Early life

Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez was born in Chula Vista, California on August 4, 1995 to parents, Edita (born Bugay) and Gilbert Sanchez. She was raised in Eastlake, Chula Vista along with two younger brothers. Her father is a Mexican-American originally from Texas, and is an aviation ordnanceman First Class Petty Officer in the United States Navy Reserves. Her mother is a Filipina whose family is from Samal, Bataan in the Philippines.

She attended Eastlake Middle School in Chula Vista and was homeschooled all four years of high school.

She started singing at the age of 2, and aspires to be a mainstream singer who can "belt but sing upbeat songs". Eminem and Beyoncé are her favorite male and female artists, while Jennifer Hudson is her favorite American Idol contestant. Other musical influences include Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Etta James, Christina Aguilera, and Michael Jackson.

Career

2006-2011: Beginnings

At the age of 10, Sanchez received a standing ovation for performing Aretha Franklin's "Respect" on Showtime at the Apollo. The hostess Whoopi Goldberg called her back on stage to accept a second round of applause. Sanchez competed on the first season of America's Got Talent at the age of 11. Despite a successful audition, she was not seen on the show until the wild card round of the semi-finals when judge Brandy Norwood selected her to return for a chance to compete for the finals. Norwood predicted, "You’re gonna be huge, I promise," after seeing her perform "I Surrender" by Celine Dion. The show's executive producer and former American Idol judge Simon Cowell named her "one of the best I have ever heard." On September 22, 2008, Sanchez sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a San Diego Chargers versus New York Jets National Football League matchup. She was invited to sing the national anthem again on September 27, 2009 before a Chargers versus Miami Dolphins matchup.

In October 2009, Sanchez recorded a cover of "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna for iTunes with independent record label Spin Move Records. The following spring, Sanchez recorded another single with Spin Move Records, a cover of Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind" for YouTube and exclusive download on the label's website.

Sanchez was one of the singers in Lisa Lavie's collaboration video "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)" for charity relief for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, along with American Idol season 10 finalist Thia Megia. The video's participants were collectively recognized as "Persons of the Week" on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer on March 19, 2010.

2012: American Idol

Main article: American Idol (season 11)

On July 8, 2011, Sanchez auditioned for the eleventh season of American Idol in her hometown of San Diego, California at the age of 15. She had never been seen on screen in the audition and Hollywood rounds; her first performance on screen was her group performance with Deandre Brackensick and Candice Glover, who would go on to win the 12th season of American Idol. with an updated version of Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", and her group advanced to the next round. Later, she advanced to the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Sanchez performed Jennifer Hudson's "Love You I Do" from the film Dreamgirls. She was one of the top five female vote‑getters who advanced to the top 13. Her rendition of "I Will Always Love You" sung on "Whitney Houston night" (March 7, 2012) . CNN's HLN News Now reported that she brought the judges to their feet. With the lone standing ovation of the night just as before, her name became a worldwide trend on Twitter, and the video of the performance was uploaded to YouTube, it received five million views in three days.

For her top 11 performance, Sanchez received constructive criticism from the judges for her rendition of Gloria Estefan's version of Vicki Sue Robinson's "Turn the Beat Around". Jackson said, "The problem for me was the song choice. You got the big old voice. The song does not allow you to show that". Lopez agreed, "your voice has such a strong vibrato, which is so beautiful on certain songs", while Tyler advised "you can't stray too far from what I think you sing the best which is ballads."

On "Billy Joel night", Sanchez sang "Everybody Has a Dream". which received a standing ovation from the judges

The following week, Sanchez acknowledged her personal idol by singing a slow tempo of Beyoncé's "Sweet Dreams".

In the top 8 round, she introduced her alter ego, "BeBe Chez", to cover an upbeat Whitney Houston song "How Will I Know". Lopez raved about her "powerhouse vocals" and her duet of George Michael and Aretha Franklin's "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" with fellow contestant Joshua Ledet got a standing ovation from the judges.

For the top 7 Week on April 11, 2012, she sang Jazmine Sullivan's "Stuttering". The following night revealed that she received the lowest number of votes leaving the judges stunned. For her performance to be considered for the Judges' Save, she began to sing Deborah Cox's "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", when Lopez ran on stage and cut her off mid-performance. The three judges declared on stage that they were unanimous in using their one-time "Judges' Save", a veto that was introduced beginning in the eighth season. This made her the first female and the fourth finalist in American Idol history spared from elimination.

For the second week of top 7, Sanchez pleased the judges with her take on Alicia Keys’ "Fallin'" and her rendition of Otis Redding’s "Try a Little Tenderness".

On "Queen night", Sanchez performed Bohemian Rhapsody. Tyler opined that rock music is not her forte. Lopez agreed that the vocal was beautiful but "needed a bit more of that rock performance". "You hit the high notes, you sounded beautiful," said Jackson but he wanted her to channel a little Tina Turner. Her rendition of Luther Vandross' Dance with My Father earned rave reviews.

After the conclusion of the top 4, Sanchez was the last remaining female contestant in the Idol competition. She had received six unanimous standing ovations for her competitive performances from the judges, four from solo performances, one for group performance, and one for a duet. This made her one of the front-runners in the competition.

On Top 3 Performance, Sanchez sang three songs, "My All" by Mariah Carey (Lopez's choice), "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5, Iovine's choice, and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith. For "My All", Tyler predicted she would win the competition, "When you sing, you make people hang on your every note. "I hope you get used to encores. And on another crazy note, I think you'll be the last person standing there." For "I'll Be There", Tyler said, "Perfect song, perfect voice, you nailed it, delicious" and Lopez stated "It was perfect for the tone in your voice. You almost sounded like Michael."

Sanchez became the series' first and only Judges' Save recipient to have qualified into the finale. In the Top 2 finale, Sanchez performed three songs including Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing", which was chosen by Simon Fuller, the show's creator, her second rendition of the season of "The Prayer" and her single "Change Nothing". The judges commented that she won the night on her first song, but she received criticisms of her lacklustre rendition of her single. The following night in the results show, she and Jennifer Holliday sang "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" and received a standing ovation from the judges, but finished as runner-up behind season 11 winner Phillip Phillips with world-record 132 million votes cast by viewers.

Performances/results

Episode	Theme	Song choice	Original artist	Order #	Result
Audition	Auditioner's Choice	"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"	Aretha Franklin	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 1	First Solo	"Get Me Bodied"	Beyoncé	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 2	Group Performance	Not aired		N/A	Advanced
Hollywood Round, Part 3	Second Solo	Not aired		N/A	Advanced
Las Vegas Round	Songs from the 1950s Group Performance	"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" with DeAndre Brackensick & Candice Glover	Buddy Holly	N/A	Advanced
Final Judgment	Final Solo	"The Prayer"	Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli	N/A	Advanced
Top 25 (12 Women)	Personal Choice	"Love You I Do"	Jennifer Hudson	11	Advanced
Top 13	Whitney Houston	"I Will Always Love You"	Dolly Parton	12	Safe
Top 11	Year They Were Born	"Turn the Beat Around"	Vicki Sue Robinson	2	Safe
Top 10	Billy Joel	"Everybody Has a Dream"	Billy Joel	9	Safe
Top 9	Their Personal Idols	"Sweet Dreams"	Beyoncé	7	Safe
		"Like a Prayer" / "Borderline" / "Express Yourself" with Hollie Cavanagh & Skylar Laine	Madonna	11
Top 8	Songs from the 1980s	"How Will I Know"	Whitney Houston	7	Safe
		"I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" with Joshua Ledet	Aretha Franklin & George Michael	10
Top 7	Songs from the 2010s	"Stuttering"	Jazmine Sullivan	3	Saved
		"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" with Joshua Ledet and Hollie Cavanagh	Kelly Clarkson	9
Top 7	Songs from Now & Then	"Fallin'"	Alicia Keys	5	Safe
		"Try a Little Tenderness"	Ray Noble Orchestra	12
Top 6	Queen	"Bohemian Rhapsody"	Queen	1	Safe
	Contestant's Choice	"Dance with My Father"	Luther Vandross	7
Top 5	Songs from the 1960s	"Proud Mary"	Creedence Clearwater Revival	5	Safe
		"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" with Hollie Cavanagh & Skylar Laine	Jackie Wilson	9
	British Pop	"You Are So Beautiful"	Billy Preston	11
Top 4	California Dreamin'	"Steal Away"	Jimmy Hughes	4	Safe
		"Eternal Flame" with Hollie Cavanagh	The Bangles	6
		"Waiting for a Girl Like You" with Hollie Cavanagh, Joshua Ledet & Phillip Phillips	Foreigner	7
	Songs They Wish They'd Written	"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"	Jennifer Holliday	11
Top 3	Judges' Choice	"My All"	Mariah Carey	2	Safe
	Contestant's Choice	"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"	Aerosmith	5
	Jimmy Iovine's Choice	"I'll Be There"	The Jackson 5	8
Finale	Simon Fuller's Choice	"I Have Nothing"	Whitney Houston	1	Runner-up
	Favorite Performance	"The Prayer"	Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli	3
	Winner's Single	"Change Nothing"	Jessica Sanchez	5
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