Season 11 contestant is a mashup of every male winner in show’s history. By Jim Cantiello Phillip Phillips on American Idol’s season premiere Photo: FOX Last night’s 14-hour “American Idol” premiere presented the usual suspects of hopefuls. To paraphrase judge (and hideous eyewear collector) Randy Jackson at the end of the Savannah, Georgia, trip, “We came, we saw, we mocked immigrants’ accents, we patronized and lusted after hot girls, we competently read off of producers’ notes, we conquered.” Then, just as the expected parade of planted craycrays and daughters of sports athletes wrapped up, “Idol” introduced its eventual season 11 winner, Phillip Phillips. First let’s talk his name. It’s so ridiculous, it’s awesome. You’ll never forget it. Not to get all numerologist on you, but for season 11, a digit comprised of “one” repeated twice, a name like Phillip Phillips is destined to end up on top. At least he is in a pretentious overwritten novel. But Phillip Phillips’ unavoidable victory truly comes into focus once you realize that he’s a tried-and-true mashup of every male winner in the show’s 10-year history. Musically, Phillip 2 is a Dave Matthews worshipper (hi, season nine’s Lee DeWyze!) with the Joe Cocker mannerisms of season five’s Taylor Hicks. His first audition song was a Stevie Wonder classic. (Sophomore class president Ruben Studdard made his first impression with a Stevie song, too.) And just when you thought fellow contestant Colton Dixon had the David Cook fans in his corner by singing the season seven winner’s “Permanent” (and sharing a passion for haircuts tragique), Phillips rocked a “Thriller” of an encore: a white-dude twist on a Michael Jackson fave
