Age: 21
Hometown: Leesburg, GA
“You’re so unique and so different for this show. I’m a big fan,” Randy Jackson said of Phillip’s rendition of “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. He was the first contestant to make it into America’s Top 13. New to Twitter, Phillip has now acquired over 29,000 followers. “OOHHHHH MYY GAAAAAAHHHH!!!!! Thank you everyone for supporting me, I appreciate it so very much. Y’all are awesome!!” the Southern boy tweeted after the show.
If Twitter followers indicate future prospects of winning American Idol, then Phillip Phillips is already season 11’s champ, with a slight edge over co-finalist and comic relief Heejun Han.
Obviously, it’s way too soon to call: Phillips, 21, might a favorite of mentor Jimmy Iovine and judge Randy Jackson, who’s compared the scruffy, scratchy-voiced Georgia rocker to Dave Matthews. But he’s got tough competition from the likes of Jessica Sanchez, DeAndre Brackensick, Erika Van Pelt and Skylar Laine, all of whom have a star quality that could grow along with their Twitter followers.
As of Monday afternoon, here were the Twitter stats for the Fox contest’s top 13 finalists:
1. Phillip Phillips (@PPhillipsAI11): 35,723
2. Heejun Han (@hhani11): 34,534
3. Colton Dixon (@cdixonai11): 34,199
4. Erika Van Pelt (@evanpeltai11): 29,979
5. Jessica Sanchez (@JSanchezAI11): 16,186
6. DeAndre Brackensick (@brackensickai11): 12,386
7. Skylar Laine (@SLaineAI11): 12,158
8. Shannon Magrane (@smagraneai11): 11,124
9. Hollie Cavanagh (@CavanaghAI11): 9,593
10. Jeremy Rosado (@JRosadoAI11): 9,435
11. Joshua Ledet (@JLedetAI11): 7,981
12. Elise Testone (etestoneai11): 6,416
13. Jermaine Jones (@JJonesAI11): 2,696
