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.
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By Rodney Ho, Radio & TV Talk
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244 comments Add your comment
Rickster
May 24th, 2012
10:06 am
It was nice to see Sakura posting again. Sorry I missed her!
Pitchy
May 24th, 2012
10:07 am
Hey guys, missed blogging with you all last night. Had to pick Mama up from airport. I heard the winner on GMA this morning. I’m happy for PP, even though I really liked Jessica. She will still go far.
However, I did think of you guys when I heard Fantasia and Joshua perform. OMG, what a freaking screamfest. Also, the returning female contestants didn’t fare too well either.
Skylar’s performance with Reba was the best of what I saw before I had to leave. They could be like The Judds and Reba adopt Skylar as her performance sidekick. I like them together, why, because Skylar is Reba’s clone and I love Reba.
Drove home from airport and my tire blew out…what a nightmare!!! Now, home cooking breakfast my Mama and my child’s brood of girlfriends that slept over. Just wanted to weigh in.
Oh, before I forget, what a touching moment with Jessica and PP presented their biggest supporters with the keys to MY Ford Escape!!!
Back 2 Bama
May 24th, 2012
10:08 am
AI’s fan base is majority teenage white girls let’s be real; therefore, the WGWG is always going to win. I see a bright career down the road for Jessica she has the it factor another Jennifer Hudson in the making. It’s really sad when we are too cruel to admit great talent and reward that person for such a special gift. P2 will debut at Six Flags, Lenox Mall, etc. and sweet little Jessica will perform at the Oscars, Grammys,etc. maybe star on GLEE who knows……..
Alex
May 24th, 2012
10:08 am
ROHO, I would have rather watched a Donna Summer tribute from the gals over the Ace/Diana thing, but hey, it’s the first AI hookup.
Alex
May 24th, 2012
10:10 am
Pitchy
May 24th, 2012
10:07 am
Glad you’re with us and I hope the blowout is the worst thing you have to contend with this weekend.
Yeah, the car presentation was really cool.
dancer
May 24th, 2012
10:10 am
Thanks Deirdre, I agree with you.
Alex, the way Tina screams, how could you possibly bare it, I mean, the way you hate screammers, bet your wife has to be quiet as a mouse huh?
Alex
May 24th, 2012
10:11 am
Back 2 Bama
May 24th, 2012
10:08 am
Be careful or the poster known as “dancer” will hit you with the “Phil will make more money than you ever will” stuff.
Deirdre
May 24th, 2012
10:12 am
Jessica would be great on Glee #1. She’s really a teenager which would be new for the Glee kids. #2. She has a big booming voice and the Glee club is going to need to replace Rachel.
Pitchy…what a night! I’m happy to hear you got home safe and sound!
Rodney Ho
May 24th, 2012
10:12 am
Just posted the annual thank you blog to the regulars! See if I name drop you and feel free to bug me if you feel you weren’t properly recognized!
Rickster
May 24th, 2012
10:12 am
When Hollie started singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” – I was scared that she was going to introduce “Ladies and Gentlemen…. Jerry Lewis!”
Deirdre
May 24th, 2012
10:13 am
And thanks for the reminder, Pitchy. One of the nicest moments of the night was Jessica and Phil getting to hand the keys to a new car to their mentors.
Deirdre
May 24th, 2012
10:14 am
Alex, I think you mixed up dancer with Pandora
Alex
May 24th, 2012
10:16 am
dancer
May 24th, 2012
10:10 am
Are you serious? Tina has a rough sound to her voice but to say she screams is just plain wrong.
For instance, on Proud Mary:
Well I LEFT a good job in the city
WORKIN’ for the man every night and day
She emphasizes certain words. But her songs don’t include the word:
aaaeeeOOOOoooowoooohwoowEEEEEaaaaiiiYYYYYYYohohooohWAAAAAA
RxDawg
May 24th, 2012
10:17 am
” always like Hollie…She outsang Jordin tonight.
Ummm, no she didn’t. Hollie was fine but she was not any better then Jordin. Jordin actually hit her high notes.
Mercedes S.
May 24th, 2012
10:21 am
Good Morning!
Big Mistake: an hour into the show last night I decided to undo the recording since hubby was home and we both were watching in real time anyway – normaly I watch, liveblog and record so the One Who Hates Commercials and Judges’ Idiot Comments can watch the show the way he wants (at most , 20 mins of singing).
Now, having read all these wonderful comments, I wish I could go back and see Tasia’s busted pants again, hear her outscreech MR. Screech; see the Proposal Properly, and enjoy all the other enjoyable parts one or two more times… it WAS a great finale; as we look back, it will be deemed a Classic, next to the Adam/Kris finale.
JD
May 24th, 2012
10:57 am
Had to leave the blog last night when I got tired of the misspellings and deteriorating grammar. Now we are getting an occasional “they make more money than you ever will” comment. Just because you don’t like screaming in songs, does not mean you hate black singers. Tina Turner can never be classified as a screamer either.
JD
May 24th, 2012
11:00 am
And the Fantasia outfit and song (and I use that term loosely) will go down in the annals of AI as one of the top 5 worst moments. (can’t think of another 4 to give it a run)
And to whoever asked earlier, yes, I noticed when Joshua hit the floor and couldn’t get up in the opening number without some help.
Pitchy
May 24th, 2012
11:03 am
Thank you Alex and Deirdre. God was on my side since I had Mama and 3 teenage girls in the backseat. We were a little rattled, but safe. These dang smart phones are so handy. They all had flashlights since the one in my trunk batteries had died. I felt I could put their phones in the road like those orange cones warning people that we’ve broke down (lololol).
Pitchy
May 24th, 2012
11:05 am
JD, are you serious you left because of misspellings and bad grammer? Really, it’s a blog. We all type so fast typos are understood. We’re not writing a thesis where content and sentence structure is graded. If that makes you stop blogging, you may have bigger issues. IJS!
JD
May 24th, 2012
11:11 am
Pitchy-
Yes, but the misspelling and bad grammar were also just stupid comments and stupidity is harder to put up with around midnight. I like to make and to read snarkey comments and don’t mind reading them to, but some of the fly byes last night were just stupid.
JD
May 24th, 2012
11:12 am
Obviously I read the snarkey ones twice.
JD
May 24th, 2012
11:14 am
And not referring to typos. That’s a given, like Fantasia’s pants.
Pitchy
May 24th, 2012
11:20 am
JD, to be honest I can understand reading something off kilter after midnight. One’s tolerance level is just about depleted around that time. I understand.
Naw, Fantasia’s pants is NOT A GIVEN!!! Atrocious. She needs to fire her stylist. Wait, she needs to hire a stylist because no one worth a paycheck would have let her come on stage like that. I’ve worn a weave, but doesn’t she have enough money to not get hair from the dollar store???
Pitchy
May 24th, 2012
11:20 am
Meant to say I’ve NEVER worn a weave…
JD
May 24th, 2012
11:22 am
I’m sure JLo has a stylist but those baggy drawers were just wrong.
JD
May 24th, 2012
11:28 am
Ok, time to get something done today. (like fix my laptop after last night’s session) Might bask in RoHo’s “thanks column” for a few more minutes though.
Neg's Take
May 24th, 2012
11:34 am
As evidenced by his incredible domination of iTunes (#1 single, #4 album, 14 songs in Top 200), the right contestant won the competition. Jessica’s fan base is mostly international, and she would have been a flop as a winner. She has no charting album and 1 single in the Top 200 (#140). AI cannot afford a failed champion with all the singing show competition out there today.
Anyway, cheers to P2. He stayed true to himself as an artist and a person the entire ride, and deserved the crown.
meg
May 24th, 2012
11:43 am
I’m over 60. I didn’t vote. But, I was for Phillip Phillps the minute I saw him and heard him sing. He had the winner “look, talent and attitude”. Loved Jessica. The girl will have a huge career, so don’t feel sorry for her.
dancer
May 24th, 2012
11:49 am
Jessica reminds me of Mariah, and by that I mean, when she first came out, she could sing but had no stage presence. She deveolped that over time, (still not the best) but Jess will learn this, and when she does, watch out…the girl can sing.
Two J's all the way
May 24th, 2012
11:52 am
@ Neg,
When it is all said and done Jessica will have career as the biggest international star ever to come from AI. Look at the past top two finishers and how many times the second place finisher has had a bigger career than the “winner”. Many people still think Adam Lambert won his season but he was #2. Hey, Clay Aiken did not do too bad either.
ashley
May 24th, 2012
12:03 pm
I’m a little past 50 and I too voted for Phillip. He has been one of my favorites all season, along with Colton and Skylar. Never did like Jessica and Josh’s screaming. As for last night’s show, I just wish they had eliminated JLo’s “singing and dancing” and used that time at the end. They always cut short the time allocated at the end of the results shows. It would have been nice to see more of Phillip’s time with his family and also some more of the top 12 on stage.
Quincy Jones
May 24th, 2012
12:06 pm
Again congrats to Phillip – but I have to say that he was not the best singer or had the best stage presence of all of the contestants.
Screaming at the end of a song is intended to show off the vocal range of the singer as well as offering a closure or climax in a song.
If I had to produce someone like a Joshua I would have to teach him how and when to wail…..
Like I’ve stated in the past very few singers can scream and it not become annoying or offensive i.e. Aretha, Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle, Christina Ag, Kelly Clarkson and Kelly Price.
You have to show some restraint – I belive that was Joshua’s biggest mistake throughout the competition……Q
Sunny
May 24th, 2012
1:56 pm
Didn’t read all the comments so this may have already been addressed, but Diana DeGarmo was from Season Three, not Two. Also, I agree the Joshua/Fantasia thing was a debacle, a definitely worst moment ever for Idol and that outfit she was wearing….holy cow! There was a whole lot of screaming going on last night, not just from Mantasia. I wasn’t impressed with the show at all and was ready for it to be over about 15 minutes in. I am happy with the outcome though, I am usually all about the voice and there’s no doubt that Jessica has the better voice, but Phillip’s talent, charisma and likeability are just undeniable, and I don’t think it had anything to do with WGWG or pre-teens and their moms voting….he’s just great!
G
May 24th, 2012
2:09 pm
Obviously I’m not pleased with the results from last night, but I’m far from surprised. I think that most of us KNEW that pp was going to win, but some us were “hoping” for a different result………..for a change. However, the Idol masses are not interested in change at this time.
Congrats to Jess and her future endeavors.
G
May 24th, 2012
2:19 pm
It’s not hard to outsing Jordin. Jess did it to her too on the Whitney “I Will Always…..” song. Jordin performed her rendition on the Billboards Awards Show and Jess did it last night. The difference was night and day. Hands down Jess.
P2 for me
May 24th, 2012
3:16 pm
CONGRATULATIONS, PHILLIP! I’ve been rooting for you all season – you’re a fine Southern gentleman with real talent, and the dedication to persevere even through painful kidney stones. I could listen to your voice endlessly, and stayed up to 1 a.m. on a work night this week, voting my fingers off for you, sweet guy.
Now get that kidney problem fixed, rest and get strong, cause you have tons of fans who love you and are waiting to buy your cd and to see you perform in person!
J.T.
May 24th, 2012
4:58 pm
The ending of the finale was a joke,Jessica shoult have won. She was willing to make the changes that needed to be done, she participated in the little snips, she is beautiful, talented, humble and remarkable. Josh was let go because it would have been harder to pick a winner but phillip did not deserve to win.Well now he can go and get some much needed rest. And I am from the south.
Ron Marriott
May 24th, 2012
5:18 pm
I am a 68 year old man and have been a professional singer and dancer all my life. Have many Broadway and Vegas credits, worked with a lot of stars and yes even Cruise Ships. Philip Phillips deserved to win because his voice is so different than anyone else, and I would buy his cd in a heart beat. I closed my eyes sometimes when he sang and it was a pleasure to hear someone that didn’t sound like they were from a Gospel Choir, Whitney wannabe or screaming rock band. That fact that he was sick during it all makes him a real artist, and keeping the illness quiet kept him from getting a sympathy vote. As he said when not to wear gray, it was only the music that counted! He has a wonderful future! He is humble, down to earth and with that smile, don’t be surprised to see him in the movies some day!
Jens.h
May 24th, 2012
7:20 pm
Omg! Sure PP was ok… And he would totally win my school talent show, but come on! How can anyone even compare him to jessica sanchez? Im sorry but no more wgwg america…. Please. Any one of jessicas performances would have
Leech
May 24th, 2012
10:11 pm
It’s not society that hates White guys being successful its the Black race…it will ALWAYS be the race card no matter what. Everyone has their own opinion and has a right to share it but it would be nice for once for the race card to disappear. Jessica, Joshua, and every other contestant had the same chance to win as Phillip…America voted and he won….end of story.
Romona
May 25th, 2012
12:51 am
I am thrilled that Phillip Phillip was the winner of Idol. It is not just the young girls that voted for Phillip, some of us senior citizens voted also. My friend and I gave him 300 votes for the final. We have voted every week for Phillip. I am 74 years old and my friend is 68. We voted for other contestants and Phillip until the final two weeks then we voted just for Phillip. He is so humble and you can just see how much he loves music by the way he moves his body and his facial expressions.
Joyce
May 25th, 2012
5:11 pm
I followed comments on Facebook and specifically looked at the pictures of people supporting him…MOST were NOT teens, and most looked to be in MY age group (40-60). We voted for Phillip because he was good, entertaining, different, fresh, humble and just plain fun to watch and he sings our kind of music. The demographic in this country that sells the most music is ROCK so why is it so surprising to people that (mellow) Rock performers usually win? This is the FIRST year (and I have watched and voted all Idol seasons) that the person I voted for actually won…Usually the best person does not win, but this year they did. That is not to take away from Jessica’s amazing vocals. The fact is this is IDOL not the VOICE…it is rare that someone who sings ballads wins…America just isn’t into ballads very much. Jessica proved she could not sing any other style well, while Phillip was able to pull of any style he was handled. Is Jessica great? Absolutely…But I would never buy a CD…just as I have never bought a CD from Whitney, Mariah or any other ballad singers. Ballads are just not mainstream music in America. Joshua continually over sang his songs, and while he has talent he needs some polishing up for sure. He also needs to quit all the screaming. The duet with Fantasia and him was absolutely awful and was the duet with Halliday and Jessica…Future American Idol contestants, if you can only sing ballads, you might as well stay home…that is not what IDOL is about…IDOL is about who mainstream America is going to support, buy their CD’s and go to their concerts…and mainstream America would just not have done that for Joshua or Jessica…If you cannot be versatile, no sense in even trying out JMHO…year after year ballad singers who get boring very quickly just don’t make it. Joshua should have gone home before Skylar who put on a refreshing show every time and showed amazing versatility…the playoff SHOULD have been between Skylar and Phillip…now THAT would have been a close race…but Jessica and Phillip…it was a no brainer
Kelly
May 27th, 2012
7:27 am
Congratulations to Phillip Phillips. Well deserved. I love the song HOME. Looks like it will be a huge hit for him.
vivian
May 28th, 2012
9:09 pm
I personally like jessica and think she has a more powerful, nice, better voice and is a great, strong singer. Philip has a nice melodic voice @ times too but if I had to base it it on the facts of who really deserves it as an artist I would go with jessica.