Jessica in the finale!!

I'm incredibly pleased that Jessica Sanchez made it to the top 2 of American Idol. Way to go, Jessica!

After watching the show last night and seeing the reviews, I was almost certain Jessica was going home. The fact is, Joshua is the judges' favorite (or, well, Randy's and JLo's), and Phillip is this year's WGWG - white guy with guitar - which means he's practically a lock for the top 2, if not the title. Aside from that, I felt the songs given to Jessica were not good. 'My all' and 'I'll be there'? Jimmy Iovine's comments indicated that he himself felt the songs given to Jessica - including his own - were not good choices. To top it all off, sources say Jessica was suffering from a sore throat but no one bothered to mention it or even alluded to the fact that she wasn't in the best condition.

I think Jessica herself felt that her time was up. Not because of her reaction when Ryan called her name first. But because of her demeanor right before. In past weeks, she always looked nervous or tense when waiting for Ryan to call her fate. But this time, she seemed relaxed and was even smiling. I am guessing she may felt like she was living on borrowed time, given that the judges had to save her a few weeks back. Add to that the feedback she got from the judges and from Jimmy, I think she mentally readied herself to go. Which makes the fact that she is still standing and now in the finale even more amazing!

Of course, being up against the WGWG almost guarantees that she will lose next week. The last four winners - David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee Dewyze, and even Scotty McReery to some degree - all fit this description. Nevertheless, I am still pleased at how far Jessica has gotten. Here's hoping that she ends up with moderate success post-Idol. (Of course, if she comes to the Philippines, she will surely be a big hit. :))

*****

And before I get accused for being a Jessica fan just because she has Filipino roots, I didn't really root for a lot of past Pinoy-blooded contestants. Of the past idols with Filipino heritage - Jasmine Trias, Camile Velasco, Sway Penala, Ramiele Malubay, and Thie Megia - it's only Camile who I supported (although I do feel that she really lacked confidence and while I think she should made it a bit further, her 9th place finish in Season 3 was fair.). Good luck to Jessica and I hope she can finally snap the WGWG dominance of AI.