PHOTO: JEAN LOO FOR THE STRAITS TIMES

He came in fourth in the competition but the 19-year-old now has a chart-topping single called Here I Am. Another single, tentatively titled Tell Me, will be out soon.

He is one of three children of an accountant, who is of Australian-Irish descent, and a Filipino-Chinese mother, who is a secretary. Twohill also has an older brother and an older sister.

He is currently balancing his music career with being a mass communication student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

And yes, he still wears eyeliner.

1. Are you sticking to the emo- rocker look that got you noticed on Singapore Idol?

I'm not going to change my long hair though covering my face was kind of like a phase for me, one that I snapped out of even during Idol itself.

Beyond that, I wouldn't change much because I'm still into the music.

My eyeliner was so thick then because I did not really know how to apply it.

I would put it on and think one side was thicker and then add some more and then the other side would be too thick.

2. What was it like taking part in the show?

I had a different mindset before I entered the competition. I had always wanted to be a singer but I never knew anything about what took place behind the scenes and I learnt a lot from Idol.

My 17-year-old perspective was: 'Can I get a band? OK, we sound quite good. If we work hard enough, everything will just go smoothly.'

I never saw the effort that went into the recording process.

3. How did you come to record Here I Am?

New home-grown label Klass International had asked me to be part of this collaborative track called Citizens. I didn't know it was an audition as well.

And my single was part of the launch plan for the label. It got guys in Sweden to write it. It was professionally done and I've never had that before. It was all very exciting.

4. Having decided to make music, why did you decide to juggle that with studies?

I have to have a back-up, right? That's the parent talk.

Anyway, I'm doing mass communication. Even if making music does not work out, I don't mind being a deejay or anything media or entertainment related.

School was actually quite hard at first. I didn't go for camp during orientation and there were all these funny rumours spreading that I was arrogant.

My friends in school tell me that when they first met me, they had no idea what to expect. It took a while for things to settle down.

5. Are your parents supportive of you making music?

Before I joined Idol, my mum never really went for my gigs. Maybe she thought it was a phase, that I would grow out of it and do something more constructive like be an accountant or a doctor.

My dad's supportive. He watches American Idol now and reminisces about Singapore Idol.

My whole family came together because of the show and cousins I didn't know I had appeared. You grow up trying to fit into your family and it was as if I had settled my place in it - okay, that's the cousin who can sing.

6. Has all this fame and exposure done anything for your dating life?

Not really, it's very sad actually. I would say that one of the only things missing in my life right now is a good girlfriend. But I'm not forcing it, love will come.

People think they know you, but to know the other side of you is another thing. It's a cliche, but it's true.

7. Are you still a fan of Britney Spears after all the crazy stunts she's pulled?

I joined the choir and started singing seriously in Primary 5 because I wanted to marry her.

I even gave my sister $200 from my savings so she could go to China. I would do these good deeds as a kind of bargain with God for me to meet her.

It's actually quite sad what's happened to her. She snapped but then, she's been in the entertainment business since she was a kid. She never had a normal childhood.

8. Complete this sentence: If I could live my life all over again, I would...

Not change anything. Put it this way, I used to have bad obsessive compulsive disorder, but without that, I wouldn't be me now.

This is going to sound really gross but I didn't shower for a year in Primary 5 because I was scared of soap. Even now, I'm particular about the shampoo I use. But I'm slowly getting more normal.

Well, there is one thing. I think I'm balding because a lot of glue dropped on my hair during kindergarten when I was trying to do art and craft. I spent two hours in the toilet after that and the teacher found me crying in there.

That I would change.

bchan@sph.com.sg

'I didn't shower for a year in Primary 5 because I was scared of soap'
Paul Twohill, on the obsessive compulsive behaviour he had