--- description: On Thursday night, Jessica Sanchez was back on the Idol stage to commemorate the end of the series. title: Twitter Is Obsessed With Jessica Sanchez's 'American Idol' Performance image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27d12840d0c9b506/69888e40ab6d77c96e6a92a1/gettyimages-519693328.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Twitter Is Obsessed With Jessica Sanchez's _American Idol_ Finale Performance by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 8, 2016 8:31 AM CUT  Recording artist Jessica Sanchez performs onstage during FOX's 'American Idol' Finale For The Farewell Season at Dolby Theatre on April 7, 2016 Recording artist Jessica Sanchez performs onstage during FOX's 'American Idol' Finale For The Farewell Season at Dolby Theatre on April 7, 2016Kevork Djansezian—Getty Images by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 8, 2016 8:31 AM CUT Four years ago, the then-16-year-old vocalist Jessica Sanchez finished as a runner-up in the final round of the eleventh season of [_American Idol_](http://time.com/4286253/review-american-idol-finale-recap-season-15/ "undefined")_,_ losing (to the persisting chagrin of [many](https://twitter.com/Hailmeimjeff/status/718258919102095362 "undefined")) to Phillip Phillips. But on Thursday night, she was back on the _Idol_ stage to commemorate the end of the series, and to call it a comeback would be an understatement. [Trent Harmon](http://time.com/4286264/american-idol-finale-winner-trent-harmon-season-15/ "undefined") was voted the winner of the final season Thursday, but if you hadn’t seen the [episode](http://time.com/4284727/american-idol-finale-season-15-original-singles/ "undefined") and relied on Twitter for updates, you might believe that Sanchez had somehow been belatedly crowned. After her performance of “The Prayer,” Twitter erupted with unanimously fervent praise for the 20-year-old singer. > [](https://twitter.com/ThePerezHilton/status/718312034979319808) > [](https://twitter.com/shannonmagrane/status/718243875966599168) > [](https://twitter.com/MichaelSlezakTV/status/718243518498676737) > [](https://twitter.com/ACTUALLYDOMINIC/status/718243317218205696) > [](https://twitter.com/HenryGoldblatt/status/718243143402000386) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4286379/jessica-sanchez-american-idol-season-15-finale/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4286379/jessica-sanchez-american-idol-season-15-finale/"},"headline":"Twitter Is Obsessed With Jessica Sanchez's American Idol Finale Performance","datePublished":"2016-04-08T08:31:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:34:28.630Z","description":"The former runner-up returned to perform 'The Prayer' on the show's finale","url":"https://time.com/4286379/jessica-sanchez-american-idol-season-15-finale/","keywords":["Television","Music","American Idol"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27d12840d0c9b506/69888e40ab6d77c96e6a92a1/gettyimages-519693328.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27d12840d0c9b506/69888e40ab6d77c96e6a92a1/gettyimages-519693328.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-519693328","caption":"onstage during FOX's \"American Idol\" Finale For The Farewell Season at Dolby Theatre on April 7, 2016 in Hollywood, California. at Dolby Theatre on April 7, 2016 in Hollywood, California.","creditText":"Kevork Djansezian—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4286379/jessica-sanchez-american-idol-season-15-finale/","name":"Twitter Is Obsessed With Jessica Sanchez's American Idol Finale Performance"}}]}] ```