American Idol Season 11 Top 2 Finale performance night on May 22 (May 23 in Manila) was indeed a neck-to-neck battle between Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips. The American Idol 2012 Top 2 performed three songs each - one of Idol creator Simon fuller's choice, one of the Idol hopeful's favorite performance of the season and their coronation song, the one that will be released as their new single after winning American Idol.
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| Jessica Sanchez versus Phillip Phillips: and the American Idol Season 11 winner is... |
The American Idol 2012 Finale performance night opened with Jessica Sanchez' performance of Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing which was chosen by Simon Fuller for Jessica. Simon Fuller had chosen Ben E. King's Stand by Me for Phillip Phillips.
The Top 2 then performed their personal favorites of the season and Jessica tackled The Prayer, the song which got her to Top 24. Phillip rekindled his Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) moment which was well praised during the Top 10 Billy Joel's night.
For their coronation song, Jessica Sanchez was made to sing Change Nothing, an original song that will be released as her single if ever she won while Phillip Phillips rendered Home, another original for him.
Watch the American Idol Top 2 Finale performances below (Click on the performance title):
Jessica Sanchez
Phillip Phillips
Who will win the Season 11 of American Idol?
After their performances tonight and based on the judges' comments and the reaction of the crowd, we predict that Phillip Phillips will be hailed as the 11th American Idol come tomorrow's finale results night. Phillip Phillips got a standing ovation from the judges for his last performance (Home) and Randy Jackson claimed that it was the best of the night.
Although Jessica Sanchez did well on her performances, the judges' gave a restrained nod for her. The producers assigned her not quite a carry-on song unlike Phillip who was given the better songs so it's obvious who they wanted to emerge as this seasons winner.
Moreover, the fact that Phillip Phillips' did not even landed on the bottom group (which Jessica did, even faced elimination if not for the judges' save) reflects that he has a large voting fanbase. He can also have the sympathy votes, what with him continuing to fight even with kidney problems and a scheduled operation. There were also conspiracy theories (e.g. the Kristy Lee Cook curse) pointing to Phillip's win, another ride for the WGWG bandwagon.
However, the fact that Jessica Sanchez entered the Finale as the underdog might cause a great revolution for fans to vote for her. We knew how Filipinos unite for a goal and her Mexican and American fans will surely not let her down.
Though it's Phillip who we predict will be crowned on May 23rd's Idol finale results night, our hopes are still intact for Jessica Sanchez. But as our girl said, win or lose, it's a win-win situation for her and we believe that. After all, it's not always the winner that become successful post Idol. With Jessica's talent, she will definitely shine, crowned or not.
Who do you think will win? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below.
Photo courtesy of Americanidolnet.com