maybe next year we'll have an asian american idol

i've written before how much my family loves american idol and how we miss simon cowell's tight v-necks and pissy face; this entire season, i've been rooting for heejun han and jessica sanchez. one, because they both sound the way warm chocolate chip cookies taste and two, because i was hoping this would be the year we would have an asian american american idol.

alas, it was not meant to be. georgia crooner, philip phillips, has taken the title and i'm ok with it. he's talented, sultry, doesn't give a fuck about tommy hilfiger, and his eyebrow does funny things while he sings.

i'm confident jessica will go far and that this is just the beginning for the young san diego native. it's probably a good thing she didn't win. hollywood will have to wait a few more years before draping the child in drug habits and eating disorders.

here's philip singing his final song, and my favorite: home




 and as always, here's my girl jessica sanchez with the prayer at the finale:





   *

here's the video of philip being announced as the winner. he makes it halfway through his celebratory performance before letting it all out. it's quite touching and i'll admit even my blackened ice heart got emotional watching:




but i'll tell you what was really touching, i wasn't able to watch the finale live last night and so my family agreed to all wait to watch the recording tonight instead. i stayed off facebook, twitter, yahoo, and gmail all day for fear of seeing an announcement of the winner. i told everyone i came into contact with, "i haven't seen the american idol results yet. please don't tell me who won."

after we all finished watching the recording, my mother turns to me and says: i have a confession, me and dad watched it last night. we're so bad. 


yes, yes you are mother. but i appreciate all the effort that went into pretending you didn't know philip phillips won this year's american idol. <3


-melissa

hands down the best whitney houston cover

16 year old jessica sanchez steals the show again with a cover of whitney houston's i will always love you. when she announced she would be singing the iconic ballad, america nodded along and spoke the words, "of course she is" to their tv sets.

with her big voice and even bigger stage presence, it just makes sense. my parents and i held our breaths while she sang for fear of disturbing the gorgeous melody with our jagged breathing. perhaps this only comes from the fat-cheeked little girl inside me, but when jessica was on stage, i felt like every little girl wanted to be her, in that blue dress, singing that song.

how exciting that we can add one more name to the list of asian americans that has america buzzing.

and fear not, i did not forget about heejun han. my boy was lookin' dapper tonight in his tux and french-cuffs, wasn't he?

his performance wasn't bad, but was no where near his best either. it was a little dull and flat with a few brief pitchy parts. the kid has mad swagger though and no doubt won a few extra votes when he presented jimmy iovine, who last week said he wasn't a fan of heejun, with an autographed picture of himself.

mary j. blige was the mentor tonight and upon hearing heejun sing for the first time mentioned, "he does not sound like i thought he would".  jlo said the same thing when he auditioned back in philly. there's the whole low expectations thing again.

listen, america, it has been 8 long years since william hung sang that horrendous cover of she bangs, and that shit still hangs over us and apparently weighs heavily on the judges' minds. we are not all william hungs. give us a fucking chance.

i think jessica sanchez will have america reevaluating their expectations of asian american artists.

world, meet jessica sanchez

if you read my earlier post, you know i'm all aboard the heejun han american idol train, but last night's episode may have just made my ride a little bit more tricky thanks to 16 year old filipina american, jessica sanchez. during hollywood week, she did a beautiful cover of celine dion's the prayer and this week, jessica sang and danced her way through jennifer hudson's love you i do. the girl has got pipes. she was sick during this performance too. if this is how she sings with swollen vocal chords, one would probably see jesus while listening to her sing at 100%.

while she certainly has the vocals to elicit one of steven tyler's closed eyes, head back and forth, just enjoying the music responses, jessica sanchez is so much fun to watch on that stage that i wouldn't close my eyes for a second for fear of missing one of her sassy moves.

2 very talented contenders that may just give us our asian american american idol for 2012? i'm digging' it, and diggin' hard.

-melissa

next stop, american idol

we've got a basketball sensation, how about an asian american american idol for 2012, huh?

my family and i have watched american idol fanatically for as long as i can remember. we scoff at other singing shows, and yes, we even remained loyal during the shuffling of the judges. oh, simon cowell, how we miss your pissy face and tight v-necks.

this year brings a talented bunch, but there's only one soulful, bespectacled, korean american standout in the group, and that's 22 year old heejun han from flushing in queens, ny.

be still my heart because homeboy can sing. he left the judges with stunned faces and eyebrows raised (shall we bring up the low expectations conversation again? nah. we've had enough of that these past few weeks, haven't we?) in his pittsburgh audition with michael bolton's how am i supposed to live without you? and wowed them again with broken strings during the grueling and always comical group week in the hollywood round.

but there's something in addition to heejun's buttery, warm voice worth noting: he's funny as hell.

before crooning a single note, he had the judges smiling and laughing with his nervous and endearing arm wiggle, reminiscent of those flailing armed air dolls you see outside car dealerships and other businesses. outside the audition room, he told ryan seacrest his head was much smaller in person than it looked on television. he also tells ryan not to stand by him because the side-by-side comparison would be too much.

has he won you over yet? how about when he yells "hollywoooooooooooooooood" for 13 straight seconds the way "goooalllll" is yelled in soccer games, ending it with a big smile and a quick, "i'm coming!" need a little more? what about last night's final judgement episode announcing the top 24 who would go through to the live voting rounds; ryan asks heejun, "so you said you're sweating, heejun. what are you sweating?"

his answer? "mostly water". he made it through to the top 24.

it takes a lot to take the attention away from the frosted-tips, radiant smile, and tanned skin that is ryan seacrest, and heejun han does it every time he's on camera.

live voting shows start next wednesday, february 29th, 7 pm CT on fox. tune in to the talent and hilarity that is heejun han and make sure you vote. i'm sure jeremy lin wouldn't mind a little break from the limelight (or at least all the academic and social analysis articles). heejun han, let's give them something to talk about.

for more heejun hilarity:

and also check out jessica sanchez, another asian american ai season 11 powerhouse with a breathtaking version of celine dion's the prayer:

-melissa