The self confessed country boy is a regular performer at Mid-North Coast venues where his passion for music germinated.

Johnston strode on stage and told X Factor judges Ronan Keating, Dannii Minogue, Redfoo and Natalie Bassingthwaighte he had been living out of a van in the last five years as he racked up 1000 gigs.

He had told no one of his pending audition, including his family.

"No one knew I was auditioning. You go through three auditions before you make it to the tv round," the 23-year-old said.

"I came home and said, 'by the way, in about a month's time I'm going to be on tv so you might want to watch X Factor."

He said he was inspired to audition by the success of last year's runner-up Taylor Henderson.

"You can't buy that exposure."

His choice of Katy Perry's Roar raised the judges' eyebrows but as soon as he began to sing the audience, particularly the girls, began to cheer for him.

He brought a wry smile to Keating's face and by the end had Foo and Minogue clapping along with the audience, who then rose to their feet.

Foo said: "That was rock and roll."

Keating said: "Last year we had a guy called Taylor Henderson come on and belt out a song like that, and you've got something like that."

Bassingthwaighte's comment was "It's just the beginning" and Minogue followed with "charisma, you've got it naturally".

All four gave him a resounding "yes" to put him through to boot camp.

"For Ronan to say he saw similarities between me and Taylor, it's awesome to be put on that level," said Johnston after the show.

His ambition is to reach a larger audience with songs he's written.

Let's hope he makes it through to the voting rounds so people of the Mid-North Coast can get behind this talented and humble young man.