About 10,000 people packed downtown Collingwood on Friday to cheer on their Canadian Idol hopeful.

Drew Wright returned home to perform a concert, which was also being filmed for CTV.

The 28-year-old singer is currently in the final four of the CTV reality series.

Wright was escorted down Hurontario Street by soldiers from the Land Forces Area Training Centre in Meaford and received a hero's welcome when he hit the stage.

Collingwood town crier Ken Templeman performed a special cry for Wright and Mayor Chris Carrier made a presentation.

Wright called the day one of the best days of his life.

You're coming home and your community pulls together something like this," he said. "It's one of the best moments of my life."

Wright said he doesn't know how many votes he receives, but is quite confident that the votes from the Georgian Triangle are making a big difference.

"I'm sure it's massive. It's reflected in the 24 down, I'm sure you don't start reaching Canada, until you hit the top 10," he said.

Wright asked the crowd to keep voting for one more week, as if he advances into the top three, he will go on tour across Canada. He said after that, people could go back to their regular lives.

Wright performed five songs during the 40-minute show and says it's much nicer to be able to perform a full song rather than a condensed 90-second version.

"It's hard to feel anything when you only have a minute-30, it's hard to get into the song and you have to just go and throw it down," he said.

Wright was in the bottom two on last week's show and advanced over perennial favourite Mookie Morris.

"He's got such a strong fan base in Toronto and across Canada and I was a little bit surprised that I was there," he said.

Wright said he has enjoyed his Canadian Idol experience so far and said it's become much more than he would have ever hoped.

"Making friends and getting the opportunity to do stuff like this. You come home and your community has got your back," he said. "You can never dream of anything like this."

Wright said he has learned a lot about the performance side of the industry.

"I'm a guy that usually sits on a stool in a quiet club and plays acoustic guitar sings songs, doing this you really have to hit the performance side of things."

The former Collingwood Collegiate Institute student says he appreciates the attention but said it's been hard getting used to.

"It's something I don't think you'll ever get used to. It's a pleasure, but it's not something you can get used to," he said. "You just have to keep focused and realize where you come from."