After a gruelling three-round show, Jessica Sanchez, Joshua Ledet and Phillip Phillips all put in stellar performances on last night's American Idol. It was their final chance to prove that they are worthy of taking home the title but Jessica Sanchez' rendition of Mariah Carey's 'My All' may well have been enough to push her over the finishing line.
Steven Tyler said to her, following the performance "You'll be the last one standing here, I believe," adding "I could tell in the middle of it ... it was hard," she said, "but you did it so beautifully." He was even pleased with her take on one of his band's songs. Sanchez tackled 'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing,' made famous by Tyler himself. It would have been a risk in anyone else's hands, but Tyler seemed impressed with her efforts, saying "you just took a great song and made it greater." Sanchez certainly has the thumbs up from the judges, but will she manage to convince the viewers to vote for her and make her the first female winner since Jordin Sparks triumphed in 2007?
Both Joshua and Phillip provide a strong threat, though the judges have been swayed by Joshua to a greater extent than Phillip over the last few weeks. Judges' comments, at this stage, are usually confined to the positive, though Phillip's performance of Matchbox Twenty's 'Disease' drew less-than-impressed commentary from Randy Jackson, who said "It was such a subdued performance from you."