It's Phillip Phillips Vs Jessica Sanchez.
Even though I'm watching this almost a week late, I've managed to avoid spoilers and yet am expecting this to be a foregone conclusion. Phillip is the only artist to never have been in the bottom two, plus I'm not that keen on him, and am totally Team Jessica all the way. So Phillip's going to walk it.
Round 1 - Simon Fuller's choice.
1. Jessica Sanchez - I Have Nothing (Whitney Houston).
Jessica has a big voice, and this song requires one. Unfortunately, it's not a good fit. Jessica was never off-key nor off-pitch, but there was a lack of meat in her vocals that made her amazing voice somehow sound somewhat thin and weedy.
2. Phillip Phillips - Stand By Me (Ben E. King).
Giving the song a folksy, acoustic twist, his growly vocals sounded out of place, and he somehow made this amazing song incredibly boring. Which is something of a trademark of Phillip's. At least he's consistent.
The judges (well, Randy) declare round 1 to Jessica. I'm inclined to agree, but both were disappointing so it's more by default than performing an impressive finale performance.
Jason Derülo performs his new single, "Undefeated", which sounds like a cross between Taio Cruz's "Higher" and a Coca Cola jingle.
Round 2 - Contestants' choice.
3. Jessica Sanchez - The Prayer (Céline Dion).
Now that's a bit more like it. Starting off softly, controlled, and incredibly beautiful, she built nicely to belting it out without overdoing it or shouting, and then pulled it back respectfully.
4. Phillip Phillips - Moving' Out (Anthony's Song) (Billy Joel).
Of all of his performances, why he chose this one in particular is a complete mystery to me. Boring, tedious, and of no impact whatsoever.
Round 2 unquestionably goes to Jessica. Stephen agrees, adding an "again", Randy calls it a draw (wuss) and JLo give it to Phillip because his performance was "Phillip". No argument there. Except for that being a good thing.
Round 3 - Winner's single.
5. Jessica Sanchez - Change Nothing.
A disappointingly middle-of-the-road ballad. It was sweet and all, and she sang it well, but there wasn't much to it. I'm curious to know who picked it and/or wrote it.
6. Phillip Phillips - Home.
What do you know? It's a song performed in a folksy acoustic way. It has a bit more of a tempo to it than we're usually used to hearing from Phillip, and it definitely has more of a melody than Jessica's song. But also a bit zzzzzzzzzz.
Round 3 goes to Phillip. Comparisons to Mumford & Sons and Paul Simon were quite accurate. "Brilliant" and "genius", not so much.
And to top it all off they drag back on the mighty season 10 winner (again) Scotty McCreery to sprinkle some stardust on proceedings. Well, sing his tedious exit song, "Better Love" anyway.
So, overall, possibly the most limp Idol finale I can ever remember.
RESULTS SHOW
The final howevermany (minus the two finalists) pop up to give us a rendition of Bruno Mars's "Runaway Baby". It's amazing how many names and faces I'd already forgotten.
1. Phillip Phillips & John Fogerty - Have You Ever Seen The Rain/ Bad Moon Rising (Credence Clearwater Revival).
It's always a strange thing to watch, Phillip duetting. Having become so used to his 33rpm twists on songs, he seems oddly uncomfortable singing a song as is, even if it's with one of his own idols. For my money, he sounded all the better for it, and he definitely came more to life on the second song.
Joshua Ledet returns to the stage for a scream-off with former winner Fantasia. Even the editor is clearly bored as we go to commercial before they've even finished. Phew.
The finalist girls return for a Chaka Khan medley of Ain't Nobody/ Through the Fire/ I'm Every Woman. And, to be fair, they all do a pretty decent job. Then Chaka herself joins them, looking and sounding a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw her pop up on a show like this. Which is not to be mistaken for flawless.
Rihanna performs a laser-heavy "Where Have You Been", a song that sounds a lot worse than similar songs at this year's Eurovision, yet will no doubt fare better in the charts purely on the basis of her name. Yawn.
Skylar Laine returns for a duet with Reba McIntyre on "Turn On Your Radio". Needless to say, she was in her element. She definitely has a bright future ahead in American country music.
Jennifer Holliday joins Jessica Sanchez in a freakishly bizarre scream-off on "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", although it definitely brought the best out of Jessica's voice in a way that would make her losing to Phillip look frankly embarrassing. Jennifer, however, managed to embarrass herself with facial contortions I never thought would be possible without prosthetics.
Steven Tyler has reconciled with his band, so we get two Aerosmith performances, one is a new song, "Legendary Child", which fits seamlessly into their back catalogue, the other being the Girls Aloud Vs Sugababes classic "Walk This Way". It was what it was, which was what I expected it to be.
And so it's the final performance, a rather lovely duet of Phillip and Jessica performing "Up Where We Belong". With Phillip sounding scarily similar to Joe Cocker, it's fair to say Jessica more than matched Jennifer Warnes.
And so to the result, or foregone conclusion, as Ryan barely takes a breath before announcing the winner of American Idol season 11 is...
Phillip Phillips.
Phillip seems surprisingly calm, and Heejun runs on the stage to take the piss out of him. Then after the first chorus of "Home", it all hits Phillip and his voice cracks. He eventually gives up, hands his guitar to his fellow contestants and buries himself in his family's arms. By which I mean bodies, not guns. As we've discovered, it's a necessary distinction to make when it comes to the Phillips family. It's all rather sweet and emotional, and a nice way to end an underwhelming finale.
See you for season 12. Shortly before Phillip is dropped by BMG.
Even though I'm watching this almost a week late, I've managed to avoid spoilers and yet am expecting this to be a foregone conclusion. Phillip is the only artist to never have been in the bottom two, plus I'm not that keen on him, and am totally Team Jessica all the way. So Phillip's going to walk it.
Round 1 - Simon Fuller's choice.
1. Jessica Sanchez - I Have Nothing (Whitney Houston).
Jessica has a big voice, and this song requires one. Unfortunately, it's not a good fit. Jessica was never off-key nor off-pitch, but there was a lack of meat in her vocals that made her amazing voice somehow sound somewhat thin and weedy.
2. Phillip Phillips - Stand By Me (Ben E. King).
Giving the song a folksy, acoustic twist, his growly vocals sounded out of place, and he somehow made this amazing song incredibly boring. Which is something of a trademark of Phillip's. At least he's consistent.
The judges (well, Randy) declare round 1 to Jessica. I'm inclined to agree, but both were disappointing so it's more by default than performing an impressive finale performance.
Jason Derülo performs his new single, "Undefeated", which sounds like a cross between Taio Cruz's "Higher" and a Coca Cola jingle.
Round 2 - Contestants' choice.
3. Jessica Sanchez - The Prayer (Céline Dion).
Now that's a bit more like it. Starting off softly, controlled, and incredibly beautiful, she built nicely to belting it out without overdoing it or shouting, and then pulled it back respectfully.
4. Phillip Phillips - Moving' Out (Anthony's Song) (Billy Joel).
Of all of his performances, why he chose this one in particular is a complete mystery to me. Boring, tedious, and of no impact whatsoever.
Round 2 unquestionably goes to Jessica. Stephen agrees, adding an "again", Randy calls it a draw (wuss) and JLo give it to Phillip because his performance was "Phillip". No argument there. Except for that being a good thing.
Round 3 - Winner's single.
5. Jessica Sanchez - Change Nothing.
A disappointingly middle-of-the-road ballad. It was sweet and all, and she sang it well, but there wasn't much to it. I'm curious to know who picked it and/or wrote it.
6. Phillip Phillips - Home.
What do you know? It's a song performed in a folksy acoustic way. It has a bit more of a tempo to it than we're usually used to hearing from Phillip, and it definitely has more of a melody than Jessica's song. But also a bit zzzzzzzzzz.
Round 3 goes to Phillip. Comparisons to Mumford & Sons and Paul Simon were quite accurate. "Brilliant" and "genius", not so much.
And to top it all off they drag back on the mighty season 10 winner (again) Scotty McCreery to sprinkle some stardust on proceedings. Well, sing his tedious exit song, "Better Love" anyway.
So, overall, possibly the most limp Idol finale I can ever remember.
RESULTS SHOW
The final howevermany (minus the two finalists) pop up to give us a rendition of Bruno Mars's "Runaway Baby". It's amazing how many names and faces I'd already forgotten.
1. Phillip Phillips & John Fogerty - Have You Ever Seen The Rain/ Bad Moon Rising (Credence Clearwater Revival).
It's always a strange thing to watch, Phillip duetting. Having become so used to his 33rpm twists on songs, he seems oddly uncomfortable singing a song as is, even if it's with one of his own idols. For my money, he sounded all the better for it, and he definitely came more to life on the second song.
Joshua Ledet returns to the stage for a scream-off with former winner Fantasia. Even the editor is clearly bored as we go to commercial before they've even finished. Phew.
The finalist girls return for a Chaka Khan medley of Ain't Nobody/ Through the Fire/ I'm Every Woman. And, to be fair, they all do a pretty decent job. Then Chaka herself joins them, looking and sounding a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw her pop up on a show like this. Which is not to be mistaken for flawless.
Rihanna performs a laser-heavy "Where Have You Been", a song that sounds a lot worse than similar songs at this year's Eurovision, yet will no doubt fare better in the charts purely on the basis of her name. Yawn.
Skylar Laine returns for a duet with Reba McIntyre on "Turn On Your Radio". Needless to say, she was in her element. She definitely has a bright future ahead in American country music.
Jennifer Holliday joins Jessica Sanchez in a freakishly bizarre scream-off on "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", although it definitely brought the best out of Jessica's voice in a way that would make her losing to Phillip look frankly embarrassing. Jennifer, however, managed to embarrass herself with facial contortions I never thought would be possible without prosthetics.
Steven Tyler has reconciled with his band, so we get two Aerosmith performances, one is a new song, "Legendary Child", which fits seamlessly into their back catalogue, the other being the Girls Aloud Vs Sugababes classic "Walk This Way". It was what it was, which was what I expected it to be.
And so it's the final performance, a rather lovely duet of Phillip and Jessica performing "Up Where We Belong". With Phillip sounding scarily similar to Joe Cocker, it's fair to say Jessica more than matched Jennifer Warnes.
And so to the result, or foregone conclusion, as Ryan barely takes a breath before announcing the winner of American Idol season 11 is...
Phillip Phillips.
Phillip seems surprisingly calm, and Heejun runs on the stage to take the piss out of him. Then after the first chorus of "Home", it all hits Phillip and his voice cracks. He eventually gives up, hands his guitar to his fellow contestants and buries himself in his family's arms. By which I mean bodies, not guns. As we've discovered, it's a necessary distinction to make when it comes to the Phillips family. It's all rather sweet and emotional, and a nice way to end an underwhelming finale.
See you for season 12. Shortly before Phillip is dropped by BMG.