MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday that he has invited Jessica Sanchez, the Season 20 grand champion of “America’s Got Talent,” to sing at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders’ Summit in the Philippines the next year.
Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Marcos stated during Sanchez’s courtesy visit in Malacañang that Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, a music enthusiast, is a fan and eager to see the Filipina singer perform in Cebu in May.
Mrs. Marcos said, “We were in Cambodia with the Prime Minister of Singapore. My husband was nervous about the ASEAN and the Prime Minister said, ‘You guys have no problem. You are so musical, you know you have Jessica Sanchez.’ And my husband was, ‘Oh, she’s singing [in ASEAN 2026]”
She said, “And he (Wong) was like, ‘What? What? Can I see her?’ Even in Singapore, they know you,”
“You made us all very, very proud. The problem is with the ASEAN, they expect now a really high level of performers and of musicality. We got the best,” said the president.
Pres. @bongbongmarcos has invited AGT Grand Winner @JessicaESanchez to perform during the Philippines’ hosting of the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in May 2026.
— Kat Domingo (@_katrinadomingo) December 30, 2025
First Lady Liza Marcos shares that Singaporean PM @LawrenceWongST is a fan and raised the idea during a meeting in Cambodia. pic.twitter.com/pXCLsZ7eSJ
Sanchez smiled and thanked the First Lady and the President, saying, “I got you, I got you.”
The “AGT” grand winner told reporters that she is “very excited” to perform in front of world leaders next year after her meeting with the chief executive.
She said, “I’m very excited for that. I think I need some time to really plan out what I’m gonna be singing because I’ll be representing the Filipinos. So I wanna take my time figuring out my song choices.”
She said, “I’ll be releasing my album the first quarter of this upcoming year and I also plan on doing some Tagalog songs and also collaborating with Filipino artists.”
She added, “I’m very excited for you to hear the new music.”
Sanchez, who just gave birth to her first child, is in the Philippines to perform at the Newport World Resorts in Pasay City during the countdown to the new year.
The singer, whose roots are in Bataan, became well-known in 2012 after placing second on “American Idol.”
After making a comeback on “America’s Got Talent” this year and winning the competition while pregnant, she encouraged many Filipinos.
After spending time with her family in Manila over New Year’s Countdown, Sanchez will return to the United States.
She intends to release her independently produced album “by the first quarter of next year.”
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