US groups support Fil-Am singing sensation Jessica Sanchez

MANILA/LOS ANGELES – More groups of Filipinos in the United States are rooting for Filipino-Mexican-American singing sensation Jessica Sanchez in the Americal Idol 2012.
The latest to join are the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC), the Filipino-American community in Washington, D.C. and the PLM Alumni Association in North America. The groups gave their full support to Sanchez and urged Filipinos and Fil-Ams to vote for her.
The U.S. capital region and beyond openly expressed their sincere support to the new Fil-Am global pride from San Diego, California to win the American Idol 2012, Ben Cal said in a report. “Jessica has been awesome in every performance, earning her consistent standing ovation from the judges and the audience. Her voice is amazing and undoubtedly of effortless perfection. She is indeed living her dream,” an official statement of MHC said.
“MHC, a Metro Washington-based service-oriented organization with an extensive network, urges the community to show the Filipino power of unity,” said the statement signed by its three executive directors — Grace Valera-Jaramillo, Jesse A. Gatchalian and Arnedo S. Valera. 
The three MHC officials have been voting using all family cellular phones and online facebook at an average of 20 per minute, Ms. Jaramillo said. 
In fact, she said “MHC has continuously implored all ‘kababayans’ and friends to vote and support (Jessica) the 16-year old teenager of Filipino-American-Mexican parentage.” 
In last week’s American Idol edition beamed on television worldwide, Jessica earned another standing ovation of the judges for her outstanding rendition of “Everybody Has a Dream” by Billy Joel. 
The three judges are Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, and Randy Jackson. 
Jessica’s performance last week enabled her to bounce back after a not-so-impressive performance a week earlier when she veered away from her powerful ballad songs in previous renditions. 
Showing her versatility, Jessica had sung splendidly Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” that prompted the judges to rise from their seats to give her a standing ovation and captivated millions of fans in YouTube and other social media. 
This as another finalist, Erika Van Pelt, was eliminated from the competition. 
Aside from Jessica, the other remaining finalists are Phillip Phillips, Hollie Cavanagh, Joshua Ledet, Skylar Laine, Elise Testone, DeAndre Brackensick, Heejun Han and Colton Dixon. 
Jessica Sanchez was born on August 4, 1995 in San Diego, California. Her father is a Mexican-American while her mother is a Filipina from Bataan. 
At 11 years old, Jessica showed her singing prowess when she qualified for America’s Got Talent television show. 
When she became one of the finalists in the highly acclaimed TV show “American Idol,” Jesssica Sanchez’s name became a byword. 
Will Jessica be the first Filipino to win the glamorous 2012 American Idol? Only time will tell. 
At least five Filipinos, two of them from Hawaii, have joined the finals of the American Idol in various editions.