“American Idol” finalist Jessica Sanchez isn’t fooling around with her career, landing a recurring role on the hit show “Glee” and an album contract within six months of placing runner-up in the singing competition.
It didn’t take long for the girl with the strongest voice on Season 11′s “American Idol” to get her shot at the top. She might be only 17 years old but she’s striking while the iron is hot, so to speak. Coming off the summer tour with the other Top 10 “Idol” finalists, she not only scored an album deal with Interscope (the same label as Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips), but she now has also landed a recurring role on the hit Fox Television show “Glee.”
TVLine.com began reporting that Sanchez was in talks to join the fourth season of “Glee” back in June, but since she had the “American Idols LIVE Tour” to complete, she would have to (if talks were successful) join the cast in mid-season. And that seems to be what has occurred. TVLine.com confirmed the story earlier this week, noting that Fox Television had signed Sanchez to a multiple episode arc.
And although the storylines are being closely guarded for now, there is speculation afoot that Sanchez just might be the new love interest of Finn (Corey Monteith), who was recently dumped by his long-time girlfriend Rachel (Lea Michele).
Sanchez just signed a recording contract as well. She announced on August 29 that she had signed a record deal and would be working on an album. That same evening, she had sung “Fairytale,” a song off of her upcoming album.
But Jessica isn’t the first “Idol” to jump from the hit competition reality show to television. There have been several before her, including another runner-up, that landed a recurring gig on the small screen. In fact, two former “Idol” finalists are currently appearing on the same show, NBC’s breakout Broadway drama, “Smash.”
Katharine McPhee, who came in second to Taylor Hicks during Season 5 of “American Idol,” landed a starring role on “Smash” playing the ingenue, a country girl in the big city looking to become a star. Jennifer Hudson, who was sent home in seventh place during Season 3 and went on to win an Oscar for her role in the movie “Dreamgirls,” was signed to do multiple shows for the second season. She will portray a Tony Award-winning actress who will have a major impact on the lives of the two rivals in the show, Karen (McPhee) and Ivy (Megan Hilty).
Other finalists have also made it to television, albeit for smaller roles, like Season 5′s Ace Young and Season 6′s Brandon Rogers, who both appeared on an episode of Fox’s hit show “Bones” in 2008. Season 9′s runner-up, Crystal Bowersox, showed up on an episode of ABC’s “Body of Proof” last April during the series’ second season.
But the first “American Idol” finalist to have a recurring role on television might have been Season 1′s Tamyra Gray, who placed fourth (although Judge Simon Cowell felt she could have won) and went on to co-write the song “I Believe” that Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino sung as her coronation song and later recorded (and subsequently topped the Billboard Hot 100). She landed a multiple-episode deal on the hit Fox show “Boston Public,” her seven-show arc appearing in 2003.
“Glee,” now in its fourth season, airs on Fox Television on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (EST). “American Idol” begins its twelfth season in January.
(photo credit: Staff Sgt. Teddy Wade, Creative Commons)
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