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Jessica is the underdog among the Top 3

Just like the song from "Dreamgirls" made famous by Jennifer Holliday on Broadway and Jennifer Hudson in the movie version, Jessica Sanchez is not leaving "American Idol" this week. With her show-stopping rendition of "And I Am Telling You I;m Not Going," and a competent version of Etta James's "Steal Away," the Fil-Mexican-American singer secured a spot in the Top 3 along with Joshua Ledet and Phillip Phillips.

British-born American singer Hollie Cavanagh got the lowest number of votes and finally got eliminated after landing in the bottom 3 several times. Her fourth place finish is remarkable if we consider that she auditioned in Season 10 and got eliminated early.

Jessica elicited a standing ovation from the three judges who accorded her the same honor when she sang Whitney Houston's "And I Will Always Love You" in March. As Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler raved about her number, it was apparent Jessica was still trying to recover from her emotionally exhausting performance. There were tears welling in her eyes. Where does a 16-year-old get the angst required for a song that deals with a singer who is being let go?

Before she did her number, there was a short feature on her "Idol" experience. She admitted that she was traumatized when she got the lowest number of votes in April and needed to be saved to stay with the show. With the "Dreamgirls" song, she was in effect reaching out to the audience and trying to convince everyone that "you're gonna love me."

Well, it looks like she succeeded because the viewers have given her enough votes to be in the Top 3. For now, she has already equaled the achievement of Fil-Am girl Jasmine Trias who was also in the Top 3 and ended up in third place in Season 3.

Last has the advantage

There were secondary factors that benefited Jessica on the show. She was the last finalist to sing and the last singer usually has high recall with the audience. Then when snippets of the contestants' numbers were played, it was Jessica's final notes that played at the end.

Another factor was the negative comments that Hollie got from the judges for her second number. Somehow, that convinced the voters to support someone else.

Only Phillip doesn't seem to get affected by lukewarm comments from the judges and in-house mentor Jimmy Iovine. His devoted fans will vote for him no matter what.

Judges love Joshua

Of the three, I think it is Joshua and Jessica who should be in the finale. If that happens, Jessica will be the underdog because the judges like Joshua. I can't count anymore how many times they've given him a standing ovation.

However, Iovine seems to favor Jessica. As he was coaching her for yesterday's performance, he said, "If the audience sees and the judges see what I saw today, it could be game over."

But as I said in an earlier post, it doesn't matter anymore who wins Season 11. Jessica has proven to record producers that she has what it takes to make a hit. Even if she lands in second or third place, her future in the music industry is assured. Of course her fans, this one included, would like her to win for the bragging rights.

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.