Idol Chatter & Voice Views

With hopes of becoming American Idol’s first female winner since Season 6, Jessica Sanchez returned home to the San Diego area on Saturday.

She started the day in Chula Vista with a short parade to Eastlake High School where she brought her parents and brother onto the stage, then performed four songs for the thousands who had gathered.

Her set inlcuded the Otis Redding hit “Try a Little Tenderness”, the Jazmine Sullivan’s “Stuttering”, Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and — go ahead and wince, Jimmy Iovine — “Proud Mary.”

“It was amazing, 10 times better (than on TV),” Jenevi Sturdivant, 18, told U-T, San Diego. “My heart was like slowing down, which only happens when I hear great singers like Whitney Houston and (Sanchez).”

It wasn’t Jessica’s only performance of the day. She also sang aboard the USS Midway before being whisked back to L.A.

More coverage: NBC San Diego (photos and video) and UT-San Diego (photo galleries).

Jessica sings “Stuttering”

Jessica sings “Try a Little Tenderness”

Jessica sings “I Will Always Love You”

Jessica sings “Proud Mary”