Fans cried all their eyeliner makeup out as the axe fell on the Singapore Idol 2’s most recognizable mascot last night. But ninth-eliminated 17-year-old Paul Twohill’s lasting regret, we figure, is on missing out a perfect opportunity to moon the whole of Singapore on national TV last night. “I was too busy crying, I forgot to pull my pants off!” Bummer.

How did it feel to meet President Nathan on President's Star Charity in the flesh last Sunday, after telling us months ago that you were gonna take over the Istana?
PAUL: He's a cool dude. He said to me, “I met your sister last week.” You'd think he has so many things to do, he'd forget, right? But he recalled my sister going, “Yay, Twohill! Forever, Twohill!” and he was like ( prim and proper presidential look ). I got a bit excited, I kept shaking his hand! His wife was concerned about my health. She mentioned to Jasmine, “I hope Paul is okay now. Is he okay? I heard he's sick.” I was like, she loves me!

So did Ja, apparently. Actually, she looked like she was tearing up last night. Did the judges come up to you after the results show?
Was she? I didn't really see that; I was so engrossed in my song. They didn't lah . It was kind of hush-hush. But I was hugging someone and Ja was there. So I shook her hand and said thank you.

You seemed headed for a meltdown yourself, even though you tried to cover your face with your hair.
I was very sad. I wasn't crying about, “Whooah, shattered dreams!” and all that kinda stuff, but thinking about all the people I was working with. That's why I made the effort to thank them (on the show). You grow attached. I've made it a point to keep in contact. I'm gonna miss them. You know, how — if I sound very mature saying this, take this out — every part of your life, you're gonna meet people? It's gonna be the same here. I wanna try to keep in contact at least.

Back to the results. Were you shocked?
Not really. I was expecting it, to some extent. I was preparing myself for weeks. Last week I was like “Come on, let's go! I'm going home!” But it didn't happen. And this week, I was like, “Okay. Whatever happens, you won't cry, Paul.”

Last week, Joakim mentioned to us that you lost your mojo for a bit.
Yes. I started off really fresh. And after that I became so draggy to myself. There was a lot of stuff in my head and I kind of lost it. I was a walking zombie. Not from tiredness, but from so much stuff in my head. You can say I'm very paranoid. If you put too many things in front of me, I just lose focus. I don't do things correctly. It was on and off ever since the British Invasion week. I just lost it completely, to some extent.

You were made to contemplate your Idol fate on stage for all of four times in the Spectaculars, prior to getting kicked out this week — and it's not always from getting the lowest number of votes. Was it cruel to keep you in suspense?
I know! The producers like to see my reaction. During rehearsals, they'd be like, “Okay, Paul, you're gonna be kicked out today. Tonight, Paul, your Idol journey ends here.” Then I have to act sad. It's very funny. Even the camera man would laugh!

There's been talk that the judges sabotaged your chances by making you do a cutesy song (Adam Sandler's Grow Old with You ) for the Judges' Choice theme this week. Wished they gave you an emo song instead?
To be fair, I don't think they might even know about it (emo) — I mean, it's quite underground. But Ken mentioned he was trying to find something unpredictable for me, and he said I was one of the few people who could pull off that kind of song. Maybe he was testing me. I respect him for that. The song came off quite well — I had feedback that it did.

Figure there's a generational gap between you and the judges, since they don't seem to know what emo is?
You could say so… but I can't blame them, right? If I were to do my normal stuff and scream on TV, all the aunties would throw their handbags at me.

Ken said you stood out among the other contestants with the strongest identity this season. What do you think?
I'm happy he acknowledged my personality and identity. But I'm a bit sad. I was hoping to show that my voice came with the identity. I don't think I got to show my real side musically. But it was a test — I had to really experiment. I'd never done 5566 before!

Which brings us to a nagging thought: Soppy boybands and hardcore emo don't quite gel.
I had this classmate who would sing Chinese songs in class. One day he was singing this 5566 song and I got quite irritated. But after scolding him, like “Eh, shuddup!”, I went home and sang the song. ( looks sheepish ) Quite a few times. Okay, so the chorus was quite catchy. My aunties suggested The Moon Represents My Heart , which was worse. Plus, my Chinese vocabulary is quite limited.

Do you think your braces got in the way of your diction? Some people have said they can't really hear you pronounce your words.
I don't think it was the braces… okay, it could have been. But when I sing my songs, I tend to mumble. I like to sing it like that and how it comes out. I tried to change it a few times but it just wasn't me.

Defend the final three contestants: What's their identity?
Hady is a cool kid. His voice is magnificent. He sings from the heart. I admire him for that. To me, singing from the heart is the most important thing. I mean, if you get everything technically correct but not from the heart, then what you're doing is don't know what, man. Jon is the Casanova. Girls are crazy over him. He's got something about him; when he performs, you wanna watch. I make fun of him when he does the ( gestures ‘rock star with outstretched arms' pose ), but it works. Jasmine's got the cutie pie factor. Guys are gaga over her. She's got the voice too. In the beginning, she didn't really get to show it ‘cos there was so much pressure. But now she's relaxing and you can really hear her sing. She's got a lot of voice.

You were speculated to have quite a fighting chance at the finals. Who would you have liked to face off?
Jon. It would have been damn cool ( to be in the final with him ). We talked to each other a lot and came from Top 28 together: same group, same room, same boot camp. Somehow I picture the Idol Winner sticker on his forehead. It just comes across like that.

Just curious, but what's with the whole Hard Gay thing? ( Paul regularly references the Japanese comedian's way-out gestures and exclamations on the show and in interviews ) Was it your way of destressing?
Yeah. You know how everyone's so moody sometimes? Everyone's like “My song, my song”, then all of a sudden this guy comes up to you and goes, “YaHOOOO!” and ruins it. It helps. Everyone's so stressed.

Do you think you have substantially matured throughout the competition??
When you're a kid, you have this mindset that everything's nice and perfect. And going into the Top 12, I felt the real pressure, the real reality… It helped me grow up as a person. My sister even said my shoulders look broader and more manly now! Maybe it's the hormones.

You know, it's impressive how you say the most random things, but when it comes to music, there's no mucking around.
Singing means a lot to me. It's almost all I have. The fact that I'm being criticised for singing is very dire to me. That's why I get quite serious about it.

What would you have performed next week for the Favourite Songs theme?
I was planning to scream next week and finally let loose with Song 2 from Blur!

What are your future plans like? Are you heading back to school?
I was hoping to apply for Media Management. They rejected me! This is quite stupid, when Ngee Ann Poly called, I really wanted Temasek Poly so I didn't go to Ngee Ann. And in the end, TP was like, “No. Don't want.” So I went to join Idol instead. I also wanna get gigs and work on my band (Through the Discord). We've got gigs lined up. I wanna try hosting too. If MediaCorp ever wants to do a Singapore version of Punk'd , I'd love that! It'd be fun to command people. Like, “Tell Ken you misplaced his car.”

You stayed with the other contestants for months. What stunts have you pulled off on the others that you're pretty proud of?
I'm a bit disappointed — I told myself that if I got kicked out, I'd flash my butt on national TV. But I was too busy crying I forgot to pull my pants off! Hmm, once I was showering and Mathilda changed it to cold water. So I went to her room and ‘pixie-dusted' her keyboard — I plucked out my pubes and threw them on it! She started screaming and we chased each other around.

That's a really bad image. By the way, we've also heard that you're quite a dirty grub.
I'm normal what . Sometimes I wake up late and we have to go to the bus straight away, so I don't always shower in the morning. I look really messy ‘cos of my hair.

That's all?
Nothing else… You see, I'm not aware of it! Ah, that's what makes me truly dirty.

So did you leave the final three your dirty underwear last night?
No, they're mine! I always make it a point to entertain them, so I left a kungfu hamster, a SpongeBob SquarePants videogame and a machine gun that I bring to roadshows and shoot people. I left them my Charlie Chaplin masks too. They'll remember me. When they shoot the gun they'll go, “Paul left this!”

Did any fans follow you back to Hangout last night?
Yeah. It was heartwarming. There were about thirty of them. The other contestants surprised me. I thought they didn't come… then they came out and surprised me. When I walked out (of the hotel), more fans were there too.

No one staged a protest?
Like scold the judges or throw their shoes? I don't think anyone did. It'd be quite cool, but nothing happened.

Your fans are known to be quite a passionate bunch.
That's what I like about my fans. But I don't think anything happened. They're passionate but I don't think they're violent. That would be kind of freaky, right?

Thrust into the public eye, what was the silliest hearsay you've heard said about yourself?
Fans telling other fans that I proposed to them. I was like, “What the ----?!” It was spreading around. I know I didn't take out my ring and said I'd marry them. Someone also said I copied his hairstyle. And there were rumours that I was a man-whore, that I was with everyone in the competition, like Jasmine, Noodle. Even Mathilda and Gayle. I don't know why, but it's like I'm the in-house man-whore.

You didn't actually date any of your fans?
No. You can't exactly fall in love with someone who idolises you, right? It's not love. I'm actually quite sensitive about love. I'm still looking.

So are you nursing a crush on anyone?
I have a crush on someone. Er no, it's not someone you know. It's a personal friend. It hasn't grown into love yet. When that happens, you'll see a naked angel flying around shooting arrows at me. It'd be kind of cool… I've never experienced that before.