American Idol Recap: Jessica Sanchez Gets Mixed Reviews
After Wednesday's Top 3 Performance show on American Idol, many people are wondering, How did Jessica Sanchez do? Did she impress the judges? Will she make it to the final?
Sanchez's performances earned mixed reviews. The three remaining contestants performed a song picked by the judges, a song of their personal choice and one picked by their mentor Jimmy Iovine.
Sanchez' first song "My All" by Mariah Carey (chosen by Jennifer Lopez) earned praises from the judges but not a standing ovation. Randy Jackson called it the best performance ever of a Mariah song on TV while Steven Tyler predicted she will win the competition.
Jennifer Lopez acknowledged it was a hard song but that she did it "beautifully."
"I was scared of that song and nervous about the dynamics -- going low and then getting all high," Sanchez told The Hollywood Reporter after the show. "I really wanted to pull it off so I was just trying to find the emotion in it."
TV critics were not as positive. They said the lower register of the song made Sanchez' voice sound weak. Others noted they couldn't understand the lyrics when she was singing lower.
"The snoozy lullaby robbed the high schooler of a big moment and may have punched her card home," an MTV review noted.
For the second round, Sanchez performed the song of her choice, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," by Aerosmith, which she wanted to sing for Tyler.
Tyler gave her a standing ovation: "You just took a great song and made it greater," he said but Lopez and Jackson were not as excited.
The opinions were very divided for that performance. Jackson and Lopez loved her last high note while some reviewers said it " was as off as Jennifer's pink pantsuit," according to an MTV review.
Sanchez' last performance “I’ll Be There” by the Jackson 5 earned middling praise.
“I liked it. OK– I didn’t love it,” said Jackson. “We’re at the end here, and you’re on the stage with all these dynamic other singers. There was never a moment-moment. It needed, like, a moment-moment-moment.”
TV reviewers weren't impressed with it.
"It starts out great, but when she goes to her lower register, it gets a little rough. As soon as she's out of those bottom notes, she's great again," one TV critic said.
In the other hand, Sanchez has earned a large amount of fans. On Twitter she has nearly 350,000 followers and Adam Lambert, Beyonce, Jennifer Holliday, Jennifer Hudson and music producer Tommy Mottola are reportedly all fans of her.
Sanchez, Joshua Ledet or Phillip Phillips. Who will be eliminated tonight?