The Tribune

By LESH

ALTHOUGH Joshua Ledet's Idol exit was not as shocking as most, it was still a sad moment for many viewers. His departure last week left contestants Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips to battle it out for the winning title this week.

Announcing that 90 million votes were sent in by American Idol viewers last week, host Ryan Seacrest made sure the audience knew how badly America wanted their final two.

Over the past weeks, every performance that Joshua took on received a standing ovation. Week after week the judges, Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler, gave the 20 year old their praises.

It was upsetting for some to watch Joshua sing for the last time and be sent home, but the one of the top-three, all strong contenders, had to go.

Joshua shed a few tears after the results show, but he still felt a sense of relief.

"I just felt relief. As soon as they said Phillip was going on, I felt a lot of pressure came off of me and I was -- I'm not going to say I was happy -- but it sucks having a lot of pressure on you, knowing that you have to do this and that and this and that. But when they said I wasn't going on, I was just like, 'OK. Now I can get this song out of the way and then go home and go to sleep or do something fun," Joshua told MTV News.

"It gives me a lot of hope seeing Jennifer Hudson and Adam Lambert and Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry. All of these people that didn't win have had a lot of huge careers, so hopefully that can happen for me."

Speaking about the contestants that remain, on American Idol fan said: "I think that while Jessica has a great voice, she comes across as insincere, and not very upbeat. I just think she is boring, and in this business, you need all the personality you can get."

Another fan said: "With Phillip, I don't think he is the greatest singer, but the way things are going, I think we are going to have another man with a guitar win the competition. My well wishes are with Jessica though. I want to see a woman take the title."

Last night Jessica and Phillip took to the stage to perform three songs each. American Idol executive producer offered the hopefuls a song to sing, another one was chosen from their favorite performances of the season and the final song was their official release song. The winner will be announced tonight.