Yellowknife (Sep 22/06) - On the other end of the telephone line, a groggy voice tells an interesting tale. "It was the time of my life," it says simply.

The voice belongs to Aaron "Godson" Hernandez, not-quite-fresh-as-a-daisyfollowing a weekend in Toronto for the finale of this season's Canadian Idol.

Aaron "Godson" Hernandez poses with Canadian Idol host Ben Mulroney following the season finale of Canadian Idol in Toronto. - photo courtesy of Aaron Hernandez

Hernandez was invited to attend the show, in which Gatineau, Quebec's Eva Avila took the top prize, and to perform at the after-party. This, following the debut of his video, "Are You the One?" to kick off the season premiere in May.

Maybe "invited" isn't the right word.

"I knocked on a few doors," he says with a chuckle. "If I would have just shut my mouth, nothing would have happened."

Once he got there, however, he was treated like a part of the show, travelling in a limo with Idol finalists and signing the odd autograph.

Hernandez says the after party, held at upscale Toronto club Schmooze, was a mind-bender unto itself.

"It was one of those red carpet affairs that I really shouldn't have been a part of," he says.

"I just felt like, man, there's a lot of A-listers here and I'm a Yk-lister."

One of these "A-listers" was Canadian rap icon Saukrates.

"He was like one of my idols. I got to talk to him for a bit about what the Canadian hip hop scene is like."

As for the performance, Hernandez says the packed crowd (in a venue that holds around 1,000) was into it.

"I had Ben Mulroney cutting a rug during one of my songs. You can't go wrong with that."

So he's hung out with star rappers, performed for television executives and celebrities, all after having a video debut nation-wide. So what's next?

"I'm going for that Juno. That's my next goal. I gotta get a nomination, that's my main focus right now."

To do that, Godson is heading right back into the studio to write the follow-up to his trilogy, Arctic Reign, and looking for a sponsor to offset printing costs (just as Canadian North offset his travelling costs to Toronto).

He says this comes after discussions with Idol producer John Brunton and others.

"They told me to keep doing what I'm doing and eventually it's going to happen for me. So I'm following their advice."