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LEESBURG, GA --
Phillip Phillips may not have won American Idol yet, but he sure got a winner's welcome for his hometown celebration.

“It's insane; I don't really have any thoughts right now it’s now,” said Phillip Phillips, American Idol finalist from Leesburg, GA.  “It's so overwhelming and amazing and I can't even explain it.”

The whirlwind of a weekend started Friday at the airport. Saturday kicked off with trips to some of his favorite spots around town and of course he had to hit up the pawn shop.  Phillip said he never thought he would need a bodyguard to enter his own pawn shop but the hundreds of fans made the extra security necessary.

No exact numbers have been calculated but thousands flocked to Leesburg to see their American Idol.

After parading through town, everyone gathered on the Lee County High School football field for a concert.  The same place Phillip sang for his high school graduation just a few years ago, his time for a bit larger crowd.

“It’s so awesome and I just feel so blessed,” said Phillips.

He kicked off the concert with none other than ‘Superstitious,’ the song that got him the golden ticket to Hollywood.

Phillip Phillips left for LA early Sunday morning but the echoes of his two names will ring in this town for a while.