Phillip Phillips a hit at homecoming concert

May 13, 2012 at 2:44 AM EDT - Updated June 27 at 4:13 AM

FITZGERALD, GA (WALB) - The Phillip Phillips homecoming still has all of South Georgia talking.

The superstar from Leesburg got to sing to his hometown fans Saturday afternoon. Thousands of them went out to Lee County High school to cheer on their favorite American Idol contestant.

The 21-year old superstar returned home to a group of fans that waited hours just to see his face and hear his voice.

One group of fans screamed: "Leesburg loves Phillip Phillips!" 
And Phillips made sure his fans knew how grateful he is for their support.
"I don't even know what to say but thank you," said Phillips. "I appreciate all of the support ya'll have done."
So why has this quiet musician capture the heart of south Georgia? 
"Because he is awesome," said fan Rosemary West. "He has such a natural charisma and personality. He is awesome and his music is just beyond awesome."
His homecoming included a parade where he and his parents got to wave to fans that lined the road for him. 
"We wanted to just tell Phillip that we loved him and we hoped he won," said fan Naudia Bullock."
A proclamation was made for the day to be known as Phillip Phillips Day. He was given a key to the city and a sign bearing his name will now welcome people to Leesburg. But really, everyone came out to see what Hollywood has been seeing for weeks.
The jubilant praise from his fans left Phillips very humble.
"I can't thank ya'll enough," Phillips said. "This is so much more than I expected."
Now he gets to go back to Hollywood to try to become America's Idol. He is already South Georgia's Idol.

We were told that more than 15-thousand people packed the Lee County Football stadium to hear Phillips. He will perform three songs on the show next week in hopes of making it to the top two.

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