Casey James was the next contestant to be eliminated from “American Idol,” leaving Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze to battle it out for the top spot.  The 27-year-old musician from Fort Worth, TX, shared his thoughts in a recent conference call. Excerpts are below.

Q: After you got the results and the judges were giving their advice at the end of the show, Kara told you to stick to your core demographic, young girls and women.  Were you at all offended by (that), and do you think you’re a bit more well-rounded as an artist?

James: I would like to hope so, but I definitely am not offended by someone, that’s her opinion.  I know nothing of demographics, and my marketing skills are obviously poor or I wouldn’t have been doing the same bar kicks for 11 years.  I definitely don’t take offense to it, but I definitely would also like to think that I have a few more people out there that like what I’m doing. 

Q: I read … that you haven’t had a TV set for 20 years.  I was wondering if that’s true, how that happened, and how that might have shaped you or affected you in some ways?

James: Yes, it is true … it’s been nearly 20 years.  When I was I guess 7 or 8, lightening struck my mother’s house and blew out the antenna on the TV, and we just never got another one.  I guess it wasn’t that important to us.  Growing up without it, I didn’t see all the things that everyone else saw on the TV and thought was cool to do … and fashion things and hip things that were going on, so I guess it kind of led me to be my own person a little bit more and to do my own thing.  I’m really glad that it worked out that way.  It gives you more time to do other things. 

Q: When they were showing the montage of your time on Idol, they of course included the scene where Kara asked you to take your shirt off.  What would your advice be to any future contestants who are asked to take their shirt off by a judge?

James: Well, who’s to say that I would be here had I not done that, so I think if you feel like you can back yourself up and not be the guy that took his shirt off because hopefully that’s not what I am now.  I would say do what you need to do to get the ball rolling.  There’s a possibility had I not done that that I might not have made it past that first round.  It definitely wasn’t something that I thought of or even realized was going to happen, but I’m so thankful that it did because coming back I really had that drive to knock it out the first chance that I could.  I think I did surprise the judges at that point.  It obviously worked out. 

Q: What’s next for you?

James: Next is a record and going and doing music.  It’s time to get started.  The reason for the show is to allow us to do music, and that’s what I intend on doing because it’s what I love, and now I have the opportunity to do it, so it’s go time.

Q: I was going to ask you a little bit about the mentors.  What was it like working with people like Harry Connick and Adam Lambert?  Is there any one moment that stands out?

James: Harry Connick Jr. was amazing.  All the mentors were really great, but when somebody takes the time to do the music, and he brought is band.  He wrote the scores.  He wrote the music and composed everything.  He even came into iTunes and stopped by and made sure we were okay there.  He put a lot of time in, and that to me said a lot about who he is as a person and a musician. 

Just the whole situation in general stands out to me and says this is special.  It was a lot of actual real time that was spent, and not just like camera time, like actual time when I could sit down with him and say what do you think about this or what do you think about that and get his actual honest opinion.  That to me is advice.  That’s the …. most wisdom you can gain from somebody, just sitting down and really talking to them.

Q: Do you feel surprised that you were going?  Were you prepared for it?  What kind of conversations did you have with Lee and Crystal before the results?

James: I’ve been prepared at every single round from the beginning of the show because you never know.  What will be, will be, and you have to be prepared either way.  Every single time that I made it through, obviously you’re elated and happy, and the other night when I didn’t I kind of knew that was coming, so I was more than prepared that night. 

To be honest with you as far as having conversations, nobody really talks about things as far as that goes because I think everybody understands anything could happen, and nobody really wants to talk about it.  As far as that goes, really nothing was said.  I’m obviously happy for them, and I think that everything happens for a reason, and I’m exactly where I should be, and I have no doubt of that.  I’m super happy to be here. 

Q: Would you assess the final two, the strengths of each?

James: They both have very unique and standout sounds.  I think that pretty much says it.  You can't say anything else other than that.  They are who they are, and that’s why people are voting for them, so I think that’s just going to continue.  It’s going to grow, and I think it’s going to be a crazy good show.

Q: Does one have an edge?

James: Man, that’s hard to say.  I don’t think so.  I don’t know.

Q: Simon always makes his favourites pretty vocal, and I think it was nice this season to have Kara’s favourite make it so far.  Do you think that you could ever collaborate with Kara in the future?  Would you like to work with her in some way, shape, or form?

James: Sure, as far as I know, she’s a pretty good writer.  I’m not opposed to working with anyone that is good at what they do, so absolutely.

Q: Also, historically, the third-place Idols are very successful in record deals.  Would you say that you’re happy with your placing and that you’d almost rather have finished where you did than even win?

James: I’m the kind of guy that accepts what happens and is always happy about it.  Had I gotten second or first, obviously I’d be happy, but I can tell you that I am definitely happy with where I landed.  I continue to say it, but it always remains to be true is that everything happens for a reason, and you just have to roll with it and be happy, and I certainly am.  I’m elated to have landed here, and I’m going to make the most of it.

Q: When they showed (the segment about you going) back home, you went to the hospital to thank everybody that helped basically save your life.  Can you tell me a little bit about that accident?  Was it a car accident? 

James: I was riding a motorcycle, and a guy essentially turned into me.  He had his right blinker on, and there was nothing on the left side of the road.  When I went to go by him, instead of turning right into a house, he tried to make an illegal U-ey and flipped his vehicle around.  When he did that, I guess he didn’t see me there and I hit him doing 70-75, something like that and broke a lot of bones and flew a long ways. 

Q: How long ago was that?

James: That was six years ago on the 11th, so on the very day that I performed on American Idol. 

Q: Did they think you weren’t going to make it?

James: Yes, nobody on the scene thought I would make it, but they did a really good job of taking care of me.  They flew me out on the helicopter and took me to the nicest hospital, and amazing doctors and nurses did a wonderful job putting me back together.