Five months of auditions, live performances and rounds and rounds of voting led to last night's big moment. Who would be crowned the American Idol champion after so much anticipation? Who deserved to win? Phillip Phillips.

Beating Jessica Sanchez, the season's runner-up, in a record-breaking 132 million total votes, Phillips was one of the few constants on the show. He never appeared in the bottom three or two, whereas Sanchez was saved by the judges from going home during week 7 results.

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Only Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez remain after weeks of strong performances and eliminations.

So there you have it. Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez will duke it out during the final round of American Idol. This doesn't come as much surprise, as Phillips and Sanchez have been early favorites since the beginning. Joshua Ledet, who appeared in the bottom three or two twice before being eliminated last night, was a judges' favorite, but his gospel singer stylings failed to connect with Idol voters in the same way Sanchez and Phillips did.

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It's down to the wire now. Last night's performances will determine which of the three remaining Idol contestants will make it through to the final and ultimately win the entire competition, which, with the elimination of Hollie Cavanagh last week, is anyone's game at this point. The contestants each sang three songs: one chosen by the judges, one by Jimmy Iovine -- this season's mentor -- one personal choice.

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Ryan Seacrest and Fox plugged last night's Idol results show as another surprising one. "We've had a few surprises at this stage in the game," Seacrest said during the show. Well, he, and a slew of promotional clips, misled us -- the only surprise last night was that there were no surprises.

Even during the big reveal, Seacrest tried to surprise us: first Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet were cleared from elimination. Then it was down to Phillip Phillips and Hollie Cavanagh. Cavanagh, who had been no stranger to the bottom three this season, gave two excellent performances on Wednesday's show, of "Faithfully" and "I Can't Make You Love Me."

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It's down to the wire on American Idol now. On last night's show, each of the four remaining contestants brought out everything they had to be considered for the final three. No longer are any of the contestants resting on their laurels, except Phillip Phillips who stuck with his tried-and-true formula. Phillips took on Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" -- it wasn't spectacular by any means, actually feeling quite a bit safe, but he sounded great, even without hiding behind a guitar this week. The Idol audience, and especially the women, of course, loved it. He also did Damien Rice's "Volcano" with guitar in hand.

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Skylar Laine sent home despite having one of her best week's yet.

Well, that was a surprise. Fresh off having one of the best weeks yet, America voted to send Skylar Laine home last night. Laine, easily the most feisty of contestants that remained on Idol this far into the competition, had a stronger performance than her friend Hollie Cavanagh, who joined Laine in the bottom two.

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Last night's episode of Idol saw the top five performing '60s hits and Brit pop. For some, it was a swing and a miss; for others -- hot damn! Hollie Cavanagh had an energy on last night's show that leads the pack this week. She's no Tina Turner , but "River Deep Mountain High" may have been her strongest performance yet. There was something in the way she sang and worked the stage, letting her personality shine through, all the while being vocally on-key. Cavanagh also sang "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis .

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The top six sing the opening lines of "Fat Bottomed GIrls."

Following a strong showing on Wednesday night by almost all of the Top 6, Elise Testone, one of the best of the Queen-covering bunch, was sent home during last night's results show. She was joined by Skylar Laine and Hollie Cavanagh, only the latter of whom belonged there. Nevertheless, someone had to go home, as each contestant offered their best takes on the great Freddie Mercury. What follows is a recap of Wednesday's performances, providing a bit of insight as to how Testone, Laine and Cavanagh ended up receiving the least number of votes.

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American Idol said goodbye to Colton Dixon last night in a surprising elimination.

And just like that, America got it wrong.

On last night's results round of American Idol, one of the stronger, consistent contenders, Colton Dixon, was eliminated after two solid performances on Wednesday night. Apparently, fans didn't like his take on Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" or Earth Wind & Fire's "September" -- and Dixon himself didn't like them, either, as he apologized last night for not being himself during the performance round this week.

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Colton Dixon doing "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga last night on American Idol.

Last night's episode of American Idol saw the Top 7 tackle a new set of songs -- one produced between now and the turn of the century and one school classic. Some performances worked, some didn't, but there was certainly a lot of Lady Gaga and Alicia Keys for one episode.

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