Bio:
At just 16 years old, Jessica Sanchez is already a veteran of the stage. Singing since the age of 2 and performing on stage by her 7th birthday, Jessica has been wowing nationally televised audiences with her powerful vocals almost all her life.

Jessica received her first standing ovation on television when she appeared on the legendary music program Showtime At the Apollo (where Michael Jackson started, among others). Her performance was so thrilling, it prompted Apollo host Whoopi Goldberg to call the then 10 year old back out on stage to accept a second round of applause. A year later, Jessica found herself in front of the judges on America’s Got Talent. Jessica’s rendition of Celine Dion’s “I Surrender” left AGT judge David Hasselhoff momentarily at a near loss for words and then commented “wow, you were fantastic.” Fellow AGT judge recording artist Brandy proclaimed “you’re gonna be huge, I promise.” AGT producer Simon Cowell (from American Idol) addressed the studio audience following Jessica’s performance saying that “she was one the best I have ever heard.” Jessica finished as a semifinalist.

Jessica’s most recent nationally televised performance came in her hometown of San Diego where she sang the national anthem before the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets game on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. She was invited back in 2009 to sing the national anthem when the Chargers hosted the Miami Dolphins before a sell-out crowd of 73,000.

Jessica began her acting career a year ago when she starred in a nationally televised commercial campaign for Cricket Wireless. The producers discovered her on Youtube, where her channel has amassed more than 22,000,000 video views.

Jessica received her musical training from the prestigious Theatre of Arts in Hollywood, where she attended on a full scholarship. By the age of 9, she had earned 2 sit-down auditions with Warner Bros. Record’s A&R Department.

Jessica has won numerous local singing competitions (many of which have included adults) and continues to perform around the country. In October 2009, she was selected by the Hepatitis B Foundation to participate in a 3-city college campus music tour to help raise awareness about Hep B. Her favorite singers are Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey. She is currently in the studio working with a number of talented writers and producers on songs for her upcoming album.

Source: Spinmoverecords

According to spoilers over at TheIdolPad, Jessica Sanchez has made the Top 42 for the 11th season of American Idol. Sanchez first gained national TV exposure on the first season of America’s Got Talent. At the time, she was 12 years old. She initially did not make the public voting rounds, but Brandy brought her back as a wildcard. Jessica made a big impression but did not make it past the first voting round. Bianca Ryan, another young singer who was 11 at the time, went on to win the show.

Brandy said Jessica would be a big star at the time of her AGT performance. Around 5 years later, it looks like Jessica will get that chance. Judging from the below performance of the National Anthem, Jessica seems to have developed a fantastic vocal range. This is an amazing performance and the best I have found from her so far. Although her studio-enhanced versions on YouTube are not as impressive to my ears, Idol is a live singing competition. Jessica’s live singing voice has great potential for pop and R&B songs.

However, will Jessica have the kind of musical identity that helps a contestant win Idol? This remains to be seen. At this point, however, she seems to be another Pia Toscano. These pop singers have had trouble doing well on Idol in recent years. Jessica seems to have a great voice, but is there any soul in it? Personally, I thought Pia was amazing, but others found her to be cold in terms of emotion. Jessica may have the same problem. On the other hand, Melanie Amaro just won the first season of the X-Factor, so this type of singer may be on the comeback trail.

If the rumors are true that Jessica has made the Top 42, then it is easy to predict that she will make the voting rounds unless she loses her voice or has some other unforeseen problem that would cause her to be eliminated. She certainly has the pipes to be this season’s Pia and maybe even Season 6′s Jordin Sparks. Assuming she makes the voting rounds, she should easily make the Top 7 on the 11th season of American Idol.

Source: Jimmy Boyd – hubpages