AI heats up with Jessica

MANILA, Philippines - Jessica Sanchez attracted worldwide attention in American Idol Season 11 with her stunning performance that marked the rise of a new singing phenomenon.

She awed millions with her powerful voice and exquisite style that imbued each song in her repertoire, easily impressing the judges in the No. 1 reality singing competition in the US.

Throughout her stint in AI, the Fil-Am vocal powerhouse also consistently broke a number of standards and set new ones, from the moment she was dramatically saved by the judges, becoming the first female contestant to be snatched from possible eviction and the first female entry to receive the “save” to reach the finals and finish as runner-up

Jessica and her achievements will heat up the American Idol fever when she and other Top 10 finalists, led by winner Phillip Phillips, arrive for their highly-anticipated live performance on Sept. 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.

Dubbed as American Idol Live! Tour 2012, the one-night musical presentation from Ovation Productions brings together on the same stage on the same night the stellar cast of 10 new discoveries in the singing contest in their first Asian engagement following a 45-date US tour.

With Phillip and Jessica in the tour are the other finalists Joshua Ledet, DeAndre Brackensick, Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Hee Jun Han, Skylar Laine, Colton Dixon and Hollie Cavanagh.

The new singing celebrities are expected to perform some of the numbers they sang during the talent search, with Jessica drawing from her song list that includes, among others, Change Nothing, Sweet Dreams and I Will Always Love You. An on-line post of the tour’s repertoire indicates that Jessica has seven production numbers and three solo spots.

AI 11 has generated special attention and interest among Filipinos here and overseas not only because of the remarkable performance of Jessica but because of her family’s ties to the Philippines, where her mother hails from before she moved to the US and settled with her Mexican-American husband and her family.

Although the title eluded Jessica, the fact that she reached the Top 2 round was enough reason for the collective jubilation of her fans.

A lot of people also acknowledged that she was “undoubtedly the most accomplished singer” in the reality search during the season, blowing away her rivals with songs culled from the catalogs of top performers like Jennifer Holiday, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. 

Jessica’s amazing journey to musical stardom via American Idol began when she auditioned for Season 11 of the show on July 8, 2011 in her hometown of San Diego, California.

Her group performance with DeAndre and Candice of an updated version of Buddy Holly’s It Doesn’t Matter Anymore received a standing ovation from the three judges.

During the semi-finals, Jessica also got the only standing ovation of the evening from the judges after performing Jennifer Hudson’s Love You I Do from the film, Dreamgirls.  

There was no stopping for Jessica since then.

 At the end of the Top 4 round, she emerged as the last surviving female contestant and sang her way to the finale, where she finished second to Phillip after 132 million votes were cast by the viewers during the live telecast from Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California last May 23, 2012.

Jessica established a record of sorts in the 11-year-old show. Aside from being the first female contestant to be saved by the judges and the first female recipient of the “save” to reach the finale and eventually take the second top spot, she also received six standing ovations for her competitive performances from the judges. 

Jessica has signed a record deal with Interscope Records and is currently working on her first album that is due for release sometime in December.

Fairy Tale, one of the songs that will be part of the album, made its debut during the American Idol iHeartRadio show in New York City last Aug. 29.

A new album, American Idol Season 11 Highlights, contains a compilation of some of Jessica’s memorable performances in the competition, notably covers of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, Beyonce’s Sweet Dreams, Jazmine Sullivan’s Stuttering, her duet with Joshua Ledet titled I Knew You Were Waiting For Me and her song for the finale, Change Nothing.

(American Idol Live! Tour 2012 is produced by Ovation Productions and presented by Smart in cooperation with PLDT myDSL and McDonald’s. It is also brought to you by Philippine Airlines and Philamlife with the participation of Vaio, Skechers and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, with the Manila Hotel as official residence.

Tickets are priced at P10,000, P9,500, P7,500, P5,500, P3,500, P2,000 and P800 and are available at Ticketnet outlets at all SM Department Stores. Tickets may also be purchased only through www.ticketnet.com.ph. For details, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)