Jessica does the unexpected

She may not have won the title but it is very obvious that America has high hopes for Jessica Sanchez and is not sparing anything to turn her into a big star. The American Idol (AI) runner-up has been to Glee, Dancing With The Stars, the White House and other high-profile places and events. Out here she has sold out the Araneta Coliseum in a solo show and can be seen everywhere hawking a telco, Smart, clothing apparel, Bench and other products. Most of all, it looks like a lot of big names in the music industry got together to give this lucky girl a great debut album.

Those who remember Jessica from last year’s AI were probably expecting her to do Whitney Houston or Jazmine Sullivan cast-offs in her first CD. Well, she does not. Given that she is only 17 years old, she was probably also expected to do bubblegum pop. She also does not. She does not. What Jessica does is to sing pop, dance, R&B, some beautiful ballads in her own style and she sounds incredible. Honestly speaking, this is one of the best albums of this type that I have come across in quite sometime. Let alone the fact that I was not expecting something like this from Jessica.

Me, You & the Music is one killer track after another. I am sure there are a lot of aspiring divas and even some big names who are right now feeling so jealous that Jessica was given these songs on her first time out. She does justice to all of them. Her vocal range is amazing and the sophistication of her approach to the songs is unbelievable for one so young. It is a hard job picking out the best cut. Better to listen to the entire album and decide for yourself. I am very sure that you, too, will be surprised.

Most commercial of the lot is Tonight, the dance inviting first single release featuring R&B star Neo. Then you will be floored with her singing in Don’t Come Around. Ballad loving Pinoys will adore the enchanting Crazy Glue, and the slow dancing No One Compares featuring Latin idol Prince Royce. Note about the latter. There is a Spanglish version of the song in the album. That means that Jessica’s label is taking her Mexican roots seriously and wants her to also do well in the Latin market. Watch out J.Lo, the idol you found has just become competition.

Then there are: Right To Fall, In Your Hands, Plastic Roses, Drive By, You’ve Got The Love, Gentlemen, Fairytale and Lightning. All excellent, mind you. I am not Jessica but I cannot help but dream of Grammys, AMA, Billboard, etc., etc. and other music awards waiting for the CD.

Heartwarming discovery found in Jessica’s album. Now, the US is obviously looking at Jessica as Mexican/Texan while we think of her as a Pinay from Bataan. So I really felt good finding this in the credits. One of the best songs, Lightning, was composed, arranged and produced by Mark Feist.

Although he was born in Australia, Mark has Filipino roots. He lived here for several years before relocating to Los Angeles 20 years ago. In fact, he started his music career in the Philippines. One of his most notable productions was the album Drawn by Regine Velasquez. He would later use one of the arrangements that he created for the Songbird in the No. 1 selling tune, Emotion by Destiny’s Child.

Feist, who is related to Pilita Corrales, has also worked as songwriter, arranger or producer with Celine Dion, John Legend, Jennifer Holiday, the Spice Girls, Shanice Wilson, Outkast, Aaron Carter, Stacey Orrico, Jennifer “J.Lo” Lopez, Kimberley Locke and others. He co-wrote, arranged and produced Come Together Now, the all-star charity single released for the benefit of the victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Like Jessica, Feist is technically not a Filipino anymore. And I am sure he was asked to do the job because he is good and not because he is, in a way, Filipino. Still, it felt good finding the familiar name in Jessica’s album. Both of them are proofs that given the chance Pinoys can make it big anywhere.

So now I dream that one of these days I will see Jessica’s name and her music in these lists. The Top 10 songs in Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 Chart this week are the following: Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. + Pharrell Williams; Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton; Get Lucky by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams; Mirrors by Justin Timberlake; Cruise by the Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly; Radioactive by Imagine Dragons; Just Give Me A Reason by Pink featuring Nate Ruess; Come & Get It by Selena Gomez; The Way by Ariana Grande featuring Mac Miller; and I Love It by Icona Pop featuring Charli XCX.

The Top 10 titles in Billboard’s Top 200 Albums list are: Like Clockwork by the Queens of the Stone Age; Random Access Memories by Daft Punk; Feel by Sleeping With Sirens; Based On A True Story by Blake Shelton; True Believers by Darius Rucker; Super Collider by Megadeth; Night Visions by Imagine Dragons; Here’s To The Good Times by the Florida Georgia Line; The 20/20 Experience by Justin Timberlake; Grinning Streak by the Barenaked Ladies.