American Idol Updates @ BLOGGED

About Jessica Sanchez

TweetJessica Sanchez is a 15 year old singer from Southern California with Mexican and Filipino heritage.

Jessica started singing at the age of 2, basically teaching herself to sing with a talented ear for music. Her influences include Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston just to name a few.

Before she auditioned in American Idol, she also competed in the inaugural season of America’s Got Talent at the age of 11. As each judge was allowed a “wild card,” R&B singer Brandy Norwood, used hers on Jessica. Brandy commented that Jessica has shown her “that singing is the best thing ever

Sanchez was born on August 4, 1995 in Chula Vista, California to Gilbert and Editha Sanchez. Her father is Mexican American and originally from Texas; her mother is Filipina and originally hailed from Bataan province in the Philippines.

In 2012, Sanchez auditioned for the eleventh American Idol season and advanced to the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals she performed Jennifer Hudson’s “Love You I Do” from the film Dreamgirls. She was one of the top five female vote getters and advanced to the top 13, and Jessica was the only one who has received two standing ovations from the judges in two consecutive weeks.

CNN’s “HLN News Now” reported that Sanchez’s performance of “I Will Always Love You,” sung on Whitney Houston tribute night March 7, 2012, got “rave reviews,” the CNN video’s commentator stating that she “brought the judges to their feet.”