Syesha Raquel Mercado (born January 2, 1987) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and model. Mercado was the third place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. Prior to Idol, Mercado was on The One: Making a Music Star and she won Florida Super Singer. Her musical influences are Whitney Houston, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Zap Mama, Lauryn Hill, and Aretha Franklin.

On June 25, 2009, it was officially confirmed that Mercado landed the lead role of Deena Jones in the United States national tour of Dreamgirls. The tour began at the Apollo Theater on November 7, 2009.

Biography

Early life

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 Puerto Rican descent. Mercado grew up in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida. She attended Booker High School for Visual and Performings Arts Theatre Program and Graduated with a Certificiate as a Performance Major in Sarasota, Florida where she appeared in various Productions. At the 2005 Florida Theatre Conference and the 2005 South Eastern Theater Conference, Mercado 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.

Education

Mercado attended Daughtrey Elementary School and Manatee School for the Arts both in Manatee County. Dreaming to become a gospel singer one day, Mercado 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." Mercado graduated from Booker High School in 2005, where she was in the Theater VPA (Visual and Performing Arts) department. She currently attends Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

Personal life

Mercado is engaged to actor-producer and Florida International University classmate Hess Wesley, and is best friends with former idol contestant Ramiele Malubay.

The One: Making a Music Star

Performances/results

Week #	Song choice	Original artist	Result
Top 11	"Chain of Fools"	Aretha Franklin	Advanced
Top 10	"If I Ain't Got You"	Alicia Keys	Advanced

• ^: The show was canceled after Top 10 week.

Florida Super Singer

Performances/results

Week #	Song choice	Original artist	Result
Top 5	"Think"	Aretha Franklin	Advanced
Top 2	"The Trouble with Love Is"	Kelly Clarkson	Winner

• ^: Based on 3 Judges, text message and internet votes. 2,000,000 in total

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 14 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 three or two five times without being voted off, tying up with season one fellow 3rd place finalist, Nikki McKibbin, for the most weeks spent in the bottom three or two. Some commentators, including American Idol judge Simon Cowell, believed her style was more suited for Broadway than pop music.

Performances/results

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 80

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 3

Top 11

The Beatles

"Yesterday"

The Beatles

9

Safe

Top 10

Year They Were Born

"If I Were Your Woman"

Stephanie Mills

3

Bottom 2

Top 9

Dolly Parton

"I Will Always Love You"

Dolly Parton

8

Safe

Top 8

Inspirational Music

"I Believe"

Fantasia

2

Bottom 3

Top 7

Mariah Carey

"Vanishing"

Mariah Carey

3

Bottom 3

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

Safe

Top 4

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

"Proud Mary" "A Change Is Gonna Come"

Ike & Tina Turner Sam Cooke

2 6

Safe

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 Little Willie John 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 when Chikezie was eliminated.
• ^: When revealing the results, Seacrest simultaneously declared Mercado and Carly Smithson safe, as Michael Johns was eliminated.
• ^: When Ryan Seacrest announced the results for this particular night, Mercado was among the Bottom 2 but declared safe when Carly Smithson was eliminated.

Post-Idol career

After her elimination, Mercado appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet and WSVN's Deco Drive.

Also, the week following the grand finale, Syesha sold a total of 18,000 legal downloads from iTunes.

She completed the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008 which ran from July 1, 2008 to September 13, 2008. The songs she performed on the tour were "Umbrella" by Rihanna, "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys, and "Listen" by Beyoncé.

In November 2008, she performed "One Rock and Roll Too Many" in the 6abc IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade.

She was the guest host of the WSVN 7 yacht at the 37th annual Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat parade on December 13, 2008.

She sang the National Anthem for the Miami Dolphins vs the San Francisco 49ers on Fox on December 14, 2008.

On December 20, 2008 she assisted the Habitat for Humanity in building homes for struggling families in Miramar, Florida.

In February 2009, she participated in the opening of the American Idol Experience attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Walt Disney World Resort.

On February 19, 2009, Mercado performed in her first live concert after the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008. It was her own concert where all the proceeds went to benefit the Amer-I-Can program, a gang-prevention program started by NFL great, Jim Brown. She performed 8 songs in front of a sold out audience of about 4000 fans ranging from ages 2 to 83.

She sang the National Anthem for the opening day baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on April 6, 2009.

She most recently worked on an album in Los Angeles. She has stated that it is to be a Pop/R&B album. In addition to working on the album, in her free time she is taking acting lessons.

Mercado released her first self-titled EP Syesha in August 2011, with the first single "Rock'd Up" being released in June. She also acted in her first film Dreams in 2011.

Theater

It was officially confirmed on June 25, 2009 that Mercado landed the lead role of Deena Jones in the upcoming United States national tour of Dreamgirls. On November 4, 2009, Mercado appeared on The Wendy Williams Show to promote the tour which began on November 7, 2009 and ended on December 29, 2010.

Mercado then starred as Ti Moune in the revival of Once on This Island at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. Opening night was May 30, 2012, on a run through June 24.

Since December 11, 2012, Mercado has been performing in the Chicago transfer production of Broadway musical Book of Mormon. She was a late addition to the cast, replacing Stephanie Umoh during rehearsals in the role of Nabulungi. Bookings are being taken until October 2013, after which the production will embark on a national tour of the U.S.

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