The last time we heard was Jessica coming back from home with a sore-throat.
The latest we heard is that Phillip Phillips is not well, apparently suffering from nasty kidney stones that begs an operation which he will do after the American Idol finale.
Then we have this creature called the social media. A compendium of internet interfaces ranging from You-tube,Facebook to Twitter,and they are very powerful and can sway easily public opinions and expand fan base.
As Jessica is busy twitting until her laptop battery conked out, Phillip is taking it easy and resting to dull away the pain in his kidneys.
So let us go to some forecasts on who will pip who.
To me, both singers are not in the same field. They are like night and day.Oil and water.
While Phillip is coy and amusing with his singing and strumming style, optically he loses to Jessica who is young, fresh, pretty, demurred, dainty, almost always impeccably well-dressed and a constant joy to listen to when she belts out her ballads ever so beautifully. Phillip, on the other hand, is ill at ease, likes drab garbs so that he can slink away and blend into the crowd. Without his 'security blanket' of a guitar, he unabashedly strummed his thigh instead in nervous fashion when he sang, We've Got Tonight.
As for the social media and the internet polls that have mushroomed overnight to elicit responses from web crawlers, early indications are Phillips is getting way ahead of Jessica. As we near the one day to finale hour, a game changer may be in place as Twitter followings have spiked for Jessica which can be an indication of more support; perhaps from Hollie and Joshua supporters and fans. This will be the crucial last mile,my friends.
Also demographics can play a role in the determination of who takes back the AI crown this time around.
As much as we want to stay away from the bias of ethnicity,it will play its dark role, positively or negatively in the finale vote tally. To me, apart from bad song choice by Iovine, Joshua would still have to go home because American Idol is more than a singing contest. As it can be multi-factorial, it can also be templated. Block voting is imminent when you come into the home stretch. Joshua's support base will likely be the African Americans, the music art people and those Caucasians who are liberal enough to vote in a chap like Obama for President. And mind you, standing ovations from the judges don't count!
As for Phillip Phillips, he is a wonderful singer but can he beat unbridled block voting? Can he challenge the power of the social media and networking? I surmised that he will have an expanded voter base collecting incremental fall-outs from Elise and Joshua's fan base and possibly some new converts. Will this be enough for him to garner that critical 50+1 vote to be the first to pass the post? Will his kidney stones play him out as his medication parched his mouth?
Interestingly, Jessica Sanchez may lose out on that one aspect of ethnicity too. She is considered more a Filipino than a Mexican or an American. However, this very Achilles heel can be a source of voting power for this sweet sixteen. Now, besides those boys who like her fresh Asian looks,humility and composure, there are also full bloodied American girls who are rooting for her just to break that never-seems-to-end "white man with guitar syndrome". Phillip Phillips will continue this syndrome if he wins the 11th season of AI.
So coming back to Jessica, her ethnic roots may just be her forte as now the combined force of the whole Spanish American speaking communities from Puerto Ricans, Central Americans to Mexicans will be rooting and voting for her. With some many national flags literally flying for her; there will be a gale-like wind pushing her forward towards the finishing line.
Let us not forget that Jessica spent most of her 16 years with the American marine corps. If she can find traction with the armed forces, she can sing the national anthem for them once more as passionately as possible if she trounced Phillip Phillips big time.
So, in less than than two days,the battle royale will be engaged once more. Who will follow Joshua Ledet who would rather go blind and went home without the crown?
So, before I wrap up, who will be the last one standing? Jessica as Steven Tyler desires so; or Phillip Phillips who has a crazy following of young hormone raging American girls begging him for more and more?
