JB- Let's talk about the top 10 or even top 24. Was there one moment that jumps out in your mind as being "the" moment? Did you just sit there and go, "Yeah, this is it!"

John- Yeah, yeah. There was a defining moment. When we decided on the top 24, we were so thrilled by this group. We had a showcase on Queen Street. We got the gang together and said, "Why don't you get together and do some songs and we'll invite some media down and we'll go into a bar on Queen Street and you guys just entertain us for an hour. You guys pick the song, you guys do it, we won't direct you" and so different musicians gravitated to different people and groups of three or groups of four and a couple of people would find something they wanted to do and they put it together - it was almost like they put together their own show for us. We didn't produce it. And it was mind blowing. And we all looked around and went, "oh my god, these guys are amazing." I loved it so much, that I said instead of doing a results show, let's just let them do the show they did on Queen Street that they invented themselves and in the last minute and a half of the show we'll boot somebody off! (laughing) And we'll spend the rest of the time turning it into a coffee house concert. And I thought it went really, really well and something we'll probably incorporate in the future and I was really proud of that. I think it was an interesting turning point where I thought these kids are smart. Every year, it's like a sports team, it takes something to win the Stanley Cup. And you can't win it every year with the same players. It takes a special group of people, and something special has to happen in the dressing room, and whole bunch of special things have to happen. This group as a group gelled really well, to the point where I would guess that if we came back and did the show a few years from now we'd find a lot of friendships will have been made for life. And that hasn't been the case every season. This group really became tight and really shared their music and shared where they came from across the country. I think it'll be interesting to see what the future holds for them. Already Earl is moving to Toronto and he's moving in with Mookie.

JB- Yeah, they told me that was their plan.

John- And they're ready to rock it out pretty seriously. I wouldn't want to go into that apartment! One thing I can guarantee you is it will be messy. There will be a lot of CDs spread all over the place.

JB- It might not be the quietest place either.

John- It won't be quiet. You wouldn't want to be living below them, above them or on either side of them.

JB- How are you going to top this season? It gets pretty tough to outdo yourself, I'd imagine.

John- Yeah, it is.

JB- Is there somebody you have in mind that you want to be a mentor or someone you want to perform on the show?

John- There's so many people that would be awesome. Elton John would be tremendous. Paul Simon would be tremendous. Bono, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, I mean there's lots out there. And there's lots of incredible people that we love and respect. All these things are the cumulative affect of the TV show. When I first decided I would do Idol when I first talked to CTV, I did it because I knew there was one thing for sure that for Canadians, while we think we suck in a lot of departments, we don't think we suck when it comes to music. And we really are proud of our musical heritage. I think people can look at Canadian Idol and say Theo is better than that dude on that show down there. Or he's just as good, but at least he's our guy and he can be a success around the world. I've got a whole bunch of really exciting ideas to really shake the whole show up on its ear. I'd really like to turn it upside down. I've got some neat ideas.

JB- We'll definitely be waiting for that. Again, congratulations John on another great season.

John- Thanks very much, Jeremy.