American Idol's Michael Lynche

[laughs] Well I guess it's not so secret anymore. It made me feel good because I always wanted to approach the competition as a really big job interview. For them to be professionals in the music business and me, an aspiring professional in the music business, I felt like it was professional-to-professional saying 'we see your work ethic and potential. We believe in you.' It made me feel like I was on the right path.

No, I never felt they were too harsh on me. I thought sometimes maybe they missed the point. They never really critiqued me on my singing so in a singing competition you would think that would be the focus but sometimes they focused on the staging of the song and whatnot and sometimes song choice but still they would always say I sang the song well. I think sometimes maybe they just missed the point of what I was trying to do with it. Some of my goals in the season were to show my versatility. I think it could be easy to miss on some of the songs I did that weren't right up R&B alley.

There was definitely disappointment. I really wanted to keep moving forward in the competition. I had a goal to win the thing that I set out and my wife and I made over a year in advance and to get close gives you a feeling of disappointment. But I feel like if you're not a little bit hurt at least, your heart's not in it enough. I felt like I fought hard all year long. I was pleased with my performances and looking back at where I ended up in the competition, it's where you're supposed to land so you really can't live too much in the woulda-shoulda-coulda land and you just gotta move forward now.

It was just a time where I really wanted to focus. There was so much going on and my emotions were just torn and I was just ripping myself up inside with the situation 3000 miles away. My wife is having our first child and I'm here trying to fight for our future and it was just a crazy, crazy, crazy, time. I really just zeroed in my focus and got really, really intense about setting my goal and succeeding during that week of Hollywood week and getting done with it so I could get back on the plane and get back home. I was focused on every single aspect of what I was doing right then and there.

No, it wasn't really an option. You've come so far. I've come 3000 miles so literally I've come so far. So I was like, 'You might as well get it done, get this victory and get back home.'

It's hard to say because I had very special relationships with everybody. I'm kinda like the big brother of the group. Andrew and I are very, very close. Lee and I are extremely close as well. Me and Crystal got a very special bond just because we're both parents on the show. And then I'm kinda a big brother to Katie, to Aaron. Casey and I recently got extremely close after both of us left the show in successive weeks so we were able to talk, and we were roommates for a long time. But I guess Andrew and Lee would probably be my closest guys on the show. But I spend time with everybody though.

Nothing that necessarily surprised me so much. Except for the fact that you surprise yourself when you see that you actually can do it. It's big and it is like, overwhelming. To see that you actually have the stamina to do it and you got the guts and once we get our routines and our schedule you're like, 'Ok I'm not nervous for these interviews and I'm not nervous going here and I'll make sure I know what to say to the band to get my song the right way.' You start figuring out the way the machine works and you figure out in yourself that you can do it. That's kind of an interesting day when you have that epiphany of, 'I can do this. I can go far on this.'

I did. I definitely bonded with Michael McDonald. We got the chance to exchange information and he invited me to come out and see him this summer. That's quite cool. And also Chicago, who Lee sang with, they made sure they came and found me and I got a chance to talk with them for a long time. It's interesting because my band in New York was kind of based off of Chicago. Just with the horn and section and the very tight harmonies. My band loves Chicago. So it was interesting that they kind of found me and wanted to talk. Their kids liked me so we got the chance to talk and exchange info as well.

They didn't really. They really just told me I have what it takes. Which is so cool when one of your heroes feels like you can be one of them. It was kind of 'Welcome to the club' kinda thing. They were saying that to a bunch of us. It's interesting to be on this side of it now. You deserve what you work for. It's super interesting. I think all of us who were still around, the top 5 of us for Harry Connick Jr., nobody's ever gonna forget that ever. He was amazing. He wanted to make sure that he bonded with each one of us so that was super special for us.

Not surprised. I thought it could have gone either way. I thought Crystal killed in the finale. I thought they both did a really good job of tapping into their fan base and being who they've been all year. Crystal's always been good, and confident, and soulful, and tapping into her spirit, and she really did that. Lee's always kinda been this guy who's just about his surface to burst out but his personality is one that you really, really, want to root for. I thought that he was that guy to a T and obviously, because it ended up getting the victory. But I wouldn't have been surprised either way I just think that you can see who the main voting demographic is as we've seen in the last few years of winners come up and I look forward to next year for some kind of change in that. I want to see somebody from left field come out and win. I want to see people not just latch on to whatever the normal thing has become the last few years on the show.

No, we're just in rehearsal now. We're with the band, some crazy kids, and it's super laid back. It's gonna be a great tour.

I'm gonna sing a couple of my great songs from the show and I got something special that I'm doing for a third one. It's gonna be a little bit of a surprise. We may throw one more in there, we're still working that out but it's gonna be worth coming to check out.

Get working on the album is first and foremost. I want to do an amazing album. If you're gonna set goals and you gotta do something you might as well shoot for the moon. I just wanna do an album that moves your spirit and just comes from my heart. I want to do something really, really special.