Health Almost Forced Phillip Phillips to Surrender

Phillip Phillips was fighting two battles while on American Idol. In addition to competing for the title, the crooner continues to fight a lingering kidney ailment.

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Under close medical supervision, Phillip was able to remain in the running all the way to the finish line. "I came close to almost dropping out to get surgery done, but the doctors helped me through it," he told ETonline. The champ will be going under the knife "pretty soon" and is confident he'll be "100%" for the summer tour.

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While adamant about "sticking to [his] guns" on his performances, Phillip welcomed the advice of Jennifer Lopez and her cohorts. "She's done this for years. She knows her stuff… Hopefully she stays," he commented on speculation that Jenny from the Block will be exiting the panel.

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Judges aside, Phillip is undoubtedly his own harshest critic. "I don't feel like I'm that great. I'm not outstanding. I can't hit all these high notes. I try to hit some note," he humbly confessed. "A lot of people saw what I did with the music because I'm really passionate about it; how I change the songs up."

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The singer/songwriter's creative juices are actively flowing to pen his freshman album. Phillip wasn't completely satisfied with the genre of Home, the song which was to be his debut single. "It's a little too pop for me. It's a very good song and I'm glad people like it. I'm a little more rock than that," the guitar-player elaborated. "I wanted to do one of my own songs that I had written." Time constraints didn't allow for the original song to be performance-ready by showtime. His record will stray from the mainstream and focus on "jazz, rock, and acoustic type stuff."

The Fox show's American Idol Live! Tour kicks off on July 6 in Detroit.