May 24, 2012 
When I first saw Phillip Phillips perform his first audition, my initial reaction was that he could be the ONE! He had all the quirky, yet humble ingredients that served other male winners very well.
He reminded me of a younger version of Season 5 winner, Taylor Hicks, and we all know how that season played out!
During that season, everyone was predicting a Daughtry win but, in a surprising turn of events, he left the Idol building at the Top 4 level, followed by the very talented Elliott Yamin at Top 3.
That left Taylor and Katharine McPhee competing for the Idol crown and many critics were dismayed that Katharine, who was by far the superior vocalist, lost to Taylor.
But Taylor came with an army of Soul Patrollers, which gained momentum and multiplied with each performance show. Hey, I should know. I was one of them. Plus he was loaded with charisma and charm, something that young Katharine could not sing away, no matter how hard she tried.
However, this season, little Jessica Sanchez looked to me to be The One to break the “White Guy With Guitar” winning streak. She was young, vivacious, immensely talented and extremely humble. So, I was thinking – a female win was a strong possibility this season.
Well, as it happens, that was wishful thinking on my part. Phillip – health problems or no – gained momentum and support as the weeks unfolded and quite possibly won this season’s title by a landslide. Did you notice that Ryan Seacrest didn’t mention the percentage of votes separating the two contestants? That’s because Phillip quite possibly clobbered little Jessica when the final votes were tallied.
Whatever the reason we can yada yada and theorize here ’till the cows come home. Phillip Phillips is this year’s winner and everyone here in the MCL Community wish him the very best.
He is armed with arguably the best Idol song ever written for a winner on this show, although I feel that David Cook’s “Time Of Your Life” would give “Home” a run for its money. I still hear that song on the radio 4 years later and love it just as much as I did when I first heard it.
Congratulations Phillip. We are so proud of how strong and determined you were throughout this competition and truly deserve this year’s title. Stay healthy, stay focused and keep putting out your great music.
Masterclass Lady On MySpace.Com
Vocalist.Org
MasterClassLady.Com 
Thank you for writing this nice tribute, Rosanne. I truly hope Phillip (and all the finalists) go on to whatever level of stardom and musical success he desires. I’m not sure Phillip will enjoy the scrutiny of the spotlight, but perhaps if he gets with a good band, the other folks will help spread some of that attention. I also hope he gets to make the record he wants to make. It’ll be very interesting to hear his original material.
It is disappointing for that the WGWG has dominated Idol’s championship seat, but I think one of our posters had a point about the humble nature needed. Unfortunately, I think humbleness is a much rarer product in a young man than a young woman. Or rather, modesty is *expected* in a woman and taken much more for granted. On the other hand, since it is not the norm in a man, such an individual is lavished with praise. It is not the man’s fault, of course. Phillip seems like a truly unpretentious, kind young man. I just find it is sad that the same character traits go unappreciated in the likes of Pia, Hollie, Jessica, Siobhan, Melinda D., etc. Even criticised and misinterpreted.
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Philip is a young man of great character. In spite of pain and severe health problems he stayed and fought for his dream. His sing out last night touched me so, when he cried put his guitar down and went into the arms of his parents.
Philip knows who he is and he feels each word so strongly that he becomes the song he is singing. He draws the viewer and listener in and takes them into his world. This is powerful stuff. Jessica can sing circles around him but she is sterile. She can rif and run with the best of them but she could draw me in or make me feel. (Hollie did at times). Jessica is an awesome mimic. She can mimic Beyonce, Myrah, Whitney, Holiday to every last vocal nunance but given an unsung song she knew not what to do. In time I hope she lets more of her alter ego out and becomes a firece urban singer. But now IMO she needs to work on feel her lyric and connecting to her audience.
I wish all of these idols success and I hope they all have the opportunity to put out music.
Congratulations Philip, get well soon.
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Aubry,
I agree with you. Jessica hasn’t found her “personality” in her music yet. She’s trying to be so many different styles, that, she doesn’t connect, fully, with any song she sings. It always comes off “very rehearsed” and “very polished”, but not truly heartfelt. Phillip, on the other hand, is completely honest and raw about who and what he is. He’s not affected, in any way, and although, not a superb vocalist, he has style. Of the two, he deserved the win. I still say Colton or Hollie should of found their way into the finale, and I’m pretty sure had they not saved Jessica that one week, it would of been a Colton/Phillip finale, which would of proved even more interesting.
As a whole, I wouldn’t say this entire season was a flop – it did introduce quite an eclectic array of performers – DeAndre, Colton, Hollie, Joshua, Elise, Jessica and Phillip, to name a few. However, it did showcase the complete lack of talent and skill on the judging panel, and, the serious flaws in the voting system, that have been visible for a few years now, but, I believe, peaked, in this season. Fortunately, the Phillip win of last night, was the right win, of the two contestants, but, unfortunately, it also turned a lot of viewers off the show. Idol is down, overall, 25% from last year, and, a whopping 47% from its original inception as a show. Most likely, it will be down a further 10%, or more, next year, unless they do something drastic, like, change the entire judging panel and the voting system. They need to take the power away from the tweens that vote thousands of times for the cutest boy(s), and leave the female performers at the mercy of where the chips may fall.
Canadian & Australian Idol charged for their votes. In Canada, it was .10 a vote, and it went directly to the phone bill, which, made parents a little more critical on how many votes their youngster’s were allowed to submit. ‘The Voice’ limits the amounts of votes allowed, and, ‘The X Factor’ gives more power to the judges each week, to choose who stays and who goes, of the Final 2. Idol needs to adopt a few of these conditions. Had any of the above measures been in place this year, I’m sure the result would of been vastly different than the one we got. I’m sure Phillip would of made it quite a ways in the competition, and Colton, DeAndre and Skylar could of ended up as F3, or at least, F4 with Jessica/Joshua, but, I don’t necessarily believe Phillip would of made it to the finale.
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Jessica and Aubry
I agree with you both so much. Aubry when you said humility is a rare quality to see in a guy …wow!! That was perfect. I do think that is what makes that guy stand out from all the others. Even if that guy is not humble “at heart” , he at least needs to “display” it. There was a guy who auditioned this season named Richie Law (Country Boy) .To me his vocal ability was extraordinary, one of the best talents if not THE best talent that was on the show this season. In the “groups session” he even sang with Phil and Heejun. But his arrogance, according to the guys he sang with, made him hard to get along with, and while he could out sing them all, it effected his performances and he was ultimately booted out fairly early. So this definitely is not a competition soley about vocal ability.
As far as Jessica Sanchez. Very early in the competition she came out in her performances almost looking “over confident” and even a little arrogant. If you look back at the shows when SHE was performing in the group competition with DeAndre and a couple of others you can see it. She was almost always performed as she was the star of the whole show. I;ll never forget it. But THEN when she started the solo part of the competition, Jimmy said something about her performances to the tune that “she was believing too much of the praise” – and after that critique her whole attitude changed. If SHE was a little arrogant , one thing is for sure she never “displayed” it again. The expression in her eyes changed almost to the point that she almost always “appeared” shy and timid, so much so that a lot of people commented about it. Then there was the boot followed by the save. That did it . Two very “humbling” experiences. They both effected her rightfully so, and while it didn’t take her to the end, I think both experiences made her more respectful to the process , changed her attitude. and she was indeed the last girl standing.
Had Skylar toned it down a bit, I believe it would have been her with the title instead of Phil. The viewers would have forced it because while country is not my cup of tea, its part of that Idol style and she had it. The vocals were there, the confidence and that “Idol style” was there. What was’n there was a “conscious display” of humility.
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Karl exactly true and that was Elise’s downfall from the start. Her stankface when being judged or when landing B3 had her loose votes by the tons. What the naming of the American Idol last night, while Jessica played the game and pretended she never for a second last night felt she would loose. Her initial expression was shock then masked with hugs for Phil.
Colton and Deandre deserved F4 with Phil. I will never get why Deandre was set up to go early or how Colton went from a fav to being voted off.
But IMO in the finale we had Phil is the rightful winner. What Phil lacked in range he more than made up for in heart.
Give me moving heart felt vocals over sterile vocal gymastics any day.
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I just read on MJ’s Blog in the transcript of his post-show interview that his right kidney is essentially not working. He has a ureteral stent in to help the kidney stones pass, which is what I found out in my sniffing around on medical sites. Here are the options for ureteral obstruction: http://www.mayoclinic.org/ureteral-obstruction/treatment.html. One non invasive, the others involve moving around of organ parts and such. God, I feel so bad for that kid. I’m sure he was never in danger of renal failure as one kidney can easily do the job, but the pain must’ve been awful. I truly forgive him 85% of his bad notes. And he never complained or made excuses.
My view on criticism of Phillip’s vocal ability is that it is short sighted and inappropriately laid on him. BTW, I am not referring to MCL’s constructive criticism. Even Michael Slezak, with whom I usually agree, has been unduly harsh. A rock and roll singer doesn’t need a two-octave-plus range and a pure, untarnished timbre to become a legend. I think it does take a good ear and a special tone to the voice that can picked out in three or four notes like Bob Dylan, John Lennon (and all the Beatles), Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Weir (the Grateful Dead), Neil Young, yes John Fogarty, Waters/Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, Eddie Vedder, Michael Stipe, etc. etc. And yes, I know Bob Dylan should use the Neti-Pot liberally before signing live, but I did see him twice in the ’90s and was in tune and awesome. I suppose my point is that Phillip never tried to be a power rock vocalist like Steve Perry or Freddie Mercury. You have to hand him that: He knows himself. The poor thing just wasn’t himself some nights on Idol. I personally love the tone he gets when he is “on.” I can’t quite describe it, but it’s sort of “froggie”? As if he close his nasopharyx when he slides from one note to another. I am not a vocal expert but it’s almost like he arresting the process of moving from his head voice to his chest voice. And when his voice is clear in the upper range of his regular head voice (non-falsetto) he can get some expressive rich tones in there.
BTW, I am not criticizing anyone on here.
Hugs to the kid. I hope he gets the nephrons pumping again soon.
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I am curious as to what Phillip can really give to his audience. Let’s see what happens after his surgery and he’s on his way to full recovery. I just don’t know how he’ll be ready for the beginning of the tour. He will need more time to completely recover.
Jessica is like a flower, ready to bloom. With good management, I see great success for her. Poor song choices did her in.
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Please do not compare Philip Phillips to Taylor Hicks! Taylor Hicks can light up a stage! Taylor Hicks follows the melody! When Joshua came on stage after the sedate performance by Philip Phillips and John Fogarty, it was electrifying.
I think, in addition to changing the voting, AI needs to get better or additional coaches for their contestants, particularly for the 16 and 17 yos. Hollie and Jessica might’ve benefited from acting classes. The judges also need to offer more constructive and consistent criticism instead of standing ovations. Maybe take some notes.
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Rosanne,
Not really sure where to put this – or if you have an X Factor blog – but, I have a member on XFF who’s wife sent in her audition tape, and he asked what I thought of her voice, and, I offered my thoughts, but told him it would be better coming from you. If you could maybe take a listen, and offer your thoughts in the thread, I know he’d probably appreciate it. Here’s the link; http://thexfactorforums.com/index.php?/topic/34-the-x-factor-america-main-room/page__view__findpost__p__130136
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Rosanne-When I heard the producer chose “Stand By Me” for Phillip to sing, it just wasn’t a song I could imagine him singing well. But I remember Vonnie saying something about changing the song around to fit your voice if given one that really doesn’t fit you. At first when I listened to Phillip’s performance of this, I thought it wasn’t a Finale level performance. But I’ve listened to it a couple more times, and I have to say Phillip really did a great job with it!
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Rosanne-David Cook of course was fanstastic at changing a song around, even those songs that really did fit his voice. Also I’ll never forget David A.’s “Think Of Me”. I think that was one of the best performances of Season 7. To take a song that was written for a female operatic voice, and turn it into a Pop ballad was so outstanding. His artistry has just continued growing since AI. David always sounds better live, and he hardly ever sings a song the same way twice. I miss seeing those two guys together so much!
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Chad,
Is this the actual audition video that was submitted?
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Jessica
Thanks for that additional information about Phillip. Thats awful. He is a trooper though because with all of that pain, he made to the end. I always said that he deserved to win, just for standing up there. Amazing!! So I say we really have no idea how well he can really sing. When you said “A rock and roll singer doesn’t need a two-octave-plus range and a pure, untarnished timbre to become a legend”, thats such a true statement. They’re bringing something totally different to the table. Its not only true for that style of music but for a lot of them.
Aubrey
When you talked about Elise’s “stankface” …woo …that was little much 🙂 but I know what you mean. Every time she got one of those critiques it seemed like she lost it and when I saw it, I thought …wow this girl is really insecure. These judges are actually soft compared to Simon. If Simon was commenting she’d probably just break down in tears.
Thats showed me, as well as I liked her (and she was one of the most uniquetalents up there in my opinion) … she’s just not cut out for the big time yet. If a kid like Hollie can smile when they feel like crying, certainly a adult can do it and Elise didn’t.
As far as Colten …absolutely deserved to be in the top ten, but I remember more then once hearing him speak to Jimmy and the judges in ways that I thought were inappropriate for someone who had yet achieved stardom yet. To me, as great as he sounded and as much of that “idol style” that he had, the comments he made, made him appear almost arrogant, and thats when he started loosing it with me. Its little things like that, that I think people notice and subconsciously I think it figures in as to how people will feel about you. I personally think he had a lot more going on then a lot of the other singers. He not only sings, he plays piano, he writes, he arranges, he had that real “rocker look” going on. To me the only thing was missing is that he didn’t “display” a lot of humility.
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Brotherkarl, I think that Elise and Colton both were a little more cynical than the others in the way the judges and Jimmy were conducting themselves. In a way I think their reactions were more honest than the rest. You can’t applaud Phillip for being resistant to change and for rejecting suggestions from anyone and then fault Elise and Colton for being themselves on stage instead of putting up a fronts for the cameras. You can’t blame them for feeling that way either given the inconsistent and obviously unfair and biased the comments of the judges were. I thought “Piano Man” and “Love The Way You Lie” were indeed standing O worthy performances. The judges just refused to do it. They absolutely refused to. That was unprofessional on their part. Colton commented that he didn’t know what he had to do to get them on their feet and that was an honest statement if you ask me. I just feel that they had a personal dislike for Colton and Elise. Personal issues should not be a part of their decision to be fair in their critique and handling of one contestant over another IMO. I know they are not robots but they are getting paid millions to do a job and at some point proper and ethical behavior has to be expected of them.
They treated Hollie the same way and I personally didn’t witness anything to warrant their behavior toward her. Unless, while she remained poised and refined on stage, someone else was fighting her battles for her off camera and that is what they were reacting to.
As far as DeAndre goes. The judges gave him fair criticism as far as I could tell except for his performance of Endless Love which I think was a great vocal performance. They gave him a bad review on that performance and it was not bad at all. Also his performance of Only The Good Die Young was not a bad vocal. They just thought that he should have came across a little more naughty or mischievous in his delivery of the song and he decided to make it more of a fun song. I personally didn’t think that it was a bad performance and the fact that he didn’t even want to do that song to begin with (they took his original choice and made it a group performance)probably played a part in the way he performed it. In his interview with Michael Slezak he voiced a little reluctance to do the more edgy or racy songs even in his birth year. That’s why he settled on “Endless Love” after and only after they steered him away from “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”.
These are just a few of the things that went on during the season that got everyone into an uproar. If the voting is fair, (and I’m not completely convinced of that) and if the coaching and guidance that they give to each contestant is consistent across the board (not convinced of that either and other past contestants have complained of certain people being nurtured and guided more than others, receiving special treatment in their words) and certainly the freedom of song choice was not there for everyone. Even Phillip said he had no choice as to what his coronation song would be. But in that case they actually gave him a pretty good one. It has been well received even though I don’t particularly like it. It has a nice sentiment to it but not my style of music.
My whole point is that the competition was unfair on it’s face. Some people were just blatantly sabotaged throughout the season and I feel it was done to deliberately push certain contestants to the finale and get rid of others. What it all boils down to is that the producers and judges decide who gets to the finale on this show. They do it through steering certain contestants in the wrong direction and taking others under their wing and guiding them along.
Phillip was the pick to win from the start of the season. He even got the pimp spot on the day he auditioned in front of the judges. He was the last contestant to audition even on that day.
But I do like Phillip and I actually was challenged by a guy on another forum that I participate in to pick a winner after the wild card round and I picked Phillip to win but I also said that DeAndre was my pick as far as character, drive and talent was concerned. My friend picked Elise and stuck with her through to the bitter end. I still think any of these contestants deserve to win just for having the nerve to put themselves on the line like that. I can’t say that one deserved it more than the rest though. Just my humble opinion.
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MCL- Ive been trying to post a reply to Taymaro all evening but for some reason it won;t take
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I posted this 7 times now and it didn’t take. I’ll try one more time
Hey Taymaro:
A whole lot of people feel the same way you do about this. I have a different opinion though and I’m sure a whole lot of folks will disagree with me. Thats alright , I’m good with that. Mine’s is just 1 more out of a billion different opinions, but this is how I see it. If I run a company and Sally Lu Lu was 1 out of 1000 people who wanted to work for me, but when she came for the interview in that interview she thought I had a real acrappy attitude and I said something there that really upset her. Well if she wanted to let me know how she felt about it, she could certainly do that BUT if she really wanted the job, she’s got to know that, it probably wouldn’t be in her best interest to express that.
A wise person, no matter how bad they’re hurt , will put a great big smile on and just suck it up, because they really want the job. The only person, who’s not going to do that , is someone who is no longer is really interested. Truth is, thats alright because there are 999 more that are. If Sally Lu Lu can’t suck it up and take it anymore, she doesn’t have to because Jannie Lee is waiting outside to do her interview and she will .Shes ready for the crappy attitude and has said she going to give the biggest grin I can and bear it no matter what is said or done. Until she lands the job
I’m not saying that Elise and those who “may have” felt disrespected in some way, should not have “felt” that way or that they didn’t have a right to “feel” that negativity or even express it. What I’m saying is, expressing how you feel is not “always” in a persons best interest. Eat the humble pie, dump the faces and zip up the remarks until you get the million dollar contract. Sour grapes gets you nothing. Trust me every expression they made, whether they intended to make those expression or not, they left impressions on a lot of people, judges and all and it reflected in how the competition worked out for them. What Phil did worked and what the others did, did’nt.
While I know a lot of people don’t take all of those kinds of things into account when deciding who they’d like the Idol to be , I do and I believe there are a couple folks on that panel and out there that think like me.
I’ll just shut up all my craziness by saying this: We all saw the show and we all know who made the right impressions on the voters AND judges and producers and who didn’t, because the people who made the right impressions on the people who matter are the people who stayed in the longest. Those who failed at making those right impressions, for whatever reasons, didn’t make it. Thats a fact. Thats how the game is played.
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I’ll try breaking it up
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Hey Taymaro:
A whole lot of people feel the same way you do about this. I have a different opinion though and I’m sure whole a lot of folks will disagree with me. Thats alright , I’m good with that. Mine’s is just 1 more out of a billion different opinions, but this is how I see it. If I run a company and Sally Lu Lu was 1 out of 1000 people who wanted to work for me, but when she came for the interview in that interview she thought I had a real crappy attitude and I said something there that really upset her. Well if she wanted to let me know how she felt about it, she could certainly do that BUT if she really wanted the job, she’s got to know that, it probably wouldn’t be in her best interest to express that.
A wise person, no matter how bad they’re hurt , will put a great big smile on and just suck it up, because they really want the job. The only person, who’s not going to do that , is someone who is no longer is really interested. Truth is, thats alright because there are 999 more that are. If Sally Lu Lu can’t suck it up and take it anymore, she doesn’t have to because Jannie Lee is waiting outside to do her interview and she will .Shes ready for the crappy attitude and has said she going to give the biggest grin I can and bear it no matter what is said or done. Until she lands the job
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BrotherKarl – sorry that you are having trouble. Let me know if breaking up the reply helps. You should be able to add long comments.
And to everyone else, sorry I haven’t been commenting. There have been extreme forest fires in our community and surrounding area, so everyone has been quite stressed over the situation.
Our city is under a state of emergency but that should be lifted in the coming days. Please pray for rain, low temperatures and low wind. We need all three elements happening at once.
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Stay safe Rosanne!!! I will keep you in my prayers!
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MCL,
I am praying for you!!! Please stay safe!!!
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Rosanne-I’m sad to hear of the fires! You and your family take care of yourselves. I’ll pray for you!
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Dito. You guys will continually be in our prayers here throughout the time that this is over.
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Anita, you mentioned Phillip’s performance of Stand By Me. I didn’t really enjoy his live performance of the song, but his studio version of the song is quite different and I think it is really terrific.
Here is the studio version on Youtube:
To me, this song — more than any other — showcases Phillip’s vocal appeal and how he can put an interesting new spin on a familiar melody.
And he does some interesting things with his voice on this song that we never saw in his live performances.
I wasn’t a big fan of Phillip during the season because I am very sensitive to out of tune notes and Phillip has a lot of them in his live performances.
But his studio version of Stand By Me is now my favorite recording of the entire season.
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Dearest MCL,
I am sorry to hear about the terrible wildfires in your area. Please stay safe. My prayers are with you.
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Thanks for your concern Mindy. Hopefully, these fires are quickly disappearing. At least we can open our windows now and enjoy the fresh air. The rain is pounding down – finally! Thunder booming but no lightning. We don’t need that!
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malden-Thank you for showing me Phillip’s studio version of Stand By Me! You’re right. It is even better than his live version. He really gave the song a different twist that I’ve never heard before, and his vocals are stronger. I hope Phillip’s surgery went well yesterday.
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