Syesha Mercado life and biography

Syesha Raquel Mercado 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

She sang the National Anthem for the Miami Dolphins vs the San Francisco 49ers on Fox on December 14, 2008.
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 is currently working 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 will be releasing 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.

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