TMZ has reported that American Idol 2012 Finalist Phillip Phillips hasn’t had much family support in the audience because they can’t afford to make it out to Hollywood.
But according to the report, Phillip’s hometown of Leesburg, Georgia, has decided to come together to raise money to send the family to support Phillip on American Idol.
Apparently, merchants in the town are donating a percentage of their proceeds from Wednesdays, now dubbed “Phillip Phillip Wednesdays,” to the fund to get the Phillips family to Los Angeles.
I think JLo, Randy and Steven should look in their couch cushions and make some anonymous donations. Who is with me?
Let his friends and neighbors do the good deeds…..no need for the judges to donate any coin. That’s what being a good neighbor is all about. I’m glad to hear the businesses are doing that.
Yes, Phillip Phillips family not being able to make it to Hollywood is horrific. But, I have MUCH bigger problems. I am out of the country in Cebu, Philippines. And I do not know what channel American Idol comes on. Can any local Filipino let me know. As I know American Idol is popular here.
We can watch american idol on star world.
I am here in USA but i am from PI… As far as i know, if its on Star World, Channel 170 i guess… But if other cable, Channel 4 or 8… It depends on what cable company you have…
Have Fun!… Lets vote too for Jessica Sanchez…
cable tv channel – Star World
local tv channel – ETC (Channel 21), Thurs & Fri, 6pm [replays 8pm]
Star World…. Googled 8 pm.
As much as they wanted to, they need not to join the anonymity donation. They should be neutral in this competition. This is not “American Idol Gives Back”. Let his town do the job—it means a fair competition.
its very sweet for their town to do :).
other idols are probably experiencing such financial problems as well though
I love stories of communities coming together to help someone. This is just another reason why dreams really do come true on American Idol and why I love this show! 🙂 Good luck Phillip and his family!
nice of the local businesses to raise the dough. it is NOT the job for the judges. they have a hard enough time trying to judge the contestants properly. and who paid for philip’s ticket to l.a.??
ya think??? Hell, Idol can pay for it for gods sake.
Do it for one contestant? Then you have to do it for all … every season. Who deserves this ?? Where do you draw the line as to who needs it and who is too cheap to pay for their own tickets? So J Lo makes $20 million as a judge.
Doesn’t mean that she or any other judge has to pay for the contestants.
I think idol makes enough they could help every contestant have one family member fly to la for the live performances. I bet there is at least one or two airlines that would give reduced ticket fees for some free advertment too.
I totally agree with you (& was about to post such) that AI should foot the bill for some family attendance for each of the top 12 or 13 contestants per week, but I believe that making allowances for 2 family members per contestant would be more appropriate and cost efficient. Two people can stay in one hotel room. I have never seen anyone offer a trip for one as a benefit for anything, ever. Who wants to fly out alone? You need a companion!
This particularly makes sense when you ponder the tender age of most of these contestants. They should have their parents present!
The AI production co. should cover the cost for all contestants’ family. They are making millions off of them.
Braden, please agree with me on this. Actually, I’m on the war path with NCAA. But that is another matter, but I’m willing to discuss if anybody interested.
I disagree. If a contestant is a minor Idol should pay the cost of a family member as a chaperone. Beyond that it’s up to the contestants and their families. The whole struggle to achieve something in the music business is meaningless if a big corp greases the way. The national exposure on Idol is enough of a leg up. If a young adult joins the military they don’t get to bring mommy to boot camp.
So glad the town is pulling together!! Love hearing these kind of stories!!! He’s a great guy and we love his talent!!! Wishing him our best.
I think they’ll be there this week! We may see some tears on American Idol this week. Now this is the essence of what these type of shows were created for. Well that and to make the network a lot of money. But if the show is not paying for all the contestants families to be there I don’t think it would be appropriate for anyone involved with the show to do that. Anonymous or not it might be a risky thing to do. Harvey Levin on the other hand could do it openly. After all he is a lawyer!
agreeeeeeeeeed….
I don’t think the judges should make sure that the contestants families are there to support them. I think it should be the show in general. I mean they pay the judges millions upon millions of dollars to just sit there and spout their useless dribble,(I can understand Ryan Secrest’s huge pay check because he has a tough job in keeping the show going and clearly does a good job of doing that) I think the judges can take a pay cut so that family members can be in attendance. This show is supposed to be about the contestants and not the judges, but I am just not feeling that. It’s nice of Phil’s hometown to do that so that his family can be there to support Phil every week.
Ok, where’s the jar? I’ve looked all over the front counter and I can’t find it. How are you supposed to donate when they’ve hidden the jar so well?
i’ve always wondered if Idol foot the bill for the families to be there. guess not! when the contestants took their cameras home for hometown video, it was obvious that some of these kids do have a very comfortable lifestyle at home and others do not. i hope Phillip’s community can help get his family there.
I think IDOL should cover the costs from the kids that make it to the top after all the kids (contstants) and brining in the money for the show to begin with. and the voting and all. but the family , I think fund raisers are a great idea. heres to them getting to LA
cover the costs for the contestants, my flub
You’d think American Idol would step up to the plate on their own. The show makes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. I’d think they could afford a couple of airline tix per week for EACH contestant.
Then again, after reading what the contracts gave each singer for last years tour, it doesn’t surprise me that they’re not helping any.
Yep they can pay the judges millions upon millions of dollars but they can’t pay for the contestants families to have plane tickets too and from LA. I’m sure the families just can’t walk away from there jobs and temporarily move to LA, but I’m sure they’d like to be there to support their family member who might be a contestant on the show. I say if cost is an issue then make those judges take a pay cut. This show SHOULD BE ABOUT THE CONTESTANTS AND NOT THE JUDGES!!!
OK, lets say the show in fact does pay for flight, food, lodging and transportation for EVERY contest. As it would not be fair to just do it for a select few. (I hope you would agree on that). As that is what you think should be done … Correct? The question now is should they pay it for one week or for each and every week of the top 10 season … for every contestant that remains? I agree, the judges make way too much money for what they do. But, they are MUCH more important to the everyday running of the show than the contestant’s family members. Who have little importance at all … Don’t you agree? And when any business start investing tons of money that have no outcome in the running of the said business … that is the very mark of a poorly run business.
.I doubt it is just the cost of Airline tickets that is what is holding Phillip Phillips family back from coming to Hollywood. Add the cost of hotel accommodations, food, taxi, not mention the wages lost from not working and I am surprised their are many families at all, who can be there to support the contestants. And it is not like any contestant will have 2 minutes time to even be with them if the do come to Hollywood. As every contestant is very busy rehearsing … I would think. Should American Idol foot that entire bill? No way.
If the show can afford to give the judges the outrageous paychecks to the judges(I heard somewhere that JLo makes about 20 million for her judging duties) then they can afford to have fly and accommodate a couple of family members to watch their loved ones perform. Of course Phil’s parents can’t be there everyday as they both have jobs and have bills to pay but at least the show can extend at least the pay of two family members. I will say it once again and it’s one of the reasons why I’m considering not watching any more as THE SHOW SHOULD BE ABOUT THE CONTESTANTS AND NOT THE JUDGES!!!
Yeah… If they do that to Phil, might as well do that to all the contestant. Sounds so simple—but, it will create a lot of criticisms if AI will do that to him. So AI, sit back and enjoy the rest of the Season.
The judges make way to much money for what they do. which is not much… but they should not donate any money, AI should pay them a little (lot) less and have some kind of program that financially helps the contestants out. not the families. but the contestants.. they are the reason we watch the show, I dont watch it to see Randy or Steven or J Lo…
I never thought about it before I always assumed IDOL sponsered the contestants. I guess you have to be rich to be on IDOL then…
Yeah, Nope actually. They only sponsor the idol contestants, but never the close relative of the contestants.
I’m really glad Phillip Phillips is still competing, so it made me smile to read that the town is coming together to do that for him. Maybe they can fly out and surprise him….
I am happy to see this. I am glad that PP’s community is donating support.
That’s the spirit! A penny would already be helpful to his family already.
I think the show should help contestants get at least one support person to CA for anyone who cant afford it. Phillip’s community doing this for him says a lot about him and his family that they would do this for them and it’s an awesome group of people who would do this !!!!!!!!!
No, I guess they can’t let that happen. Even if they want to—-they just can’t.
Do the contestants get talent fee for each episode that they appear in? If they don’t, then AI should provide for the attendance of say two family members per contestant. If they stay in Hollywood for 2-3 days, will that amount to a lot, as against the money AI gets from those commercials? Plane fares are for local flights, and they do not have to stay in really luxurious hotels. There is one less contestant with each succeeding episode, so the cost goes down anyway.
Phillip Phillips just sang the Billy Joel song better than Billy ever did. Beautiful rendition, beautiful voice, awesome awesome awesome!
He was really good tonight
Good for the Georgia Merchants who are donating proceeds to help the Phillips family to appear in Hollywood to support there son. That is wonderful thing Georgia is doing. American Idol Producers should also step up to the plate. That guy comes from humble roots. I just feel that in his music. I hope he goes a long way in this competition. Good Luck Phillip Phillips, I love you from the very beginning. And I’m a women of 62 years old, not no teeny boper!
Why should the Judges look in their cushions ? The contestants KNOW from the get go what has to be done. If the Judges did do that…then it’d be said they’re paying special attention & cheating with the Idol Stars !!!