Season 11 Winner.... Phillip Phillips!!!

Season 11 Finale - Who Has To Have It?*

Sorry, again, for no post for Top 3.  I had a work event and was late to get home so there was no way I was sitting up even later to watch the show and then blogging about it.  Joshua Ledet was robbed people!  And not by P Squared but by Jessica Sanchez.  Not only has she already been saved but she was also the weakest performer of the top 3 and, yet, poor Joshua was sent home.  If it had come down to Phil and Joshua then I would have thought that Joshua deserved to win.  As it is.... WGWG5 all the way!  Go Philly Phil!

Producers Choice
Jessica -  "I Have Nothing":  I have spent all season hoping that Jessica would step out and stop imitating the singers that she idolizes so, of course, the producers ask her to cover Whitney.  It was a good cover song.
Phillip - "Stand By Me":  P2 put his Phil spin on it. It was a good, very different from the original, cover song.
Judges called Jessica as the winner.  I would call it a tie at best.

Contestants Choice
Jessica - "The Prayer":  Jessica did this much better earlier in the season but it was a good vocal performance. 
Phillip - "Movin' Out":  I didn't really get this song choice but it was a good performance (that he did better during Billy Joel week).
Judges were torn on this one but I think this entire round could be thrown out.

Coronation Songs
Jessica - "Change Nothing":  Ugh.  The coronation songs are usually sap fests.  This was not but yet it still wasn't a good song and it seemed to require Jessica to yell at me through the chorus which was not pleasant.  Not entirely her fault, I guess, but she should not have let them talk her into this God awful song.
Phillip - "Your Home":  Don't know who wrote this for Phil (D Matthews maybe?) but it was the perfect song for him.  He actually showed range with the chanting notes at the end of the song.  What an awesome song and how sly of Phillip to find this to close the show with.  Nothing else matters.  This one performance won him the show.  P2 is my Idol for Season 11!
Judges didn't really call a winner from this round but, come on people, P2 nailed this round!

What a way to close the show... Scotty!!!!!!

Season 11 - Top 4

I am still reeling from Skylar getting the boot last week (NO!) so I was torn as to whether I would even watch the show this week.  As I have said before, this season has been really odd for me.  I have not been overly passionate about any of the contestants which has made it really hard for me to get into the Rant this year.   I had told myself that I was done until next year and then, after seeing my favorite not win The Voice either (Juliet was robbed!), I decided that I had to give Idol one more chance to win me over.  This is it Idol -- Are you in it to win my valuable time for the next two weeks?  Show me what you've got....

California Dreaming  I know that I have begged for some new blood in the theme department but "Songs from California artists or about California" could not be more lame.  I guess I should be careful what I wish for.

P Squared - "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" (CCR):  Solid performance form Phil with this song.  Much better than either of his songs from last week, thank God.  Grade: B-

Hollie - "Faithfully" (Journey):  Hollie has really stepped up her game over the past few weeks.  There were a couple of shaky moments but this was a strong performance for her.  Grade: B

Josh - "You Raise Me Up" (Josh Groban);  Not my favorite Joshua performance of the season but it was so much better than when Chris Mann from The Voice attempted to pull off Groban. Grade: B

Jessica - "Steal Away" (Etta James):  A really good impression of Etta James.  Grade: B+

Group Sessions
P2 and Josh - "This Love" (Maroon 5):  Playful, great job with harmonizing AND a wonderful performance of a song by a sub par band.  I wish they sold the group numbers because I would so buy this one.  Loved it!  Grade: A++

Jessica and Hollie - "Eternal Flame" (The Bangles):  Jessica has never done a great job with any of her non-solo performances and I blame that for Hollie's struggles with this one.  Grade: C-

Top 4 - "When You Love Someone" (Foreigner):  This was okay for me for you, dawg.  Grade:  C

Songs They Wish They Had Written:

P2 - "Volcano" (Damien Rice):  This was my favorite performance from Phil,  and from any other contestant for that matter, all season.  I will definitely be downloading this one.  Grade: A

Hollie - "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Bonnie Raitt):  Love the song and I did think that there were some not so great parts during it but I am not sure that it deserved the harsh treatment that it received from the judges.  Grade:  B-

Josh - "It's A Man's World" (James Brown):  This is definitely the style of music that Josh needs to record when he gets his deal.  It fits his voice perfectly.  As much as I enjoyed it, I do have to give a very slight edge to Juliet from The Voice for her rendition of this song.  Grade: A

Jessica - "I'm Telling You" (from Dreamgirls):  Jessica wants to be JHud so bad that she can taste it.  Unfortunately for her, she is too young and has chosen someone to model herself after that has a little too much talent for her to live up to.  Maybe it will come with time as she matures.  Couldn't tell that to the judges though.  Grade: B

Who I Want to Go Home:  She may technically sing great but I am over Jessica.

Who Will Go Home:  As the judges requested with their comments, Hollie.