends on the album.

He hasn't been approached by any record companies yet.

"Cast the line and see what I can catch," he said. "They are not supposed to talk to us, until the show is over."

He said whether he gets a record deal or not, he will be recording an album.

Wright isn't sure what his album will consist of but said it will be influenced by a wide variety of music.

"I don't want to pinpointed as one style of music," he said.

Wright plans to move home to Collingwood to write some of the album and says another Collingwood concert - a full concert - will take place in the future.