Who won ‘American Idol’ season 11?
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AMERICAN IDOL: Host Ryan Seacrest introduces the Finalists Phillip Phillps and Jessica Sanchez make their entrance for the season 11 AMERICAN IDOL GRAND FINALE at the Nokia Theatre on Weds. May 23, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. CR: Michael Becker/FOX
He was a favorite to win early on.
Favorites like that on this show typically lose. (Danny Gokey anyone?)
But Leesburg’s Phillip Phillips bucked strong competitors and painful kidney stones to take home the crown.
He also became the first winner with Georgia ties after 11 seasons. The state has gotten close before with Justin Guarini (season one), Diana Degarmo (season two), Bo Bice (season four) and Lauren Alaina (season 10.)
And speaking of DeGarmo, her beau Ace Young (season 5) proposed to her on air on the stage. Was she caught offguard? Maybe. Sure beats proposing at a baseball stadium, eh? Anyway, this is the first “Idol’ coupling that has become an engagement! When I interviewed them a few weeks back, they sounded incredibly happy together.
After Ryan Seacrest (from Dunwoody) informed Phillips the win, he tried to sing his coronation song “Home” but broke down partway through, took off his guitar and hugged his family. It was truly touching.
Reports are that Phillips, after he does press the next couple of days, will fly back to Georgia and have surgery for his kidney issues.
By some measures, this was a troubling year for “Idol.”
The show lost a whopping 23% of its viewers due to increased competition and age. The judges were panned frequently for zealous over-the-top praise and standing ovations galore. But fans who stuck with season 11 were impassioned and dedicated to many of the singers this season, including runner-up Jessica Sanchez, third-place finisher Joshua Ledet and others. Overall, the season was a satisfying one.
Producers have to wonder: what will it take to change the type of winner? For five years in a row, the white guy with a guitar (nicknamed WGWG) has been the victor (though last year, the dude did sing country.) The trend could not be stopped this season, even after a record 132 million votes.
Phillips is charming with his an interesting style, even if it reminds folks of other artists. He seems both laid back and happy go lucky. It’s a combo that was hard to beat. He was never in danger of being voted off, based on how patterns played out this season. And as I noted earlier, he was a favorite even entering the top 13, a trend that only veered off path briefly three weeks ago, when his illness was clearly affecting his performances. He looked like he wanted to go home at a certain point.
But he rallied in the top 4 and gave some strong performances near the end, including a cover of Damien Rice’s “Volcano” and the original song “Home” last night.
As for the finale tonight:
- It opened with a promising cover of Bruno Mars’ “Runaway Baby” from the top 12 (minus Jermaine Jones) in all (unflattering) white.
- John Fogerty, with blatantly dyed hair, graciously rocked two big CCR songs with a thrilled Phillip Phillips.
- Mantasia -as in Joshua Ledet and Fantasia – go to church with “Take Me To the Pilot.” It’s a big hot mess, a screamfest that’s taken into the audience and continues even as the producers cut to commercial. Fantasia is wearing an impressively unflattering gown that splits at the thighs, making said thights look even bigger. Joshua dresses impeccably as usual.
- A hysterical blooper real of Jimmy Iovine calling Jennifer Lopez Jessica (that’s his daughter’s name). He does it over and over and over again. It’s still funny the 10th time around.
- Chaka Khan medley. Shannon Magrane, who I barely remember, stands out like a giraffe, towering over Skylar Laine. The dresses are very… spangly and very… tight. Vocally, it’s decent and Chaka looks good for a 59-year-old woman, even in a catsuit.
- Rihanna blinds us with lights and smoke and cubes and dancers while singing “Where Have You Been.” Not sure if I saw clowns and an elephant, too. It looks like something “The X Factor” would conjure up.
- One of my favorite moments was seeing Skylar and her doppelganger Reba McEntire cut it up with “Turn Up the Radio.” As one of the live bloggers said, Skylar could be Reba’s long-lost love child!
- Steven Tyler gives us a warped tour of his dressing room, replete with… a live monkey? No cocaine or strippers, though.
- Jessica returns with “I Will Always Love You.” Now we know why she didn’t sing it last night, though she should have.
- A Neil Diamond medley. Colton Dixon mugs a lot and does the best Neil Diamond imitation until the real thing comes along. “Sweet Caroline” ends it. Woohoo!
- Randy Jackson’s cliche o’ meter includes “You can sing the phone book.” So in a funny spoof, the contestants literally sing a phone book. Scarily, I bet many of the kids had never opened a phone book in their life! (Why not just Google it?)
- Jennifer Lopez is singing…er… lip syncing and dancing. I enjoy it for what it’s worth. Flo Rida and others join her as she thrusts her hips a lot and looks hot.
- Ace and Diana get engaged. Sniff.
- Hollie sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone” with season 6 winner Jordin Sparks. Jordin looks fab. And they sound fab together.
- In honor of Robin Gibb, the men do a Bee Gees medley. Sadly, with times a wastin’, a Donna Summer medley with the ladies is scrapped for time.
- Jennifer Holliday and Jessica Sanchez square off on “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” Yowza. This is powerhouse vs. powerhouse. Scary faces on Jennifer’s face!
- Aerosmith’s Joe Perry makes amends for TV ratings by joining Steven Tyler and the rest of the band. It’s actually a fun few minutes as they rock it out with abandon.
- And if you have a good memory, Bo and Carrie sang “Up Where We Belong” during the finale seven years ago. So Phillip and Jessica reprise it and they sound lovely.
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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244 comments Add your comment
kati
May 24th, 2012
12:05 am
sorry for my english guys… im french… im not perfect and so you… im not speaking im writing english… is that right… and your english is not good too… very poor english my dear… sorry thats a fact
Shelby
May 24th, 2012
12:10 am
Actually…if everyone was honest Skylar should’ve won and Holly should’ve been 2nd. They were the best singers there. Holly just needs time to work on performance. JL was best screamer…JS can sing but was boring…PP was really good but made all songs sound the same. Skylar can sing any genre and make it hers. This year was not very good. Some shows were very boring. Losing interest.
RxDawg
May 24th, 2012
12:12 am
Great show tonight.
Jessica kind of disappointed ,e last night. But she sure didn’t tonight! Wow! I can’t wait to see what she can do in a few years. How can you people still call her “songbot” after that duet with Jennifer Holliday?
Phillip earned it grats to him.
That scream fest between fantasia and Joshua was so bad. I watched it on DVR, but I so wanted to hop on here and see what everyone said. Joshua wasn’t that bad, but my god fantasia was so bad you’d think she was trying to be funny.
bknsty14
May 24th, 2012
12:13 am
Well, kati, I’ll take the high road and apologize. Did not know you were French. That being said, Jessica still came in second and was still voted out twice. Secondly, I speak English very well. Now you’re just grabbing at straws reaching for an insult.
JTesla
May 24th, 2012
12:14 am
That’s ok Kati, but I have to ask: was Fantasia splitting her pants funny in French too? Because in English it was really funny. Really really funny!
bknsty14
May 24th, 2012
12:16 am
JT – I have a friend who is a French teacher. I’ll ask her if Fantasia ripping her pants translates into French humor. Of course, these people thought Jerry Lewis was funny, so…
erin
May 24th, 2012
12:17 am
Delighted Phillip won….he deserved it being multi-talented as he is!
Hope and pray there are none of the annoying, gospel screamers on next year’s show…got old pretty quick….used mute button alot.
Bmanash
May 24th, 2012
12:20 am
Ladies and Gents,
Lets keep this in perspective. First of all it is a contest that is “designed” to showcase the judges picks right from the get go. So in fact the judges have already limited you to the talent that will be on that season. Second it is designed to optimize ratings for Fox (in the end it is all about $, no suprise there). Of course the teenage vote will influence the results and if you watch closely……so have the judges via there comments after each performance, standing ovations etc. all season. In the end all have talent and deserve a shot. Any comments you post should be well thought about..remember these are young adults just trying to live their dreams. Don’t lessen their achievements by insulting them just to out do each other. Finally, I think about it this way I would rather be runner up in this show as history has proven much better success with the exception of Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clark….Congrats to all those young people and god bless you.
JTesla
May 24th, 2012
12:24 am
Oh yeah, congratulations to WGWG #5
Just because I stopped for that, it doesn’t follow that I’ve stopped goofing on Fantasia’s pants. I wonder if her pants have their own Twitter account yet?
bknsty14
May 24th, 2012
12:29 am
Bmanash
May 24th, 2012
12:20 am
The majority of us on this blog who are “regulars” are very fair to everyone. We have our favorites and our not so favorites, but we are never insulting of a person, we just express our opinions about who we like, who we don’t, and why. Personal insults are limited to that was terrible, if we believe their performance was bad. Most of us also have said at, one time or another, that these kids have bright futures and are talented (except DeAndre). Tonight has been a symptom of people who haven’t accepted that Jessica lost. Good voice, good future, didn’t win. All in all, if someone is outwardly mean and overly insulting beyond an opinion of a performance, they don’t last long on this blog.
bknsty14
May 24th, 2012
12:30 am
Her pants may end up in the rock and roll hall of fame. Before Rush and KISS and Boston.
JTesla
May 24th, 2012
12:30 am
“And speaking of DeGarmo, her beau Ace Young (season 5) proposed to her on air on the stage. It was a little odd but obviously, she knew it was coming”
I don’t know Ryan, I think it was a surprise. At least I’d like to think that it was, maybe I’m naive.
I’m not so naive as to think that Fantasia’s pants were planned. You can’t plan for comedy like that.
JTesla
May 24th, 2012
12:33 am
Did I just call Rodney Ryan? I’m pulling a Jimmy. Sorry Rodney, I just can’t get them pants out of my head. Oh those pants!
hernandez
May 24th, 2012
12:36 am
i wanted elise to win, lol but i prefer jess over pp, oh and by the way im from el salvador, and fantasias pants were funny hre too!
bknsty14
May 24th, 2012
12:38 am
Her ripping her pants is internationally funny. Thanks hernandez
JTesla
May 24th, 2012
12:38 am
Thank you Hernandez, El Salvador is a cool place!
hernandez
May 24th, 2012
12:41 am
yes we are cool XD. Fantasias pants will b a new trend i predict
atlfunlver
May 24th, 2012
12:42 am
Who cares if this guy can find atlanta on the map, Jessica Sanchez is hot!
ACE
May 24th, 2012
1:10 am
Jessica lost twice is that enough for her supporters. She got one more chance that the others didn’t and she still didn’t win. That should be enough to let you know that Phillip had a great fan base, he was never in the bottom three. Just the facts.
LD
May 24th, 2012
1:23 am
The only thing I can say is why Philip needs to let people know that he’ll have surgery after before voting starts.
Filipina Bloom
May 24th, 2012
1:27 am
Disgusting! Just as Adam Lambert was “robbed” of victory in Season 8 at the Finale’s voting, Jessica Sanchez’s winning votes were “stolen away” by backstage corporate conspiracies to manipulate voting as Simon Fuller pressed the little brown girl to acept “I Have Nothing” and resign to “Nothing Changes” and sing “The Prayer” to justify the Finale’s voting results. FOX and Corporate America think only a WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) should personify the ideals of a role model for the American youth when, in fact, it is a nation of many-colored slaving immigrants! Talk about a “land of the free!”
LD
May 24th, 2012
1:29 am
Did Philip needs to tell before voting starts that he’ll have surgery…
Jenny
May 24th, 2012
1:54 am
Aaaaaand can you say “laughingstock”?
Seriously. Did you see Jessica sing with Jennifer Holliday?
Did you HEAR her sing “I Will Always Love You”?
And Phillip won?
At least now there should be some long-overdue changes to the show.
Jenny
May 24th, 2012
1:54 am
And at least the finale was fun. Things I loved:
Ace and Diana getting engaged.
The Idol Choir singing the phone book and teasing Joshua.
The Bee Gees medley (maybe Joshua finally knows who they are now!!)
“And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going).”
“I Will Always Love You”.
CCR, “Bad Moon Rising”, and “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” (though I think both songs pointed out the weakness of Phil’s voice.)
Phillip’s emotion. He shouldn’t have won, but I’m glad it touched him so deeply. I wasn’t really sure how much he cared before that.
and AEROSMITH!! Steven Tyler… you belong behind that microphone, not behind the judges’ table!! As lead singer, you’ve still got it in spades.
Seth T
May 24th, 2012
1:58 am
bknsty14/May 23rd, 2012/11:15 pm
Lauren Gray in 2013”””’
Agree, that girl has tone and is interesting. Hope she comes back. Jimmy Iovine said once this year, that they should change the rules (top 24 can’t return) so maybe a couple from the top 24 up to, but not including the top 13 might see action next year as well, if they do change the rules.
DeAndre and Hollie were returns from last years Hollywood, bur DeAndre should have spent another year getting his rather wild game together, and he might have went a little further.
Elise would be the best vocalist to build a band around, due to her versatility across rock, ballads and ability to adapt to a varied set-list. I work with a band, and if anyone noticed — during the group sings she was involved in, she was the cornerstone everyone else keyed-off from to keep the song rolling correctly.
Hope DUETS will be fun.
Peace and Goodwill
bknsty14
May 24th, 2012
2:00 am
Jenny – you forgot Hollie outsinging Jordin and the Reba/Skylar duo. And the J/F screamfest.
bknsty14
May 24th, 2012
2:03 am
They did no favors to a lot of the 15/16 year olds that can’t come back next year. Eben. Jeremy. They were just too young and inexperienced. I hope Lauren comes back next year. She seemed interesting.
Jenny
May 24th, 2012
2:37 am
Oh, right, bknsty14! Hollie did outsing Jordin. Though Jordin sounded better than she did in her Idol days.
(But my first thought was… this is the best they could find to sing with Hollie?? Carrie was there… couldn’t she have sung? They could’ve reprised Jesus Take The Wheel.)
I couldn’t include Skylar/Reba or the J/F screamfest in my list though, because I had said it was “things I loved”….
Though I did think the screamfest was quite…. um…. interesting? No…. maybe hilarious is a better word.
Mike
May 24th, 2012
2:37 am
For all of you that are saying Phillip shouldnt have won, remember this…he was voted on by everyone who watched the show. Jessica has an amazing voice and can sing Phillip under the table, but Phillip is an artist through and through. He has an identity and a personality. He has a real chance to stand out and become a great AI winner and not just be some pop singer with a good voice that disappears after a couple hit singles. AI isnt all about just your singing voice. Its about the total package. And Phillip had the whole thing.
Jenny
May 24th, 2012
2:39 am
And strangely, I was almost hoping for Curly’s falsetto on the Bee Gees medley. It might actually have sounded good.
bknsty14
May 24th, 2012
2:45 am
I had the same thought about the Hollie/Jordin duo. They could have done better in pairing her with someone. I forgot you weren’t big on skylar’s nasal twang. That Josh/Fantasia thing was undoubtedly the worst thing I’ve ever heard. And DeAndre is just bad no matter what he does. How one of the girls, aside from Shannon, didn’t win is beyond me.
Laura
May 24th, 2012
3:14 am
Fantasia walks out looking like a whale and acting like a banshee. Her personal life continues to be a wreck.
About an hour later Diana looks slim and gorgeous, with nary a whiff of personal scandal or turmoil, as her longtime boyfriend proposes.
Someone is winning at life and it’s not Fanny.
Eric C.
May 24th, 2012
3:21 am
Mike, you are right on. I was shocked to see Joshua leave last week, but no way Jessica’s performances beat out Phillip’s…he is the real deal.
Eric C.
May 24th, 2012
3:28 am
Shelby, not really the best singer, but Skylar commanded the stage better than anyone. Personally, I think it would have been fun to see a Joshua/Phillip/Skylar top 3
JDawg
May 24th, 2012
4:11 am
@ atlfunlver
You must be blind.
JC
May 24th, 2012
4:15 am
Are you saying that the show should be be “fixed” to make sure white male cannot win because they earn the votes?!?! That is INCREDIBLY racist!! 132 million votes and people like Phillip Phillips still have to worry because he’s not gay, black, Latino, etc. What a sad state our country is in.
CL
May 24th, 2012
4:17 am
I loved “home” by him. he out did Jessica last night
Orlando
May 24th, 2012
6:48 am
IDOL OFFICIALLY JUMPED THE SHARK YET AGAIN!!!! That on air proposal was waaayyy of base. How cheesy was that?????? And another wgwg winning???? This show has sunk to a new low. I am done with idol.
Even if he is from Georgia.....
May 24th, 2012
6:53 am
Even if he is from Georgia…would not ever consider listening or buying a record of his…..would turn the radio to another station if I heard this trash come on.
TennesseeDawg
May 24th, 2012
7:06 am
All these “singing” shows have tapped out the majority of singing talent after an episode or 2. Nothing left but bad singers that the shows hype up.
Quincy Jones
May 24th, 2012
7:21 am
Congrats to Phillip – but I think Jessica was robbed. If this is a singing competition then -yes she should have won.
Great performances from Chaka Khan, Jennifer Holiday and Reba……
See you next season…..Q
Deirdre
May 24th, 2012
7:28 am
Morning!
Batten down the hatches folks. The onslaught has just started.
I enjoyed the show for what it was. A cheesy love-fest. And, since I loved both Phil and Jessica, my only disappointment is that it wasn’t a tie.
I think it was pretty obvious right from the beginning that Phil was probably going to win. He has a quality about him that draws your eye to him. There’s a genuineness to him that makes you listen to his song. Ignoring the wgwg aspect of his win, he was one contestant I would have picked as a favorite.
Deirdre
May 24th, 2012
7:29 am
My favorite quote from Rodney: Shannon Magrane…….who stands out like a giraffe
Rabbit
May 24th, 2012
7:30 am
Hoorraayy for Phil Phillips. I’m estatic. UUUggh Diana & Ace. Ace a hottie-absolutely gorgeous , he could’ve done better. Diana looks exteremely mature for her age – 40ish perhaps; I know this is mean, but she’s so.. so…ugly. I couldn’t stand to look at her when she competed against Fantasia. Marriage is beautiful-so I guess I better wish them well & congrats.
mojo
May 24th, 2012
7:31 am
Okay..so it looked like Jlo, Rhianna and Coldplay all lip synced when they were on,but the all the everyone else does not. What does that say for American Idol? That is weird. Fantasia….don’t go away mad,,,just go away.
Deirdre
May 24th, 2012
7:31 am
My favorite moments on the show: 1. Phil breaking down and going to his family and 2. The obviously stunned Diana accepting Ace’s proposal.
fan of idol
May 24th, 2012
7:34 am
They could have done better with their tribute to Robin Gibb, I was really hoping they would feature Deandre in that segment instead of Josh. Josh you could tell had no connection at all with the song.
Melissa N
May 24th, 2012
7:34 am
You pretty much described exactly my thoughts during the show last night..Kudos for that!! Just one thing….did anyone else notice during the opening act that Joshua went down into a split and couldn’t get back up then fell twice? my heart broke…the cameras should have panned away faster…second and the worst fop-a was also during the Runaway Baby performance toward the end of the song two dancers came out…a guy and a girl and it appeared that during their flips and jumps her booty shorts came off. They were white and just hanging there under her black dress…poor thing!! Great show last night though…and Great job describing last nights performances…you hit it dead on!! Way to go Phillip!!!!
Nana
May 24th, 2012
7:41 am
I am a 59 year old grandmother and I voted more this year than all other years combined. And every vote I made was for Phillip. I fell in love when I first saw him audition and am pleased to no end that he won. Joshua should have been in the top too over Jessica but it didn’t happen. Lord help us, please never put Fantasia back on the show! She is horrible. And when did screaming become music?
Harriett
May 24th, 2012
8:08 am
Good show! Deserving winner. And, Ace and Diana!!! Just Wow!
Good morning, too!