Adam Castelli learned an important lesson when he gained entry into Canadian Idol's top 10: What the judges think doesn't mean squat -- the only thing that matters is how the viewers vote.

A week ago, it seemed like the 26-year-old rocker had pretty much blown his dream of being the second consecutive Hamilton singer to win the hugely popular talent show.

The panel of four celebrity judges had savaged his performance of Tim Hardin's folky ballad If I Were A Carpenter.

To be honest, it did seem like an odd selection for a TV show that seems targeted at an audience born 30 years after Bobby Darin made the song a hit in 1966. The irony that Castelli actually is a carpenter failed to impress them. They let him have it with both barrels.

But two nights later, when the time came to announce the results of viewer voting, the St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School grad was one of 10 contestants still standing after six others were cut from the show in a 30-minute bloodbath.

"I give the people at home credit," Castelli said in an interview from the Toronto studio where he was rehearsing for tonight's top 10 performance episode (8 p.m. on CTV).

"It was those people who chose me to stick around. I've had a lot of e-mails from random fans saying that my performance was so emotional. They loved it and told me to disregard the comments of the judges. The judges can help sway them, but they can't totally manipulate your performance."

Castelli's got that right. For some mysterious reason, the judges decided to gush praise over Omar Lunan's off-key delivery of Garth Brooks' If Tomorrow Never Comes. Luckily the viewers weren't tone deaf. Omar got the axe.

Castelli, like last year's winner, Hamilton's Brian Melo, is a relatively seasoned performer. He started performing in his teens with elder brother Ryan in a rap-rock group called The Phlipside.

They were mentored by Hamilton guitarist-producer Dan Achen and performed onstage with Achen's old band, Junkhouse.

About five years ago, the brothers remodelled themselves into a punk band named Frantic City (after a Teenage Head album of the same name). Adam was the band's chief songwriter. They were playing the top clubs in Toronto and even had a few dates in New York City.

The band was forced to stop playing when Ryan was sidelined for six months from an on-the-job injury while working at a construction site. (The Castellis have been involved in residential construction for many years, with Ryan recently taking over the family business from his father).

Frantic City tried to re-form, but Adam had lost his enthusiasm and stopped playing music for about a year.

Recently, he returned to singing, this time as a solo act. He started playing covers of oldies, including If I Were A Carpenter, at the West Town Bar & Grill on Locke Street, and before long he was writing songs again. You can hear them online at myspace.com/adamcastelli.

He hadn't paid much attention to Canadian Idol but was aware of the boost it had given Melo's career.

When a cousin told him this spring auditions were being held in Hamilton, Castelli didn't think twice. The show producers liked what they saw -- a gritty rocker from the Hammer in bike boots and black leather and riding a Harley- Davidson.

He's hoping his performance experience will pull him through the gruelling ordeal as the top 10 is whittled down week by week to the final two in September.

He has already had some close brushes with elimination. Two weeks ago, he found himself on the bottom rung of the top 22 and spent some painful moments and an entire commercial break wondering if he or another Idol hopeful would be dumped. Castelli is aware that Melo also had some tense moments in the early stages of the competition last year. Melo, in fact, ended up on the bottom rung on three occasions before ultimately winning.

"I had the sense that I was going to stick around, that it wasn't my time to go yet," Castelli says.

"I don't want to sound trippy, but there's been some sort of karma thing going on throughout this whole process, things falling into the right places. It's about having the bad moments at the appropriate time. Everyone is going to have bad and good moments. It's having them at the right time that matters."

As for song selection, Castelli says he still favours playing the oldies and is happy that the Idolists will be performing music by English rocker David Bowie on tonight's program.

He's aware that a large segment of the Idol audience is made up of baby boomers, and he's comfortable playing to them.

Castelli, who will be cloistered for the duration of the show in what show producers call the Canadian Idol Mansion, says the experience has provided him with validation as an artist.

"As far as family, I've never had such support in my musical career thus far," Castelli says.

"And now it's like over-the-top. That means a lot to me. They're getting behind it because I think they can relate to it. It's in their television at 8 at night, and not in some bar at midnight."

grockingham@thespec.com

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