Happy New Year, readers! I’m really happy with the way this countdown played out. It did exactly what I set out for it to do. I wanted to remind everyone that, amidst the bickering and snarky criticisms found in the comment sections on sites like this, we’re generally positively entertained by these shows and their contestants. More so, I wanted to celebrate the actual talent we discovered as viewers across all three shows during the span of 2012.

Honorable mentions to Katrina Parker, Jamar Rogers, Vino Alan, Colton Dixon, and DeAndre Brackensick. Had I extended the list to be a Top 30, they would have made the cut. They all performed well enough to make my list, at least. It just didn’t come together for them when I sat down to write. I never realized Katrina had so many vocal fans on here, so go “Jar of Hearts”! She’s good! Funny thing, two of this past year’s winners never even crossed my mind…

Before writing freelance as a critic, I remember watching these shows as a casual viewer. I always felt for these contestants who went from being talented young people with a certain potential to reality stars swirled up in the over-produced television spectacle that comes along with having to share a breathing space with Simon Cowell. Now there are thirteen year olds involved. Still, true fans of the show choose to see past the nonsense and straight to the talent. I thought it would be fun to compile an end-of-year countdown that was less competitive and more celebratory in hopes that your positive thoughts and reactions could maybe reach some of your favorite contestants via a little internet buzz. All three shows have their fans, so all three shows were fairly represented.

First, thanks to all of you who followed along from the very first post! I apologize for, ugh, all of the typos I most likely made rushing to post the entries in time. I swear, I can string a sentence together, and I know when to italicize/ capitalize things. Also, I have to thank a few contestants from The X Factor who followed along, as well. Beatrice Miller and CeCe Frey shared their ranks and your comments with their social networks several times. Readers on here have been generally kind to them, and that didn’t go unnoticed. Also, Jennel Garcia was thankful for the praise showed to her from all of us on this site after the show handled her elimination pretty terribly.

So, that’s about it! Phillip Phillips won the top spot for me because he’s legitimized his career astoundingly in a short period of time, and it all began with his finale performance of “Home.” The fact that “Home” made it all the way to the Olympics was huge. I said from the get-go that I would take overall impact into account, as well as special performance moments. Also, all of these rankings are approximate. Things weren’t meant to be too rigid. I’m looking forward to the talent discovered and discussed in 2013! I hope you enjoyed following along, and Happy New Year!