American Idol will be crowning its first female winner in five seasons next week, according to judge Steven Tyler.

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Tyler predicted finalist Jessica Sanchez will win American Idol's eleventh-season title during last night's Top 3 performance show on Fox.

"Jessica, when you sing, you make people hang on your every note. The way you sing, I just hope you get used of encores. And in another kind of crazy way, you will be the last one standing here I believe. So that was just so over-the-top girl. I can't tell ya," Tyler told Sanchez after she performed a rendition of Mariah Carey's "My All" during Wednesday night's show.

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest then asked Tyler to clarify what he meant by his comment.

"Did you just predict the winner, in your opinion?" Seacrest asked.

"Don't I always?" Tyler replied with a big smile.

"Did you just make a call here live on television?" Seacrest questioned for confirmation.

"Don't I always?" Tyler assured him.

Despite Tyler's declaration, finalists Phillip Phillips and Joshua Ledet also received very positive feedback from Idol's judges during the show.

Wednesday night's American Idol performance show featured the Top 3 each performing three songs -- one of the judges' choosing, one of their own choosing and one selected by Idol mentor Jimmy Iovine.

In addition to "My All," Sanchez also performed Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" and "I'll Be There" by The Jackson 5. Sanchez opted to sing Aerosmith as a tribute to Tyler, while Iovine picked "I'll Be There" for her.

The judges had Phillips sing Madcon's "Beggin'," while he chose to perform Matchbox 20's "Disease." Iovine selected Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonight" for Phillips to close out the show.

Lopez, Jackson and Tyler asked Ledet to perform "I'd Rather Go Blind" by Eta James. Ledet then took to the stage and sang his choice "Imagine" by John Lennon, which was followed by Iovine's pick of "No More Drama" by Mary J. Blige.
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Tonight's results show will determine the Top 2 finalists who will compete in American Idol's eleventh-season finale next week.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.