BENDIGO'S Paul Vercoe will find out whether he has made it to the Australian Idol final 12 tonight.

The 29-year-old's mother, Wanda, and father, John, both 60, made the trip from their Kangaroo Flat home to Network Ten's Sydney studios to cheer him on yesterday as he performed Lifehouse's hit Hanging By a Moment.

"He sang really well and it came over to us as fantastic," Mrs Vercoe said.

"It was nerveracking for us, but he seemed okay with it."

Mrs Vercoe said her son, who attended Creek Street Christian College, Bendigo Senior Secondary College and La Trobe University Bendigo, had done the city proud.

But he did come in from some criticism from two notoriously tough Idol judges.

"The judges were very harsh," Mrs Vercoe said.

"Marsha (Hines) was okay, but Kyle Sandilands and the other bloke (Mark Holden) were pretty hard on him."

Mr and Mrs Vercoe will have to wait until later today to see if their son, who is classically trained in piano, will follow in the footsteps of fellow Bendigonian and reigning Australian Idol Kate DeAraugo and make the jump from the semi-finals to the final 12.

"We're very proud of him," Mrs Vercoe said.

"He did a fantastic job and now it's up to the public."

Vercoe began performing professionally after singing Unchained Melody at a 40th wedding anniversary at a Bendigo Chinese restaurant.

"At the end of the song, with tears in her eyes she (the wife) told me that if I didn't do something with my voice that I would be wasting a hidden talent," Vercoe says on his website.

"The words and tears of a stranger had quite an impact on me and I started taking my abilities more seriously."

He rediscovered his love for the piano and started to write songs and play them for close friends.

Vercoe has since based himself in Melbourne, where he and two friends formed the band Track 5.