Syesha_Mercado

Syesha Mercado

Syesha Raquel Mercado (born January 2, 1987) is an American singer, model, and actress. She described herself in an interview as "a black Christina Aguilera or Alicia Keys. Mercado was the third-place finalist on the seventh season of the television series American Idol. She is the second to be the only female in the top 3 and get voted off to allow two male contestants to compete in a finale, thus joining Kimberley Locke in doing so.

Biography

Mercado was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on January 2, 1987 Her mother Zelda, a former Motown backup singer, is African-American and her father, José, is of Cuban descent. She grew up in Sarasota, Florida, attending Daughtrey Elementary School in Manatee County. Dreaming to become a gospel singer one day, she signed a contract at age nine with the Take Stock in Children initiative, a scholarship program for "low-income families who show potential for college but are unlikely to be able to afford a higher education."

She graduated from Booker High School in 2005, where she was in the Theater VPA (Visual and Performing Arts) department.

At the 2005 Florida Theatre Conference and the 2005 South Eastern Theater Conference Syesha won "Best Supporting Actress" for her role as the Sour Kangaroo in Seussical the Musical. Mercado also appeared as a contestant on the failed ABC talent show, The One: Making a Music Star in summer 2006. She currently attends Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

American Idol

Overview

She auditioned for American Idol Season 7 in Miami, Florida singing "Think" by Aretha Franklin where she made it to Hollywood with all three judges saying 'yes'. When she arrived in Hollywood she had lost her voice and insisted on going on vocal rest. She was seen communicating through paper and pen to the camera throughout the week. She sang "Chain of Fools" and was accepted into the top 24. She was the only female in the top 3 and was voted off on May 14th allowing fellow contestants David Archuleta and David Cook a chance to compete in the finale and joining Kimberley Locke as the female contestants to get voted off in the top 3 to allow two male contestants to compete in the finale.

Despite good reviews from the judges, Mercado had been in the bottom two or three five times without being voted off. Some commentators, including American Idol judge Simon Cowell, believed her style was more suited for Broadway than pop music.

According to her AmericanIdol.com profile, Mercado's musical influences are Whitney Houston, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Zap Mama, Lauryn Hill, and Aretha Franklin.

Performances and results (during voting weeks)

Week #	Theme	Song choice	Original artist	Order #	Result
Audition	N/A	Think	Aretha Franklin	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood	N/A	Everything I Do (I Do It For You)	Bryan Adams	N/A	Advanced
Top 50	N/A	Chain of Fools	Aretha Franklin	N/A	Advanced
Top 24 (12 Women)	1960s	"Tobacco Road"	The Nashville Teens	11	Safe
Top 20 (10 Women)	1970s	"Me and Mr. Jones"	Billy Paul	2	Safe
Top 16 (8 Women)	1980s	"Saving All My Love for You"	Whitney Houston	8	Safe
Top 12	Lennon/McCartney	"Got to Get You into My Life"	The Beatles	1	Bottom 3¹
Top 11	The Beatles	"Yesterday"	The Beatles	9	Safe
Top 10	Year They Were Born	"If I Were Your Woman"	Stephanie Mills	3	Bottom 2²
Top 9	Dolly Parton	"I Will Always Love You"	Dolly Parton	8	Safe
Top 8	Inspirational Music	"I Believe"	Fantasia	2	Bottom 3³
Top 7	Mariah Carey	"Vanishing"	Mariah Carey	3	Bottom 3¹
Top 6	Andrew Lloyd Webber	"One Rock & Roll Too Many"	Starlight Express	1	Bottom 2
Top 5	Neil Diamond	"Hello Again" "Thank the Lord for the Night Time"	Neil Diamond	5 10	Safe⁴
Top 4	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame	"Proud Mary" "A Change Is Gonna Come"	Ike & Tina Turner Sam Cooke	2 6	Safe⁴
Top 3	Judge's Choice (Randy Jackson) Contestant's Choice Producer's Choice	"If I Ain't Got You" "Fever" "Hit Me Up"	Alicia Keys Peggy Lee Gia Farrell	2 5 8	Eliminated

Mercado was saved first from elimination.
When Ryan Seacrest announced the results for this particular night, Mercado was among the Bottom 3 but declared safe second, as the remaining contestant was eliminated.
When revealing the results, Seacrest simultaneously declared Mercado and Carly Smithson safe.
There was no mention of a Bottom 2 this week.