Phillip Phillips has apologized to his fans and American Idol’s Jimmy Iovine after seemingly rejecting the in-house mentor’s advice on how to protect his potential this season.
During Thursday’s Top 8 elimination show each American Idol 2012 finalist was given advice from Jimmy but when it came to Phillips theses words of wisdom appeared to fall on deaf ears:
“It’s very difficult to push yourself when everyone’s telling you you’re so great. Right now, what Phillip needs is to be pushed so he can go out and be the best version of himself that he can be. If he stands still, there’s a very big possibility that the other contestants will come up and pass him, and that would really be a shame.”
After the segment played Ryan Seacrest asked Phillip for his thoughts and reaction. Phillips responded:
“No, I’m just being myself, dude. I’m not trying to walk around stage and touch people’s hands and stuff. That’s just not me. I’m just having fun, man. I’m not trying to be somebody else. I’m just trying to play music.”
At the time I thought Phillips was mocking Kellie Pickler’s performance from just minutes earlier in the show when she walked around and touched the outstretched hands of fans. Turns out Phillip was confused by Jimmy’s advice. He thought “if he stands still” meant literally standing still on the stage and he was being encouraged to walk around. Phillips was rejecting that notion and reaffirming his affinity for standing in place coupled with shoulder shrugs.
Phillips released this statement on his Facebook page:
thank you to everyone who supports me and voted this week! i appreciate it very much…i heard that some people took my comment the wrong way but i thought jimmy said if i dont move around i would get passed and all i was meaning that im not the artist who runs around stage touching peoples hands and sings to them, thats just not me so im sorry to who ever my [sic] have taken it the wrong way bc i wouldnt even be here without you guys voting haha thank you again!
His comment seems to be saying he’s sorry that we misunderstood his misunderstanding rather than he simply misunderstood Jimmy. That’s alright. Hopefully Phillips will take Jimmy’s words to heart now that it’s been explained to him. Well, that and he’ll get a new shift key.
Source: Zap2It