I was pretty disappointed in last year's"American Idol" finals, in which two talented kids who were (to me) less inspiring or vocally mature than the one that finished third sang it out in a contest that seemed to have been telegraphed by the producers since the beginning. It was sweet, but boring.

As far as I'm concerned, history repeated itself slightly this year, in that the most talented of the top three didn't make the finals (and that would be Joshua. I'm not the only one that feels that way). The difference was that last night's finals could have gone either way, to Phil Phillips, the rocker iconoclast from Georgia, and Jessica, the power belting pop princess. I truly had no idea whose name was going to be called at the end.

But I'm glad that it was Phil.

Phillips started slow, and there were moments where, as my sister told me, where he was singing that same song he always sang, no matter what it was he was singing. It was all Shades of Dave Matthews, with some tonal and speed differences. And then, a few weeks ago, something artistic and truly magical started showing through. And when Josh got voted off, and Phil could truly shine without having to compete with the loud  Joshisms (I love him, but it's true), he emerged as the true "Idol."

What I liked is that, unlike last year's choice between a teen girl country singer and a teen boy country singer, Phil and Jessica were excitingly different. She was a traditional belter, with a jaunty growl to her voice, and he was the scruffy garage kid with legitimate musical sensibility. There was a sophistication in his arrangements that belied his insistence on looking like he slept in his shirt in a van at a Dave Matthews Band show.

And as for the intimation that Phil won because either the show or its voters demanded a white guy - I don't buy it. While I've been long critical of the producers' insistence on letting few African-American men through to the Top 24 - and this year there were NO African-American women - the arguable favorite among the finalists was Josh - a black guy. And Jessica got plenty of pimping from the show. I think it came down to who people liked better, who moved people. Jessica, as great as she is, doesn't move me. She doesn't have the vocal maturity, or maybe even the emotional maturity, to connect to what she's singing (and when they have the 16-year-old singing songs about mature sexual and romantic relationships, there's no surprise there.)

Racism and bias still exist in this country. And if some people used those in their voting, then they're idiots. But I don't think so.

I loved Phil's single and think I could actually imagine it on the radio! Go figure! A song that's supposed to be a hit, that's actually hit-like! Go Phil!

In other news - Jennifer Holliday is still amazing, and Jessica's being able to hang with her is impressive. John Fogerty is awesome. Chaka Khan is fierce but needs to fire her stylist and burn those Spanx. Ditto Fantasia and the catsuit. No. No. Wrong. Good thing she and Joshua were so on fire. Love it.

And Neil Diamond, even with a cold and singing/speaking, is still more exciting than the youngsters he was onstage with. He is, he cried!

See you next season!