“I know who I am” -San Diego Union-Tribune

Jessica Sanchez is all grown up.

It was only 10, when she took part in the first season of “America's Got Talent” in 2006 when she became second place in “American Idol” in 2012, that the native of San Diego in San Diego is now 29, married and pregnant with her first child. It is even more important after she had a big step away from the spotlight after the publication of her commercially failed debut album “Me, You & the Music”, she no longer sees a singer than her crucial role.

Jessica Sanchez talks about a new album “Glee”, “Glee”

“Back then the music felt like a job. Now I am in a place where music feels like something that I am blessed to do it,” said Sanchez, whose return on Tuesday evening in “America's Got Talent” comes 20 years after her debut in the ABC TV show. “It's not like that: 'Me have To do that. 'It is:' i receive To do that. “

This knowledge was not quick or easy.

It was also not signed for a large label recording contract when it taught at home four hours a day. At the age of only 16, Sanchez had not yet developed a strong identity musically or personally. She soon learned exactly how difficult it can be to meet the expectations and requirements of a music industry that quickly confused young singers who do not click commercially in the image-driven, pop-month flair-of-month world of pop music.

Debut of the White House

The fact that Sanchez sang for President Obama in the White House, in a PBS National Memorial Day concert -television station and at the Democratic National Convention in 2012 and 2016 was impressive. So their guest appearances were in the HIT TV series “Glee” and they were represented by the same booking agency of the creative artist agency, the lucrative concert tours by Hannah Montana and helped the young Kanye West to achieve fame.

Until 2014, barely a year after the publication of her debut album, Sanchez had separated from her Interscope Records label. Your relationship with Caa didn't take either. And while Sanchez then recorded and published a number of solo singles and vocal duets with other artists, only one of their songs, in 2016 together, had the national sales cards.

As other tax -talented but unprotected young singers tried before her, the more Sanchez's foot and an artistic niche built up for herself, the more it was frustrated and demoralized.

“As a young, I was a little in the business and fell in love with music from music for a while,” she said and spoke from Houston, where she now lives with her four -year -old husband Rickie Gallardo. “I had the feeling that music became a job where there were requirements that I had to meet as a woman in the industry – and as a Filipino woman in the industry – and that there were standards that I had to meet.

“I got into uncertainty and had to step back and find out who I was. I didn't want to sell out and put on a mask. So I dipped in family and believe. I feel that this is okay … I don't have to win the approval of everyone.”

Debut “America's Got Talent”

The broad approval was exactly the goal of Sanchez when she took part in “America's Got Talent” in 2006. At that time she was only 10 years old and had great, great ambitions.

“I had carried out a lot of (singing) competitions in San Diego before I got 'AGT',” she said, referring to “America's Got Talent's” acronym. “There were so many great talents on the show and it only lit a fire in me. I said:” Oh, wow. I really want to win that! “When I really got competitive, I thought in a good way.

Sanchez giggled.

“I was an excessive little girl and was ready to show her. I was also a little nervous because it was the biggest stage on which I had sung. I have the feeling that it opened my dreams of a greater perspective.”

These dreams grew even greater in 2012 when they almost made it to the top in the 11th season of “American Idol”. She delighted the judges and the audience with their singing, their versatility and their destiny, but ultimately Phillip Phillips took second place.

“It is still unreal”

Now, 13 years later, Sanchez feels grounded in a way that no teenager can – especially after entering the national ramp light on “idol”. Her music now reflects her more increased focus on her Christian faith.

“When I drive somewhere or clean at home, I mainly hear worship music,” said Sanchez. “So, that's on my playlist around the clock, and I sing along and praise the Lord in my kitchen and in the car.”

Her return to “America's Got Talent” two decades after her debut on the show is a whole circle moment for the tiny vocal dynamo, whose performance on the show demonstrates her impressive growth as a singer on Tuesday. (The Union Tribune was allowed to drive the recordings of her upcoming appearance, but was asked not to announce which song she did or if she won the judges' voices to go into the next round.)

“I'm very different now,” said Sanchez. “I have grown, I have matured and know who I am as an artist and young woman. With the years of experience I have now, it is easier for me to find out where I go in a song and have matured my voice and sound.

To be at “American Idol” in 2012 was also a new experience for Sanchez. In an episode she was shot in a helicopter in an empty Petco Park. In another case, she was greeted by cheering crowds on board the USS on board halfway and in Eastlake High, where she had attended middle school.

“To be honest, it is Despite it Unreal, “said Sanchez.” I look back at the film material of all of these things and was so young that I didn't digest it completely. Now it doesn't have the feeling that my identity is shaken. I know who I am and music is just part of my trip. “

“America's Got Talent” with Jessica Sanchez showed

8 p.m. Tuesday, July 15th, NBC Channel 7/39

Originally published: July 13, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. PDT