AI Live Tour with Jessica on Sept. 21 at Big Dome

Manila, Philippines -  The Top 10 finalists of American Idol Season 11 featuring winner Phillip Phillips and runner-up Jessica Sanchez are coming to Manila for a one-night live performance on Sept. 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The musical event, dubbed as American Idol Live! Tour 2012, brings together in one evening the powerhouse cast of the hit reality singing competition on American TV in its first Asian engagement following a 45-date US tour that took them to major cities in North America.

Joining Phillips and Sanchez are other finalists Joshua Ledet, DeAndre Brackensick, Elise Testone, Erika van Pelt, Hee Jun Han, Skylar Laine, Colton Dixon and Hollie Cavanagh.

The finalists are expected to perform some of the numbers they did during the four-month talent competition, with Sanchez drawing from her song list that includes, among others, Change Nothing, Sweet Dreams and I Will Always Love You. An online post of the tour’s repertoire indicates that Sanchez has seven production numbers and three solo spots.

In confirming the visit of the AI finalists, Renen de Guia of Ovation Productions said, “We are delighted to bring to Manila for the second consecutive year the touring production of American Idol, this time to showcase its Season 11’s Top 10 finalists and give Filipino fans another unique opportunity to watch up close and personal the latest crop of singing discoveries in the top-rated competition.”

“We are also very excited to help realize the fond wishes of millions of fans to see and meet in person their kababayan and new singing star, American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez, who will be part of the cast,” De Guia added.

AI Season 11 has generated special interest and attention among Filipinos here and overseas not only because of the spectacular performance of Sanchez but because of her family’s ties to the Philippines, where her mother hails from before she moved to the US and settled with her Mexican-American husband and her family.

Starting from the Top 7 round of the contest through the finals, millions of local televiewers, especially from her mother’s hometown of Samal, Bataan, stayed glued to their TV sets as they followed each episode and rooted for Sanchez in her quest for the title.

Filipinos in America and other parts of the globe also joined the groundswell of support for the then 16-year-old Fil-Am sensation (she turned 17 last Aug. 4) and cast their votes through the telephone, the Internet and SMS text messaging in a rare show of solidarity for a common cause of making a talented Filipina bag an international award.

While the title eventually eluded Sanchez and went to Phillips, the fact that she reached Top 2 and ended up runner-up was enough reason for the collective jubilation of her fans.

Sanchez’s amazing journey to musical stardom via AI began when she auditioned for Season 11 of the show on July 8, 2011 in her hometown of San Diego, California.

Her group performance with DeAndre and Candice Glover of an updated version of Buddy Holly’s It Doesn’t Matter Anymore received a standing ovation from the three judges, after which her group advanced to the next round.

During the semi-finals, Sanchez got the only standing ovation of the evening from the judges after singing Jennifer Hudson’s Love You I Do from the film, Dreamgirls.

There was no stopping for Sanchez since then, that at the end of the Top 4 round, she emerged as the last surviving female contestant in the competition.

In the Top 3 round performance, she sang My All by Mariah Carey, I’ll Be There by the Jackson 5 and I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith.

In the finale, she performed three songs, including Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing.

On May 23, during a live telecast from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California, the results showed Sanchez emerging as runner-up to Phillips after 132 million votes were cast by the viewers.

Before joining AI, Sanchez, who started singing at 12, competed in the first season of America’s Got Talent at 11.

She also appeared in the YouTube edition of We Are The World, along with 56 other YouTube artists, including AI Season 10 finalist Thia Megia.

She has signed a record deal with Interscope Records and is working on her debut album that is due for release in October.

American Idol Live! Tour 2012 is produced by Ovation Productions in association with etc, 2nd Avenue and Jack TV and with the support of The Philippine STAR, Manila Bulletin, BusinessWorld, Inquirer.net, Philstar.com, RJ 100.3 FM, Monster Radio RX 93.1, Mellow 94.7. 97.9 Home Radio and OptimaSignsolutions.

(Tickets are priced at P10,000, P9,500, P7,500, P5,500, P3,500, P2,000 and P800 and available at Ticketnet outlets at all SM Department Stores. Tickets may also be purchased only through www.ticketnet.com.ph. For details, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)