She may have ended up losing the American Idol crown to Phillip Phillips… But as she sang earlier this month, Jessica Sanchez is “not going” anywhere.

The 16-year-old half-Mexican songstress took her vocal talents to our nation’s capital to perform at the 2012 PBS National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, DC on Sunday.

During her first live post-Idol appearances, Sanchez performed twice on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The pint-sized singer, dressed in a floor-length blue evening gown, kicked off the annual Memorial Day concert by performing the National Anthem.

Sanchez later returned to the stage, in a white lace knee-length dress and strappy white heels, to perform Yolanda Adams’ “The Prayer.”

PBS’ annual event honors the men and women who have served in the military. Sanchez’s father—to whom she dedicated Luther Vandross’ “Dance With My Father” earlier in her Idol run—has served several tours of duty in Iraq and Kuwait with the Navy, and her grandfather is a retired Navy veteran.