Music News

By Becky Bain
Idolator

Jessica Sanchez (©AP)

Following her time on 'American Idol,' runner-up Jessica Sanchez could boast a run of amazing live performances and even a forthcoming multi-episode arc on 'Glee,' but what she didn't have was what every aspiring singer really wants: an album deal. Well, the 16-year-old finally has it all, as she has inked a deal with Interscope Records, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Though it took longer than usual for the deal to take place, Sanchez's album is on the fast track -- she's already in the studio, with an expected release date of October.

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Details on the LP are still under wraps, though THR says the album will carry an "urban flavor" and won't be saddled with the type of power ballads and diva-ready numbers Jessica performed during her run on Idol.

It looks like Interscope is shaping the teen to be more R&B than pure pop, perhaps a way to mirror the post-Idol career of Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks. And that's just what Sanchez wants. "I want to do pop, but, like, just a sprinkle of it, not a whole bucket," she recently told MTV.

Sanchez also has an interest in hip-hop and rap, evidenced by her dream collaborator being Eminem. "He has so much conviction and emotion in the way he raps; every word that he raps, you feel it," she said of the MC. "And I think our talents would mesh. So, hopefully, it could happen, and I would just die if he'd collaborate with me!"

Related articles from Idolator.com:
Jess on 'Glee'
Jess Goes Full Diva
Jess Sings the National Anthem