MANILA, Philippines – Many deemed that Jessica Sanchez would bag the coveted “American Idol” crown, but could it be that she ruined her own chance with her choice of coronation song and potential first single?
“AI” mentor and Interscope Records founder/chairman Jimmy Iovine admitted to The Hollywood Reporter, “It did bomb, didn’t it? The song didn’t work well live.”
The 16-year-old Filipino-Mexican Jessica performed “Change Nothing” as one of her three songs during the final showdown night (May 22 in the US), to the apparent dismay of judges Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, and Randy Jackson. They collectively felt that the straight pop ballad didn’t bring out the soulful swag and urban vibe in Jessica.
Iovine said Jessica had “three or four different songs” to choose from, and that “we don’t force the kids to do anything.” The latter did intimate after her performance that “Change Nothing” was her choice.
Foreign scribes put in not-so-pleasant reviews on “Change Nothing.” Entertainment Weekly, for one, wrote that the song “just feels too old for a 16-year-old to be singing.”
“This disconnect between content and personal experience reveals Sanchez’s biggest weakness—although she has some serious pipes, she’s clearly not sure what she wants to say (or if she has anything to say) musically just yet, and the generic drum-machine beat doesn’t help make the song feel any more organic. “
USA Today, meanwhile, deemed that Jessica “made a grave tactical error at precisely the wrong time, choosing to sing a pop ballad—and a not particularly good one—as her potential first single.”
Jessica got “sucker-punched” with “Change Nothing,” MTV wrote, adding that “the song was too poppy and tame and completely stalled any momentum Jessica built up.”
The budding young diva, born in Chula Vista, California to a Filipino mother and Mexican-American father, acknowledged the judges’ reaction to the song in an interview after “American Idol” final show on May 23.
She was quoted by The Hollywood Reporter as saying, “I kind of agreed with them. We only had one day to pick a single. Now that I have time to put myself into my music, it’s going to be all me—100 percent me.”
The “100 percent me” that Jessica refers to is “like a Rihanna-Beyoncé kind of thing,” but pointed out that she doesn’t want to compare herself to anybody.
“I want to be somebody new, too,” she added.
Jessica has also expressed how happy she is over Phillip Phillips’ win, maintaining that he deserves the title. For her fans, though, she is not only an “American Idol” but a “World Idol,” as seen on the comments that poured in on Twitter after the result was revealed.
Some of the tweets read:
@Micolicious: “If Phillip Phillips is the season 11's AI then I guess Jessica Sanchez is the World Idol of all seasons! #WorldIdol @JSanchezAI11.”
@iLikeMariah: “Title or no title, @JSanchezAI11 our #worldIdol has raised the bar of #americanidol 's next season or shld I say raisd dbar of AmericanIdol!”
@Angeliquebruna: “Jessica is our winner, Jessica is our winner.She was the toughest among them all. :) 2 Thumbs up Jessica's our winner.#WorldIdol #idolfinale.”
@lyzafionaborjal: “I just can't wait to buy @JSanchezAI11's album! I'm gonna listen to all her AI songs so that I can put this feeling into sleep. #WorldIdol.”
@TheBarsss: “@JSanchezAI11 doesn't deserve to become American Idol. She deserves to become #WorldIdol. #JessicaSanchezWorldIdol.”
source: mb.com.ph