Amy Sciarretto, Writer

Phillip Phillips has won American Idol, Season 11.

Looking dapper in a black suit, Phillips, utterly shocked by his win, strapped on his trusty acoustic guitar and performed ‘Home,’ his debut song. He totally won us over again with his sweet, artsy sentimentality. He couldn’t get through the song without breaking down and crying. It was a beautiful and touching moment. He took off his guitar and walked into the crowd to hug his family — yet another reason he endeared himself to us. We’re sure that once he processes what just happened to him, he’ll be rocking our worlds to their core for a long, long time.

Read the rest of my recap over at Pop Crush.

Joshua Ledet got the boot on tonight’s American Idol.

Ledet was certainly a consistent judge’s favorite, grabbing standing Os with great frequency, as well as being an audience fave. He was a PopCrush fave, too, for the way he would rip off his jackets while performing. It was a charming move.

For his ‘Idol’ stage swan song, he sang ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,’ reminding us why he made it to the Top 3 of Season 11 in the first place.

Read the rest of my American Idol recap over at Pop Crush.

Read my latest recap of American Idol, where the final three performed.

On tonight’s episode of the penultimate week of Season 11 of ‘American Idol,’ the final 3 — Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez — sang a trio of songs for three rounds of competition. One was chosen by the judges, one by the contestants themselves and one by series mentor and Interscope Records chief Jimmy Iovine. It was a whole lot of singing with a lot on the line, as the final two competitors will be determined in 24 hours. Hello, nail biting situation!

Read the rest of my American Idol recap over at Pop Crush.

Hollie Cavanagh was eliminated on American Idol.

“While the tiny blonde has a gorgeous voice and we think she’ll go far in the music business, she had a consistent problem throughout Season 11 and that was her inability to connect with the songs and the audience. The technical prowess is there; the emotional component isn’t.”

Read the rest of my post over at Pop Crush.

Read my American Idol recap, where the Top 4 duked it out.

Phillip Phillips: The cutie opened the episode with Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s classic rock jam ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain?’ sans his trusty guitar. It was quintessential Phillip Phillips: raw, raspy, rootsy rock. He was slow and soft with Damien Rice’s ‘Volcano,’ which sounded like he wrote it. It was intimate and personal, like he gave us a keyhole view into his heart.

Read the rest of my American Idol recap over at Pop Crush.

Jermaine Paul wins The Voice!

Paul was visibly overwhelmed and overcome with emotion, thanking his family, his kids, his mother-in-law and Jesus in a tear-filled speech. Shelton was beyond stoked for his teammate, saying, “You did it! You did it!” while hugging him on stage. We admit, we were rooting for Paul during the final minutes. Carson Daly had revealed that only four percentage points separated Paul from the runner up, rocker Juliet Simms.

Read the rest of my recap post of Jermaine Paul winning The Voice over at Pop Crush.

Read my recap of the final performances on The Voice.

Juliet Simms: The resident rocker, sole remaining female and last woman standing for Cee Lo Green‘s team chose to offer up her take on ‘Crazy’ by Gnarls Barkley, which is Cee Lo’s group. It was a poppy choice that didn’t showcase her raspy rocker pipes. It did let us hear her dynamics, so it was a risky choice.

Read the rest of my recap of the final performances on The Voice over at Pop Crush.