An 18-year-old pipeline worker who lives in Kamloops is one of the top-24 contestants on this season of American Idol.

Cameron Whitcomb sang Bob Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe in last night’s episode during the Showstoppers round to move on in the competition, making him the first Canadian man to make it to the top-24.

“He did it again! He’s gonna miss one day, he’s gonna miss. He’s going to win this damn thing with back flips!” the judges said following the performance, which was taped last November.

That said, judge Katy Perry said Whitcomb was “kind of a head-scratcher” due to his fidgety, high-energy stage presence, though she also encouraged him to “put in the 10,000 hours” of work on his singing if he hoped to proceed further in the competition.

“Unfortunately you’re not going to make our top-25, “Perry said, “But that’s okay, because there is no top-25, there is a top-24 and you are making it,” she added.

Whitcomb earned a golden ticket and a trip to Hollywood after singing his rendition of Waylon Jennings’ “Rock, Salt and Nails” for the judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie.

The Top-24 round gets underway next Sunday and Monday.