Jessica Sanchez appeared in a press conference Monday at the Sofitel Hotel to promote her latest single, “Lead Me Home”. Although the “American Idol” sensation is slated to fly to the US this Tuesday, December 10, she promised that she will be back before the end of the month to welcome 2014 with a New Year’s show at Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City.
Excited about her upcoming gig, Jessica said she will perform the “upbeat songs” in her debut album, “Me, You and the Music”, released last March by MCA Music. These include “Tonight”, her hit duet with Ne -Yo, “No One Compares” which features Latino-American singer-songwriter Prince Royce, and “Don’t Come Around”, which contains an interpolation of the 1985 rock single of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Don’t Come Around Here No More”.
Asked about her charity mission with the Starkey Hearing Foundation to assist Filipinos with hearing loss who have no resources to acquire hearing aids, Jessica said giving deaf people the gift of hearing at places like General Santos City, Lipa City and Batangas City had been such a wonderful experience for her. She said even when she was just starting out as a singer and trying to make a name for herself, she already made a vow to her mother that she would use her fame to be part of a charity to help the less fortunate.
“I would be happy to do anything that I can to give back to my people,” she said in reference to her efforts not only to help thehearing-impaired but also the victims of typhoon Yolanda with the proceeds of her recent online concert and sales of “Lead Me Home”.
The soaring ballad is one of the 39 tracks of the all-star compilation album, “Songs for the Philippines”, the sales of which will also go to the Philippine Red Cross as part of its efforts to helped rehabilitate the survivors of the devastating typhoon. Jessica was likewise equally thrilled to learn that her rendition of the Philippine National Anthem at the recent Pacquiao-Rios fight in Macau brought a lot of joy to her fellow Filipinos, including the typhoon survivors in Tacloban City who saw the fight live for free.
“It was crazy actually because Manny asked me to sing it on Twitter from out of nowhere. And I felt so honored. I probably had about two to three days to learn the song. It was hard but I didn’t want to disappoint. But I’m happy that everybody is okay with the way I sang it, and I’m glad I made you guys proud,” she exclaimed.
Given that “Lead Me Home” is also a part of the original cast recording of the music and dance spectacular “Heartbeat of Home”, the 18-year-old singer was also asked if she would love to perform in theater musicals since she had already guested in two episodes of the hit musical-comedy TV series, “Glee”.
“I would really love to. I don’t think acting is my passion but it is so much fun,” she quipped. When told that Manila has been known to stage a good number of theater musicals every year, Jessica’s face lit up as she expressed her desire to be a part of one soon.
“Yeah! Invite me!” she emphatically said. A few hours after the press conference, Jessica took the time to tweet her appreciation to her Filipino fans for making her feel welcome during her lengthy stay in the country.
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