American Idol season 11 winner Phillip Phillips will perform in STAR’s annual spring concert, and many students are excited for his arrival when he makes St. Thomas his temporary “Home” for the May 11 show.

The 21-year-old performer is known for his guitar skills and rich, raspy vocals. He marked the highest debut on the Billboard Digital songs chart with 278,000 downloads sold for his hit “Home,” according to his website.

Freshman Ashley Erickson already has a gameplan for the 7 p.m. show on the John P. Monahan Plaza.

“This makes me love St. Thomas 300 times more,” Erickson said. “I’ll probably plan what I’ll wear for this weeks in advance just in case I get a chance to take a picture with him.”

Other students like senior Laura Pawlik said she only knows his Billboard Hot 100 top-10 debut hit.

“I know his big song (“Home”), but I haven’t heard of him much other than that,” Pawlik said. “It’s (The spring concert) fun for the students and brings people together.”

Sophomore Kevin Mealy said he’ll go especially since it is free, and he likes the song “Home,” too.

“It’s one of the few songs on the radio that I like,” Mealy said.

Senior Ben Gervais said he will probably start listening to more of Phillips’ album before the concert.

“It’s nice that they don’t just get mainstream artists,” Gervais said. “I feel like there’s a lot of Phillip Phillips fans here.”

Philllips’ other known hit from his new album, “World from the Side of the Moon,” is his new single “Gone, Gone, Gone.”

In 2012, STAR chose Mat Kearney for the spring concert. In 2011, Gavin DeGraw took the stage, and in 2010, Jordin Sparks and Phil Vassar came to campus.

Sophomore Savannah Rivas said St. Thomas chose a good artist.

“I’m so excited. St. Thomas is really stepping up their game,” Rivas said. “I don’t know a lot of his songs, but I think it’ll be a great concert.”

STAR will not be ticketing the concert because it is an outdoor event. Based on past STAR concerts, STAR Large Events Intern Jimmy Froehling said the group is anticipates around 2,000 students to attend the concert.