IDOL FINALE: SONG GRADES....& WHO SHOULD WIN?

Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips, Season 11 AI Finalists

For one last time, well 3 times actually, we watched and listened last night as Jessica Sanchez, the little girl with the BIG voice, and Phillip Phillips, the laid-back guy with the quirky facial expressions, battled each other for a shot at the Season 11 Idol Title. And for much of the night, I thought it was a pretty good battle, until the final performance by Phillip, which had the judges giving him a standing ovation and once again, putting him on a pedestal for America to vote him in as the Season 11 Idol Winner. Will it happen? Probably.....Should it happen? NO, it shouldn't. Let's go Round by Round and hand out some grades here......dim the lights, here we go....

Round 1: Simon Fuller’s Song Choices

Simon Fuller picked “I Have Nothing,” a Whitney song, for Jessica. Phillip got to perform “Stand By Me.”

Jessica had a much tougher song and pulled it off gracefully as she does with all Whitney songs. Well done version....GRADE: A-
Phillip struggled through parts of his as he's done all year trying to reach some notes.....it was just OK, and clearly no way near Jessica....GRADE: B-

ROUND 1 WINNER: JESSICA



Round 2: Contestants’ Favorite Song Choice from Season 11

Jessica....chose to sing 'Prayer", a song she did back in Vegas Week, and it was absolutely an incredible vocal, damn near perfect! She really showed off her control and range vocally, and it was another shining moment for her for sure....GRADE: A
Phillip......chose to perform “Movin’ Out” by Billy Joel, from Billy Joel Week earlier in the season. He surely showed here he can make a song his own! He did it well, with special thanks to the blond sax player as well....GRADE: A-

ROUND 2 WINNER: JESSICA.......by a small margin


Round 3: The potential 1st Hit Singles by each contestant

Jessica.....obviously received some very bad advice here on song choice at a very critical moment, and struggled through 'Change Nothing", a song that was very forgettable. She sounded off key a bit, and the judges did not like it either.....sad way to end the night for her.....GRADE: C+
Phillip.....was obviously schooled correctly and chose to sing "Home", complete with a frekin' marching band to help him through it, wow! Flashbacks for me when Lee DeWyze performed with a marching band in Season 9......and yet another Lee DeWyze-like performance from Phillip, yet the judges do everything they can to heap praise on him and anoint him the winner....GRADE: B

ROUND 3 WINNER: PHILLIP

So....after all that, the edge clearly is in Jessica's favor. And one must wonder, does one final 'winning' performance by Phillip an Idol winner make? It shouldn't!

Going back over the 11 weeks of performances from this season, Jessica has clearly been much more consistent and clearly the better vocalist of the two. It's because of her consistency and her ability to sing a wide range of music, and more so above all else, because of her amazing voice...... 

 I believe Jessica Sanchez should be the Season 11 winner of American Idol.

Will she have the support from America's Votes to pull it off tonight? I sure hope so.....but...I also won't be shocked if it doesn't happen.

MORE FROM EDDIE IDOL WITH MY 'FINAL' SEASON 11 IDOL POST TOMORROW......AFTER THE BIG 2-HOUR+ FINAL SHOW ON FOX TONIGHT!!