USA: 'American Idol' finalist Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips sing for the hearts and votes of America.

Record ID: 243722

  • Title: USA: 'American Idol' finalist Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips sing for the hearts and votes of America.
  • Date: 26th May 2012
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 22, 2012) (REUTERS). (SOUNDBITE) (English) "AMERICAN IDOL" FINALIST PHILLIP PHILLIPS SAYING: "There is only so much you can take. They want to help us out and we take it in. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. We take the best of what we can."
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA9HWSUX88HX9F7AUTQ6Y7XW6YX
  • Story Text: Jessica Sanchez, the teen with the big voice, chose power ballads while Phillip Phillips chose an indie vibe as the two diverse "American Idol" finalists sang on Tuesday (May 22) for the hearts and votes of America.
    Sanchez, 16, bidding to become the youngest ever winner of America's most-watched TV show, was deemed ahead after performing songs made famous by Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.
    "I mean of course we all wanted to win," said Sanchez. "It comes to the point that no one really makes it this far and for a 16-year-old and someone like Phillip, to make it this far. I love it that we are in the top two, it's amazing. he's an amazing person."
    But it was acoustic guitar-playing Phillips who brought all three judges to their feet at the end of the performance finale.
    Phillips closed the show with his potential first single "Home" - a song that mixed the style of folk-rock band Mumford and Sons with Paul Simon and featured a marching band.
    Phillips, 21, also put his own spin on his two other songs - Billy Joel's "Movin' Out" and the classic "Stand By Me" - earning screams of adulation from the audience of 7,000 in Los Angeles. But he failed to convince the three judges.
    Sanchez, a home-schooled California teen, won praise for her renditions of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" and Celine Dion's "The Prayer."
    But her potential first single, a pop ballad called "Change Nothing", fell flat with the judges, bringing tears to the eyes of the young singer.
    Jackson thought the song was "just okay" while Tyler said "It didn't feel like the proper song for you to sing."
    However, the winner will be chosen by Americans who have four hours to vote by phone, text and online after the show. Results will be announced at the end of a star-studded two hour finale on Wednesday on Fox television.
    Based on social media buzz and Twitter postings going into Tuesday's final, Sanchez had a 17 percent lead in Yahoo! searches, the Internet search engine said.
    She also generated 60 percent more mentions in social media than Phillips, according to a survey by analytics company General Sentiment.
    But Phillips, whose goofball humor has charmed millions of young female viewers, has never been in "Idol"s bottom three. Sanchez, who is sometimes criticized for failing to connect emotionally with her lyrics, was saved by the judges from elimination in April after coming bottom in the public vote.
    Sanchez, who is of Mexican and Filipino descent, has a thousands of supporters in the Philippines, while Phillips has won sympathy for a kidney problem that has plagued his health during the show. "Pheel Better Phillip" read one poster in Tuesday's audience.
    Wednesday's winner will receive a guaranteed recording contract, putting him or her on a potential road to the stardom enjoyed by early champions Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.
    But more recent winners have fared less well and audiences for "American Idol", now in its 11th season, have fallen by 23 percent to an average 19.2 million viewers.
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