Sure, Wingham Central Park is a great venue, but walking up the stairs by The Plane does not carry with it quite the same thrill of passing under Jorn Utzon’s majestic white sails, just a stone’s throw from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

When something is held at the Opera House, you get the sense that this is important.

And indeed it was a life-changing moment for an 18-year-old Cedar Party lad on Sunday night when he took his final curtain call in what has been a mind-blowing six-month journey on Australian Idol.

Wingham has followed James Johnston’s journey all the way from his first audition, through the top 100 stage, to the top 24, the top 12 and all the way to the top three.

That journey ended on Sunday beside the architectural wonder that is the Opera House – a place James admits he never thought he would reach.

What is more important, though, is through the journey, James carried Wingham with him.

Although plenty of other places (and newspapers) tried to claim him as their own, he never once forgot where he came from.

In describing his amazement at the heights to which Australian Idol took him, he would often say “I’m just a boy from Wingham”.

James’ homecoming concert in Central Park in October crystallised a few things.

James said it made him realise how lucky he was to have come from a town like ours.

The finale of Idol at the Opera House – where Stan Walker was crowned the 2009 winner and James performed twice – seems like a fitting end to a year where Winghamites have claimed the national spotlight many times.

Although most of our attention has been on James, a Wingham local has won the Melbourne Cup (Corey Brown), starred in one of Australia’s highest-rating dramas (Shannon Dooley on Packed To The Rafters), gained favourable coverage in a metropolitan paper (Donna Carrier in the Sunday Telegraph), wrote a best selling book (Di Morrissey with The Silent Country) . . . the list goes on.