American Idol Season 11: 3 Is Now 2

I knew one thing for certain, Phillip Phillips would make it to the finals on American Idol. The question was who would be joining him: soulful, gospel throwback Joshua Ledet or young, confident, pop star in the making Jessica Sanchez. All three finalists turned in strong performances on Wednesday night, but by the tail end of Thursday's show we discovered that the finals would be a girl/ boy showdown: Sanchez vs. Phillips for all the marbles. I think Phillip will handily put away the competition. He has a more loyal following who is going to keep picking up the phone, dialing, and voting.

Wednesday's performance show included three rounds: Judge's Pick, Contestant's Choice, and Jimmy Iovine's Choice.

Judge's Choice:

Winners--

Joshua singing I'd Rather Be Blind was brilliant. The song, as Randy said, fit Joshua like a glove.

Phillip sang Beggin' by Madcon; the judges chose it because of the rooted melody, but Phillip changed it anyway proving that originality must always win out in the end.

Losers--

The judges chose My All by Mariah Carey for Jessica. This was not the right song for her, she doesn't have Mariah's range and the song was musically too difficult for her. She definitely struggled.

Contestant's Choice:

Winners--

Joshua chose Imagine by John Lennon, a song he was not familiar with before. He dug deep, he connected with the song emotionally, and the judges all agreed, it's what makes him so special.

Phillip's Disease by Matchbox 20 was smoldering. The judges thought it was just okay, but I thought it was a slow burn with lots of emotion, especially for Phillip.

Hit or Miss--

Jessica chose I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith. This was a real double edged sword for me, I understand why she chose it, but was it necessarily the right song for her, probably not.

Jimmy's Choice:

Winners--

The absolute winner here was Phillip singing We've Got Tonight by Bob Seger. The judges even stodd up for someone other than Joshua Ledet! Randy thought it was Phillip's best performance on the show ever.

Joshua sang No More Drama by Mary J. Blige and it was a drama filled performance.

Losers--

Jessica's anemic rendition of I'll Be There by The Jackson Five was just okay, according to Randy, who also said the performance lacked, "a moment".