Win or lose

SANCHEZ. Will she be the next American Idol? AP

WHEN Jessica Sanchez made it to the Top Three of “American Idol” last week, she matched the record set by Jasmine Trias some years ago as the best any Filipino had done in the high-stakes starmaking tilt that turns out potential stars.

Of course, it would be much better if she managed to get into the Final Two slated to slug it out for the competition’s crown on May 23.  (Well, we can dream, can’t we?  After all, dreams can amaze and delight us when they turn into triumphant reality!)

Granted, more than sheer talent is involved in the daunting process of turning an absolute unknown into the next American Idol. For quite a number of years now, the final battle has been between two male survivors—and the winner has often turned out to be a young, boy-next-door type, because the tilt’s defining and controlling voter demographic is teen and female.

Based on that premise therefore, it should be dark horse Phillip Phillips who should win the title, even if he doesn’t sing half as well as Joshua. But logic can sometimes be flouted and contradicted by actual events: Jessica’s feat of emerging as the lone female survivor at this penultimate stage of the competition is, in fact, “illogical,” since WASP teen and tweens would be expected to relate to and support the tilt’s blonde and female finalists.

Supporters

Does this mean that there’s hope for Jessica?  The answer would depend on how hard her “voting machine” works. Last week, a record 70 million votes were cast, so all of the surviving finalists’ supporters are obviously breaking their backs and necks to keep their favorites in contention!

Will Jessica end up in the final? Some weeks ago, one of the “AI” judges dared to predict that this season’s Final Two would be Joshua and Jessica! Was he just whistling in the wind, or is he a prescient visionary?

Should his prediction come true, it would throw the entire show’s supposed “white, teen, female” demographic completely out of whack, and it would be Open Season for the unimaginable to happen on “American Idol”—that sheer talent, not subjective consideration of sex, color, and type would finally hold sway and call the shots. Should that happen, “AI” will finally fulfill its promise and pledge as a celebration of sheer talent undistracted by other considerations.

But that’s still days away. Even if Jessica doesn’t make it to the final, win or lose, she’s already made her undeniable and indelible mark on the music world.

Weeks ago, we wrote that if she played her cards right, she would greatly benefit from the tilt even if she didn’t clinch the “AI” crown, just as another nonwinner, Jennifer Hudson, so prodigiously has. Were we psychic?

Subsequent developments have borne us out, as a top composer and recording industry executive declared a few weeks ago that he hoped for Jessica’s early elimination so that he could work with her earlier!  Or Tommy Mottola’s exuberant assertion that he would be thrilled to help chart Jessica’s career.

What is Jessica’s unique edge that makes them say those amazing things? At 16, she’s vocally and emotionally gifted. She’s the only one who seems to have the whole package—so whether she wins or loses the competition, she’s already won in many people’s eyes and minds!