James, whose sister Shona attends the University of New England, was voted off the show on Sunday evening, leaving the Opera House final to be fought out between the soulful Stan Walker and 17-year-old Hayley Warner.

He was to have performed Extreme’s ‘More Than Words’, ‘I Wanna’ by the All-American Rejects and ‘Everything’ by Michael Bublé - in front of the Canadian superstar himself.

The crooner mentored the remaining three contestants last week - with Johnston describing him as ‘the funniest guy I’ve ever met’.

“That was huge,” he said.

“I’m a massive fan, so just to meet him and to have him mentor me was amazing.

“He’s just a top bloke, probably one of the nicest fellas around.”

James has spent the last few days in the media hot seat, conducting about 50 interviews yesterday and Monday.

“I never thought I’d get this far,” he said.

“But I would have liked to make the final two.”

Previous years have seen several of the Idol finalists signed to major labels, but James said he wasn’t necessarily counting on that.

“I’m just going to concentrate on songwriting a bit,” he said.

“I’ll use this for what it is - that will be my future.”

He picked Walker to be named Australia’s seventh Idol on Sunday.

“I’d probably put my money on Stan,” he said.

“Hayley’s a great entertainer, but he’s just incredible and he’s probably been the pick from the start.”

The grand final will be televised live on Ten from 7.30pm Sunday, with performances from the entire final 12, as well as previous Idol alumni Guy Sebastian, Jordin Sparks, Ricki-Lee and Wes Carr, Cold Chisel legend Ian Moss, Mika and Bublé.