Phillip Phillips won the top prize after the record-breaking 132 million votes were tallied.

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1 SECOND BEST: From left, runner-up Jessica Sanchez, winner Phillip Phillips and host Ryan Seacrest speak onstage at the American Idol finale in Los Angeles on May 23. ( Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP) So the people power used by many Filipinos across the United States and elsewhere failed to deliver the necessary votes to crown Jessica Sanchez the new American Idol. Phillip Phillips won the top prize after the record-breaking 132 million votes were tallied. But Sanchez s avid supporters although sad and disappointed are not giving up. 1 / 5

2 They are quite ecstatic about media predictions that the 16-year-old Sarah Geronimo look-alike will inevitably join the ranks of AI runners up who became bigger artists than the title holders. Phillips, 21, bested Sanchez in a close race that most critics said may have come down to their final performance. With her powerful vocals and impressive range not to mention her stunning stage presence and classy fashion style even judge Steven Tyler earlier claimed Sanchez may be the one. But the half-pinay, half-mexican chanteuse from Chula Vista, California committed a grave tactical error, according to USA Today, when she picked as her final song a painfully weak piece called Change Nothing, instead of delivering a tour de force to clinch the top prize. The final song was supposed to be the AI winner s future single, but the insipid, pop ballad only managed to suck the energy and vitality right out of her, wrote The Christian Science Monitor (CSM). Even Sanchez s first two songs for the finale I Have Nothing and The Prayer didn t blow the judges and critics away. Meanwhile, Phillips described as AI s fifth WGWG (white guy with guitar) winner in a row managed to stay adorable on stage and killed the competition with a final song that seemed tailor-made for him titled Home. Home was just the kind of relaxed, esoteric tune that one would not only expect but long for from Phillip, wrote CSM. He delivered it with the trademark ease of an artist whose confidence stems more from an 2 / 5

3 absence of self-awareness than from conceit. It was the perfect way for him to finish the season and the judges were on their feet for, one can only hope, the last time this season. But don t cry for Sanchez. The girl is doing just fine. When MTV News caught up with her backstage after the show, Sanchez said she already knew the Georgian singer would win. He deserved it, Sanchez declared. Literally, he has worked harder than all of us. We ve all been working hard, but he s been having to keep up with his health issues with his kidneys, and I think he s been through it a lot more than us mentally and physically. I told him during top three results that it was going to be him, and Joshua (Ledet) and I literally thought that Phillip was going to win the whole thing, Sanchez added. Not because Joshua isn t good but just because Phillip, he has everything about him. He has his funny side and his humble side, and he is just an amazing, original artist. I think we are all talented, and we all are going to have really successful careers. Reports said Sanchez is already swamped with record deals, including one from former Sony boss Tommy Mottola, who is co-owner of Casablanca Records (in a joint venture with Universal Music Group). But the AI runner-up said she has no idea what s in store for her until after the AI tour where 3 / 5

4 she and Phillips will be reunited with the rest of the Top 12 finalists for a series of shows across the U.S. Right now, I don t know what to expect, she said. I ve been in the Idol bubble, and now it s popped, and I don t know what s going to happen. I don t know what s going to be thrown at me, but I m excited to find out. I wanna be more like the Rihanna kind of, Beyoncé kind of thing, but I don t want to compare myself to anybody, because I wanna be somebody new too, she said. More like the urban, R&B kind of stuff but a little bit of pop not straight pop. Meanwhile, Sanchez s mother, Editha, thanked her daughter s supporters all over the Philippines and outside. She told ABS-CBN that her daughter will definitely visit the Philippines soon. She s been asking about that (trip to the Philippines) and, hopefully, we will soon so she can learn about the Filipinos, the country, said Mrs. Sanchez, who is a native of Bataan. 4 / 5

5 Jessica latter s classic Sanchez song (right) And and I m Jennifer Telling Holliday You I m Not after Going. their brilliant (Reuters performance photo) of the 5 / 5