Phillip Phillips won the competition but was American Idol 2012 fixed? The rather underwhelming season of American Idol came to a conclusion last night at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Phillip Phillips walked away as the winner of the 2012 season and Joshua Ledet did a duet with a macabre looking Fantasia. All’s fair in love and Idol, or is it?
In the final two sing-off against Jessica Sanchez, Phillips sang his winning single Home, and received critical acclaim across the board for his Mumford and Sons sound-alike. Phillips’ strategy this entire season was to be nonchalant, laid-back and be all Paul McCartney, “doing it because of the music”. His strategy and on-stage persona paid off in the end, making him the winner of the biggest Idol (and television) vote in human history. I am a thousand percent sure Phillips will continue on to have one of the best careers in the history of this show and deservedly so, surely we didn’t want another flop like Taylor Hicks?
Many viewers of the show expressed their outrage and disgust at the elimination of Joshua Ledet in the final three vote-off, but what made Joshua and the superb Jessica Sanchez lose out on the title of American Idol? Fans of the show proclaimed vote rigging and some even blamed the Mayans. Hysterics galore, nothing saved the show from being semi-predictable. Joshua Ledet was decapitated due to a contriving and polarizing attitude on stage. Poor little Jessica lost out due to being a “sound-alike” as stated by the millions of Phillips fans. This has become an evident issue throughout this show’s juggernaut history, losing iotas of integrity along the way. The Kris Allen/Adam Lambert debacle crippled the show’s powerful punch and viewership declined in the seasons thereafter.
Is Phillips a deserving Idol winner? A hundred percent yes. Is the show always a talent competition? The jury’s still out on that one.