Touching our souls

(photo: justjared.com)

 

Of course Phillip Phillips wins!

 Much to our desire that Jessica Sanchez would win the much-coveted American Idol award but there are still things to consider like the majority of votes and the pervasive musicality of the contestant.

From the auditions, Phillip was first noticed when he did a cover of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" using his guitar. The sound was so different yet it captured the hearts of not just the judges but the fans as well. His followers mushroomed when he started crooning on the AI stage.

We love Jessica as well. We have that attitude of claiming that she's one of us since her mother is a Filipino. She was even overwhelmed to realize that a lot of Filipino "distant" relatives feigned closeness to their family. We as a people would like her to win to take us from that inferior stage of being an underdog. She represents every Filipino's need to sing to a big audience evident to the karaoke parties we have.

But this love, admiration and resonance could never be equated to different realities:

 1. Jessica is vocally good and has technique but Phillip gives soulful rendetions;

 2. Jessica sounds good with songs of Whitney, Beyonce and Jennifer Holiday but Phillip sounds good with his own songs;

 3. Jessica was almost eliminated but Phillip stayed on the safe grounds all the time;

 4. Phillip used his guitar and did some things to cover songs while Jessica did not use any instrument during the duration of AI.

  

 Then, there was their rendition of their soon-to-be-recorded single...Phillip's "Home" touched the heart of many and Jessica's was forgettable...

But we are proud of her. When she did that phenomenal duet with Jennifer Holiday, we cringed and cried for the honesty and prowess. We are assured that she has left an indelible mark on the Idol viewers. Most of us felt something. Art was translated on Jessica's voice and Jennifer's growls. Some of our friends caught their breaths and we had goosebumps all over our bodies...

In the end, Jessica will make songs and Phillip will also do the same. Both of them will haunt the airwaves and we will connect to their music.

At least, we've converged as one and Jessica made it happen.