Michael Becker / FOXTwo weeks from tonight, season 11 will be over and a new American Idol will be crowned...what the monkey?! Where did the season go?
The competition is hotter than ever with showstopping performances that had the final four leaving every bit of themselves on the Idol stage to stay in the competition and make it to the finale. So who wanted to laugh during a huge personal moment on stage, who admitted to shaking from nerves before stepping into the spotlight, what did Idol's newest couple have to say about their affectionate moniker from Ryan Seacrest and who is going under the knife after the finale?! The contestants gave us the scoop after the show!
It was just a few months ago that American Idol was nothing but a huge cattle call, and now, with only four left standing, it's gonna be a real race to the finish!
While everyone brought their best to the Idol stage Wednesday night, it was Joshua Ledet who really stole the show with his rendition of James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." Although he seemed completely lost in the song, getting everyone on their feet in a standing ovation, he spilled after the show that he almost broke into laughter after witnessing show producer Nigel Lythgoe flail out of his seat from excitement over his performance.
"I did see that," Joshua told us. "I'm not even gonna lie. All I saw were his legs in the air and doing something! I was like, 'OMG what did I do?!' and I just had to get it back together. I wanted to laugh, but I just kind of held it in."
Speaking of laughter, everyone seemed more than amused over the "bromantic" linking of Joshua and Idol's resident stud, Phillip Phillips. While the two brought down the house with a duet of Maroon 5's "This Love" Ryan couldn't help but give them their own Hollywood couple name "Jillip." Joshua admitted he kinda loves it.
"I like that, yeah," Joshua laughed. "That's cool! Phillip is like a brother to me, it's cool."
Phillip agreed that he's all about the name mesh, but reminded everyone that it wasn't his first with another contestant.
"Well, me and Heejun [Han] had one and Colton [Dixon] and now Josh I guess."
Phillip, who has pushed through the competition despite complications associated with his liver, also spilled that before the Idol summer tour he'll be undergoing some pretty serious surgery.
"It's probably going to go down," he told us. "It's a pretty good-size surgery, a lot of time down, but you gotta do what you gotta do. So we'll see. I should be [back in time for the tour]."
Even with all the pressure, the contestants make performing look effortless. However, when we caught up with female frontrunner Jessica Sanchez, she assured us she still gets stage fright before going in front of the cameras.
"I do shake before I go onstage," she told us. "When I'm nervous I shake uncontrollably. I don't know what it is. I just get really nervous. I get super cold, but as soon as I start singing it all goes away."
Jessica has been criticized all season for singing songs that don't resonate with the younger demographic. When asked if she would want to sing songs for her age group, Jessica took a little jab at today's Top 40 artists while explaining her more mature song choices during the competition.
"I want to [sing more songs for my age group] in the future," she spilled. "But this is a competition and I need to sing big songs, and a lot of songs being played on the radio aren't big songs, so I have to choose my songs wisely. I feel like I still need to prove myself."
Another elimination happens Thursday night. Who do you think will have to say goodbye? Who do you want to see in the finale? Let us know in the comments!