The Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips performs his victory song during the season finale of "American Idol" Wednesday on Fox. MICHAEL BECKER/Fox
And the winner is…. Phillip Phillips.
"American Idol" crowned its 11th winner Wednesday after weeks of competition that came down to three songs and two performers – 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez and 21-year-old Phillips.
After 132 million votes were cast, Phillips was announced as the winner and received his trophy from last year's winner Scotty McCreery. He then performed his "coronation" song "Home," which he has been insisting is not the song he wants for his first single, according to hollywoodreporter.com.
The announcement came after a two-hour season finale that featured performances by the contestants plus Fantasia, John Fogerty, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Chaka Khan, Jordin Sparks, Jennifer Holliday, Aerosmith, Oklahoma country star Reba McEntire and Broadway star and Broken Arrow native Kristin Chenoweth. The series aired on Fox, channel 23, cable 5 in Tulsa.
The "American Idol Tour" with contestants Colton Dixon, DeAndre Brackensick, Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Heejun Han, Hollie Cavanagh, Jessica Sanchez, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips and Skylar Laine kicks off July 6 in Detroit and continues through Sept. 11 in Milwaukee. There is no tour stop scheduled in Oklahoma.
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