Feb. 14, 2007 | 06:00 PM EST

PEOPLE EXCLUSIVE: From Idol Loser to Grammy Winner

By Brian Orloff

Justin's Grammy Duet Partner Booted from Idol | Justin Timberlake Photo by: Kevin Winter / Getty
Grammy viewers may have recognized a familiar face on Tuesday's night American Idol episode. For a split second, you saw Robyn Troup getting booted after performing a rendition of Shalimar's "Night to Remember." Yup, that's the same Robyn Troup who sang and sashayed her way through a duet with Justin Timberlake as the winner of the My Grammy Moment contest at Sunday's Grammy Awards.

And though Troup was booted from Idol without even making it to the Top 24, the Houston native may be having the last laugh: Besides her Grammy performance, she's signed a deal with Timberlake's production company. And she has no hard feelings for the Idol judges. "Simon told me my voice needs to mature, which I definitely agree with," she tells PEOPLE.

So, what was her Grammy experience like? "I was shocked. It was scary. It was fun. It was awesome – so many different things going through my head at the same time," she says about her big debut, which also fell on her 19th birthday. "It's all a blur, really. I'm glad I didn't really get a chance to process it at the moment because I think I would have froze."

And Troup says duet partner Timberlake helped her through the nerve-racking experience of singing the Bill Withers classic "Ain't No Sunshine" and Timberlake's "My Love" (along with rapper T.I.) in front of the industry-packed house and millions of viewers. "He's a genuinely nice and helpful person," she says. "I never let go of his hand after we got off the stage. He was just trying to calm me down because my whole body was shaking."

In this PEOPLE exclusive, hear excerpts from PEOPLE's chat with Robyn:

Click below to hear Robin talk about getting booted from Idol:


Click below to hear Robin talk about meeting her idol, Mary J. Blige:

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