Every time Phillip Phillips takes the stage, the shriek of the audience seems to get even more high-pitched with teen girls going gaga for those baby blues and that laid-back, shoot-the-breeze style. This week, though, Phillips failed to charm the judges with Maroon 5‘s ‘Give a Little More’ (though Jennifer Lopez still insisted over and over “You know I love you!”)

Backstage with Jimmy Iovine and this week’s mentor Akon, Phillips accepted some advice from Iovine for a new arrangement of his song of choice, making it a little more his own. Interestingly enough, though Iovine had told Colton Dixon earlier in the show that he thought Phillips was a step ahead of him, the record exec flipped the table when Phillips was the one backstage, suggesting that perhaps Dixon was edging him out.

Clad in black pants, a black shirt and a charcoal gray jacket, Phillips took the stage, stood behind his guitar and gave the performance we’ve seen the past few weeks. It’s not that he’s not super talented; it’s just that we kind of know what to expect at this point. Though he had a beautiful blonde on sexy sax lending to the Dave Matthews-esque feel of the performance, Phillips still didn’t quite take the cake with the judges (who still love him, don’t forget!)

Steven Tyler was the most complimentary, calling him a “Steve McQueen, Johnny Cash kind of guy.” Though Lopez agreed with the comparison, she said she felt the performance was kind of underwhelming for her. Dealing with the high-pitched boos from the crowd, Lopez once again affirmed her love of the Leesburg, Ga. native. Even after Randy Jackson said the performance started out great and kind of “normalized” after that, Phillips didn’t lose his signature cool, saying “It’s all good man.”

Watch Phillip Phillips Perform ‘Give a Little More’ on ‘American Idol’

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