As has been his M.O. throughout this 11th season of "American Idol," Phillip Phillips wowed the crowd and the judges with his show-stopping final performance of would-be single "Home."

MTV News was lucky enough to chat with Phillips on the red carpet leading up to the big finale Wednesday (May 23), where he revealed a few details about how he wound up choosing the rootsy ballad.

"It wasn't really too much of a process," Phillips admitted with his trademark "aw, shucks" smile. "I got to hear it once and they said, 'Would you like to do it?' "

Obviously, Phillips did want to do that song, a smart decision that led to the evening's only standing ovation from the judges. However, if the Georgia native had to do it all over again, without the strict time constraints they work under on "Idol," Phillips said he would have preferred to have performed his own original song.

"I wanted to do my own stuff, but we only had a certain amount of time to do everything, so I had to do that one, and it's a really good song," he said. "The writers are really good. It's not really something I would write, so I'm excited to get my own stuff out there."

We're sure Phillips' adoring fans are excited to listen to his "stuff" as well. In the meantime they can watch and re-watch the sweet-tempered 21-year-old's final performance, complete with a marching band, to hold them over.

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