While gaining a sizable fanbase throughout his time on American Idol, Will Moseley found himself standing beside Abi Carter on the season finale.

With only one name being called, Moseley simply congratulated Carter as host Ryan Seacrest announced her as the newest winner of American Idol. Although coming extremely close to winning, the singer didn’t see his second-place finish as a loss. With a bright future ahead of him, Moseley recently discussed how he walked away a winner.

Speaking with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia native appeared in high spirits. He said, “I don’t see second place as a loss for me. I’ve become such good friends with everyone. The cool thing is getting to do something you want to do. There’s contentment in that.” Although enjoying some time off, Moseley promised to get back to the stage soon. “This show has provided me a platform. It’s provided me an audience. I want to hit the ground running and play as many shows as I can. It’s been a whirlwind, and everything is up in the air. But I know it will all work itself out in due time.”

Giving a glimpse into what it was like to perform on American Idol, Moseley explained how nerves didn’t compare to the stress. “It’s not as much nerves. It’s stress. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, a lot to take care of on show days.” Learning a great deal from the show, he continued, “Idol helped me expand upon something that was already there. I have a decent knowledge of performing and playing shows. ‘Idol’ helped me try new things. I performed the last half of the shows without a guitar. I worked on stage presence with just a microphone.”

Revealing one of the hardest parts of American Idol, Moseley pointed to just showing up. “There were days we had no idea what the schedule was. We just knew what time we had to be there. Just showing up was 80% of the battle.”

With Moseley performing numerous hit songs throughout the season, he praised Jon Bon Jovi for mentoring him when singing “It’s My Life.” “I had heard the song so many times but never understood what he was singing about. I got to work with him and he broke it down for me. It’s a song about fighting for everything you can and not giving up. That made the song special to me.”