Suzie McNeil still is adjusting to the level of celebrity she achieved as a contestant on Rock Star: INXS.

"Just going out in the world, I have to make sure I'm not all dishevelled, that I look okay, because people will look at me," McNeil said. "Sometimes it's annoying and sometimes it's fun."

That pretty much sums up fame, doesn't it?

McNeil, a 29-year-old native of Toronto, didn't win the INXS contest. That plum went to another Canadian, J.D. Fortune, who now is the lead singer of the veteran Australian band.

And while McNeil is not sure what the future holds, she knows for sure where she'll be tomorrow: At Massey Hall for the 19th annual Women's Blues Revue, along with Lee Aaron, Salome Bey, Roxanne Potvin, Shakura S'Aida and Dione Taylor.

McNeil is looking forward to getting up on stage and simply singing again. After multiple months sequestered for the INXS reality-TV show, she has spent the past several months sorting out her musical options.

"I had a lot of people come to me and say, 'Can I help you, in terms of your career or managing you?' " McNeil said. "I was so disoriented. I made a bunch of mistakes.

"But overall, my God, my career is on a whole different road. I always had the dream of being famous, and to be honest, it started to dwindle as I got older. I just got more reasonable about life, which is okay. I was enjoying my life before this. I was making good money in the ABBA Mania show and I was going to fund my own album. And then this happened."

Looking back at the INXS extravaganza, McNeil admitted she was surprised Fortune emerged victorious.

"I knew he was adding drama to the reality portion and part of me was wondering if that was why he was being kept on -- a bunch of us thought that, actually," said McNeil, who sings a duet with Fortune on the new INXS CD, Switch.

"But when J.D. won, we were like, 'Oh, OK!' Beyond that, he definitely is a character. He has some quirkiness to him. I always thought he was talented, he's good looking, he's a good singer, he's really intelligent and he's hilarious. I think he deserved it, and he definitely wanted it so, so badly. I'm surprised we (the other INXS hopefuls) are not all murdered now.

"The show was sort of a big focus group for INXS. And I think the public, and the band's fans, wanted a male to be the lead singer. I understand that. I would have to agree, kind of."

McNeil never has played at Massey Hall before, but she is familiar with the venue from a fan's point of view.

"I saw Ani DiFranco there," McNeil recalled. "I love the room and I am so excited to play there. It's cool, too, that INXS is going to be there (Feb. 6 and 7)."

Who knows? Maybe McNeil will join INXS on stage for a couple of tunes in front of her hometown crowd.

For the time being, McNeil continues to live in Los Angeles.

"At least until my visa runs out," she said. "I thought I would take advantage of that.

"I'm writing right now for a potential CD. That's the best way to put it."