Drew is through.

Collingwood resident Drew Wright advanced to the top eight of Canadian Idol on Tuesday after performing No Rain, by Blind Melon on Monday.

Hundreds of people packed JD's Bar and Grill on Tuesday to watch Wright advance to the next round of the CTV reality show competition. The crowd erupted when it was announced that he advanced.

Katherine St-Laurent from Otterburn Park, Que., was eliminated much to the surprise of those in attendance.

Wright then called the establishment to thank everyone for their support.

"I just want to thank everyone. Keep it up," he said. "Have fun on Elvis weekend, I wish I could be there to enjoy it with you."

Cherryl Kelterborn held up a sign that said 'Elvis is dead but Drew is still alive, vote for Drew Wright."

Wright performed without a musical instrument and moved around the stage more than any previous performance.

"What I like is you're obviously listening, because whether to me or anyone else I talk about how the lack of animation in your performance and you came out and did something that was animated. You did a 'just in time-berlake,'" said judge Farley Flex.

Judge Zack Werner, who has been critical of Wright in recent weeks, enjoyed the performance.

"I kind of wish an arrangement vibe you had chosen or somebody had chosen to throw some more groove into there because I kind of got lost as to where you were sitting in the pocket because it's got that hippy dippy kind of groovy thing but I think ... that vocally you did a great job and proved that all those people in Collingwood aren't crazy after all," he said.

Local merchant John Gabriele, who has headed up a promotional campaign for Wright's effort, showed off his new Hummer, which had a photo of the singer playing the guitar. Gabriele said local residents will be appearing at the Collingwood Elvis Festival this weekend to drum up support for Wright. He said the group will be called the Drew Crew.

Gabriele said there will be another event on Tuesday, but residents must read the Connection to found out the location.

For more information click the link www.ctv.ca/idol