Caleb Johnson is AI winner

MANILA, Philippines - Thirteen proved to be a lucky number for Caleb Johnson, this year’s winner in American Idol (AI) 13. He was the 13th contestant in the 13th season of the singing competition, so fans and viewers voted for him consistently.

“He worked so hard and wanted it so badly,” said host Ryan Seacrest of Caleb after the latter was proclaimed winner.

It wasn’t hard to predict this year’s winner in AI even mid-way into the competition. The 23-year-old rocker Caleb strongly sailed through the weekly contest without landing in the bottom three and finally ending up champion when AI concluded last May 22.

Caleb, a musician from Asheville, North Carolina, edged out Jena Irene, a student from Farmington Hills, Michigan, this year’s runner-up. The two each brought home a 2015 Ford Mustang.

The AI finale was loaded with stellar performances and vocal showdowns of the finalists with music superstars. AI judge Jennifer Lopez did a sizzling performance of First Love, an old song she reprised. Lady Antebellum also graced the AI stage.

Sam Woolf performed with Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips and they rendered the latter’s hit single, Home. Country music artist Jennifer Nettles and Jessica Meuse did a duet of Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball. Caleb had the thrill of his life performing with Kiss. Jena sang with her favorite band Paramore.

For the first time in AI history, the judges — Jennifer, Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban — performed with mentor Randy Jackson. Host Ryan also had his “moment in the sun” by doing a duet of the hit ballad, Right Here Waiting, with Richard Marx.

Demi Lovato, who previously sat as a one-time mentor with Randy, also performed live with the AI girls — Jena, Jessica, Emily Piriz, Malaya Watson, Majesty Rose York and Kristen O’Connor.

Aloe Blacc shared the stage with the AI guys — Sam, Dexter Roberts, CJ Harris, Alex Preston and Ben Briley. John Legend did a duet with Malaya. Alex performed with his idol, Jason Mraz. Dexter and CJ jammed with Darius Rucker.

A day before the winner was announced, the last showdown happened between Caleb and Jena with three songs each. The first was AI creator Simon Fuller’s choice — Florence and the Machine’s Dog Days Are Over for Jena and Aerosmith’s Dream On for Caleb.

Next, the two finalists reprised their favorite song of the season — Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love for Jena and Paul McCartney’s Maybe I’m Amazed for Caleb. For their potential winner’s single, Jena sang We Are One, while Caleb rendered As Long As You Love Me.

Throughout the season, first three to be eliminated were Kristen, a nurse tech from Florida (Sebastian); Emily, a student also from Florida (Orlando); and Ben, a server from Tennessee (Gallatin). Unfortunately, they also lost their chances to be in the Top 10.

Next to be booted out was MK Nobilette, a student from California (San Francisco), followed by Majesty, a pre-school teacher from North Carolina (Goldsboro), then Malaya, a student from Michigan (Southfield) and Dexter, a dog trainer from Alabama (Fayette).

CJ, a guitar teacher from Alabama (Jasper), was the eighth person eliminated, followed by Sam, a student from Florida (Bradenton), who earlier survived the one-time judges’ save this season.

Jessica, a student from Alabama (Slapout), said goodbye three weeks before the finals and Alex, a student from New Hampshire (Mont Vernon), was the last to leave the competition.

During the Top 9, the results show was cut down to 30 minutes presumably because of the slack in ratings. Next year, it was rumored that there will only be one show every week as the performance night and results show will be combined into one.

Although no judges were announced yet for next season, it was confirmed that Ryan signed up anew to host AI.