Posts Tagged ‘syesha mercado’

Idols Prep for Tour

June 23rd, 2008

Now that the stress of competing on American Idol is over, all of the top 10 finalists are looking forward to hitting the road and connecting with fans!

“Competition aside, no judges, just the fans who bought tickets because they want to hear the music,” Brooke White tells OK!. “We’re ready to connect with them and do what we love.”

The American Idols Live! Tour presented by Pop Tarts kicks off July 1 in Glendale, Ariz., wrapping up Sept. 13 in Tulsa, Okla.

On stage fans can expect a mix of their favorite Idol performances with new song choices.

“There are some songs from the show but we have our own groove going on,” Kristy Lee Cook tells OK! “So it’s like we get to do what we really wanted to do on the show and we get to pick what we want for this concert.”

Don’t worry — there will be some old favorites from the show itself.

“I’m definitely doing ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions,’” Michael Johns says. “For 10,000 people to come out to that drum beat – I couldn’t resist it.”

Backstage and on the tour buses, all of the Idols are expecting a good time. Syesha Mercado has her schedule planned. “Songwriting, goofing off. Playing guitar, goofing off. Getting some shut eye, goofing off some more,” she tells OK!.

The guys are on one bus and the girls are on another bus, so don’t expect any funny business among the stars. “Oh no,” Brooke says. “We don’t really have that kind of group anyway which I think is helpful. It won’t be like that.”

But Brooke says she knows who will provide the entertainment.

“Michael Johns is pretty much the clown of the bunch,” she says. “David Cook is kind of his trusty sidekick. But everyone kind of has their little role. I’m probably kind of the nurturer, mother type.”

For the entire group, the tour is the beginning of a bright future and a launching pad for bigger things.

“It was such a great experience, the whole American Idol competition,” David Archuleta says. “But it’s nice to be able to work on yourself now and your own career and see where it goes from here.”

By Jon Warech

OK! Interview: Syesha Mercado

June 23rd, 2008

Syesha Mercado made a spash on American Idol, finishing in third place, and now she’s continuing to make waves in the pages of OK!. Modeling some of the season’s hottest beach styles, the 21-year-old Florida native opens up to OK! about her bikini fashion, her Idol days, and why California is "awkward."

Are you a fan of bikinis?
I did one photo shoot where I was doing a few bikini shots and it was fun. And it was actually somebody I knew, so I was a little bit more comfortable. But this, to me, is just a lot of fun.

Are there any particular styles of swimsuit you dislike?
I love all kinds of bathing suits, like the one-piece, the two-piece, the itsy-bitsy ones. Well, if it’s too itsy-bitsy, then no. It just depends on what you are doing it for. If it’s like a personal photo, or whatever for yourself then whatever.

How to you stay in bikini shape?
I’m the type of who likes fitness, and I’ve always danced my entire life. So just being fit is kind of easy to do. But I really love chocolate and junk food. So I have to stay away from all those types of things because it puts on the pounds really easily.

Have you cut chocolate and junk food out completely, or do you limit them?
I’ve tried not to just eat them. But then what you do to yourself is you make your body crave it more. So then when you do eat it, you tend to eat too much of it. So I try to let my body have what it wants, but in proportion.

How has American Idol affected your workout and diet?
Lately, I haven’t even been working out. And I haven’t even been eating that good, because with Idol, we’re eating whatever they give us. I love eating organic food, and I’ve not been eating organic food lately. But now that the show’s over, I’m getting back to those healthy habits, like eating organic food and just eating enough and not overdoing it.

How would you describe you style?
My style really changes. It just depends on how I feel. Whatever look I want for the day. Like sometimes I’m incognito, so I’m wearing a hat and I’m in my chill mode with some jeans and some flip-flops. And then other times I want to look more glamorous, so I’ll put on some heels and wear a dress that shows my legs. It just depends on how I feel.

The Idol tour starts soon. Have you enjoyed reuniting with the other Idol contestants?
Well, it hasn’t been that much fun yet, because we’re not all together. We kind of have block schedules, where we go in and rehearse and then come out. It’s like three at a time, so we’re not with everybody. But when we did have our meeting, it was really cool. Michael Johns was cracking his jokes with David Cook. They’re like a little team cracking their jokes, so it was hilarious.

Who out of the finalists did you bond with?
Ramiele [Malubay]. I was really cool with her. But I wasn’t really close to anybody during Top 24, because I had just got off of vocal rest. So a lot of people didn’t even know what type of person I was because I was so quiet all the time. So I guess the closest person to me at that point was Ramiele, because we had roomed together during Hollywood week, and we were roommates even then.

How do you feel about the way the judges critiqued your performances?
Well, you know, their comments can get really confusing if you let them get to you. So I always try to just take it in and use the good parts of it all, like the constructive criticism.

You just moved to California. How are you finding it here?
It’s awkward. It’s a bit difficult to find a place with a lot of space in California! I’m used to having a one-bedroom apartment for $600 with a lot of square feet. And there’s this one apartment that I checked out which was 676 for $1,5000. I was like, "What?!" I’m not used to that - $600 to $1,5000? What is this?! But you have to adapt with your environment, so I’m adapting. I’m not complaining, you’ve got tot do what you’ve got to do. I’m sure I’ll find a lovely home that’s at least 1,000 square feet.

You’re also engaged. How’s that going?
It’s good. We had a date planned. But now that all this crazy stuff is happening! I love that it’s happening, but it kind of altered everything. So we will reconvene on that. But we’re good. How much more do I have to say? I’m happy! All is good. Everything is gravy!

For more on Syesha, check out her gallery and pick up the latest issue of OK!, on newsstands now!

Syesha Mercado

June 18th, 2008

Syesha: Broadway Bound!

June 3rd, 2008

Third place American Idol finalist Syesha Mercado is definitely doing Broadway. Just not right away.

"It’s always been a dream for me to do Broadway since I was a little girl," she revealed when she stopped by the office last week.

What show does she want to star in? "A lot of people say that Aida would be a good one,” Syesha shared. But her dream role is playing Ti Moune in the tragic Caribbean love story, Once on this Island. 

“I did it in middle and high school. I put myself in her shoes and felt what she was feeling. I’m all ready to play it.”

And I’m all ready for my front row tix to the revival! Syesha loves the stage, but she doesn’t want to just be remembered as a Broadway baby, as the judges on Idol often said she was. 

"I thought it was kind of a bad thing that they did that, it put a limit on me," Syesha said. She plans to go into the studio after the Idol tour and record her first album. "I did American Idol because I want to focus on music, and that’s what I’m going to do."

 

Kimberley Locke’s Advice To Syesha

May 16th, 2008

Five seasons ago, Kimberley Locke found herself in exactly the same position as Syesha Mercado is in now: voted into third place of American Idol, leaving two guys to fight it out for the title.

Since then she has gone on to have a string of hit singles, a TV career and — fulfilling one of Syesha’s own goals — opened a restraunt.

So it’s lucky for Idol’s latest reject that, here, Kimberley offers her, via OK!, a crash course on how to avoid becoming one of the scores of contestants who finish well, then disappear without trace.

"As long as Syesha does her work and gets out there and puts her and puts her nose to the grindstone, she’ll have a career," said Kimberley, originally from Hartsville, Tn..

"I think you just have to not expect it to be handed to you — I think a lot of people expect that.

"I worked so hard after Idol to stay alive and to stay visible and on the scene.

"You have to stay humble and you can’t become a diva all of a sudden.

"I did a lot of charity work and a lot of stuff for free just to get my name and my face out there."

Kimberley, who finished just behind Clay Aiken and the winner,  Ruben Studdard, says that unless the company behind Idol signs you, they wash their hands of you once the season’s over.

"They didn’t pick me up, so basically I was out there on my own," said Kimberley after her concert in New York sponsored by Nature Made Liquid Softgels yesterday.

In her first year after the show, Kimberley, who has now released two albums, one of which went to No. 16 in the Billboard 200, didn’t even have a manager and had to do all the dirty work herself.

"All the contacts that I met on American Idol, I saved their business cards and after the show was over, I called them all.

"And just made contact and said ‘hello’ and reintroduced myself and I got a lot of work from that. That’s key: remember those people that you come across."

"There are pitfalls," she warns. "Teaming up with the wrong people or signing the wrong record deal.

"Getting with the wrong people and letting them waste her time — that could be a major pitfall because there’s a window of opportunity," she said.

"I’m sure Syesha has a lawyer, so right now it is really key for her to become friends with her lawyer: befriend him so he can help her make the right decisions."

The final lesson, Kimberley adds, is that timing is all-important when it comes to releasing an her first record.

"She needs to put album out before Idol season eight starts so that she doesn’t get covered up in the new Idol mania."

 

Syesha, we hope you’re taking notes! 

Syesha: The Movie!

May 15th, 2008

Syesha Mercado’s microphone has barely had time to cool down after her farewell performance, but she’s already planning to make the movie of her life!

 

There isn’t much that the singer and workaholic doesn’t want to do (record an album, star on Broadway, and open an organic restaurant to name a few).

 

But she’s seems particularly excited about starring in her own biopic — her version of Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It?, or Johnny Cash’s Walk The Line.

Today Syesha told OK! that finishing third on Idol has ended a very hard chapter in her life that started when she was a little girl, and that now she’s ready to share her story with the world.

When she was growing up, Syesha’s father, Jose, battled drug and alcohol addiction which he is only just coming to terms with, and there have been reports that both her parents have served time in jail. And by the sounds of it, there is a lot more still to tell.

At her try-out for American Idol, the 21-year-old, from Sarasota, Fl., told the cameras that Jose had recently graduated rehab and that good things were happening in her life, "one after another after another."

Today, after being voted into third place in American Idol, she told us that the hard times are well and truly behind her.

"I think every family has a struggle," she said. "And the reason that I even brought up my struggle at my first audition is that my past doesn’t determine who I am and I don’t feel shameful about tell an encouraging, uplifting story to people.

"Everybody is going to find out eventually my story — and some people are going to get the story wrong. And it’s already has been gotten wrong a lot.

"People are like, ‘oh, you’re homeless,’ and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’

"Ask me what my story is!

"One day I’ll be able to maybe star in my movie or write a book about it, but I know that that chapter is over with."

 

Syesha also said that while she felt like a "little sister and a big sister to both David’s" she had struggled to compete with them for attention, at least in public.

 

"People would be like, ‘Oh my God! David Cook I love you so much!,’ and they’d be like, ‘Syesha, Syesha! Could you tap David on the shoulder and get him for me?’. It was that kind of relationship!"

 

But despite the adulation, said that the first time she felt sure that she would not be in the final was on Tuesday night, because she felt that nobody could survive as much harsh criticism from the judges at such a late stage as she had recieved that evening.

 

Syesha told reporters that she coped with being in the Bottom Three or Bottom Two for five weeks by staying determined and by not dwelling on the past.

 

"Every week is new," she said. "I never packed my bags. They told us to pack our bags, and I was like, ‘I’m not packing my bags — I’m not ready to go home yet!’

 

"I think if you want something, it’s going to happen to you."

 

Looking forward to her career, Syesha said that she sees herself as like a "black Christina Aguilera" and that she would love to star on Broadway in a musical like the Color Purple.

 

The former student added that, right now, she is focussed on her career and has no immediate plans to marry her fiance.

 

But she better not wait too long, though — she’ll need an emotional wedding scene for the movie!

Syesha’s Second Shot at Song!

May 13th, 2008

Every week, hardcore Idol fans scour the Internet trying to find out what the contestants will be singing ahead of time.

 

But here’s a first: this week you can actually watch a video of Syesha Mercado performing her song before the show comes on air!

It turns out that the song that Randy Jackson has chosen for Syesha to perform tonight just happens to be one that she has already performed on a national TV singing contest.

This week, one of each contestant’s songs is chosen by producers, one by judge and one by the contestant themselves, and Randy has told Syesha that she will be singing Alicia Keys’s Grammy-winning ballad, If I Ain’t Got You.

But in just a little bit of history repeating, Syesha sang the same tune on the doomed ABC talent-show The One: The Making Of A Star.

The 20 year old from Sarasota, Fl., was a contestant on the 2006 reality show that was canceled after just four episodes due to disastrous ratings.

But before the ax fell, Syesha gave a sultry rendition of the Keys Billboard hit sitting on top of a grand piano.

 

This could be seen as quite a competitive advantage for the last woman standing, who is widely regarded as the long-shot for the Idol title.

One of her two fellow finalists, David Cook, looked less than thrilled when he received the news live on a local TV show that he would be singing the diva ballad First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.

Meanwhile, Syesha will be singing a song which is not only in the middle of what the judges would call "her comfort zone" but one that she has already performed on live TV!

 

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Idols Play Ball!

May 12th, 2008
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Simon Says…

May 7th, 2008

Jason Castro did the other contestants a favor last night by, well, sucking. Simon Cowell told David Archuleta he could have whistled his song and come off sounding better than that. And Syesha Mercado did herself a favor by crying.

Simon hated the dreadlocked Texan’s I Shot The Sheriff so much he seemed genuinely mad about it, and when the judge warned him to "stand back" for what was coming, Jason looked like he was standing in the principal’s office.

"That was utterly atrocious," he spat. "Sorry — that is a song you do not touch.

"The arrangement was atrocious the performing and the singing was as bad as I ever heard. Honestly this was a first round audition massacre. I’ll give you some advice, don’t do Bob Marley."

He thought David Cook’s Hungry Like a Wolf was "a little bit copycat," but good enough to get him through to next week.


The Englishman wasn’t as enthusiastic about Syesha’s Proud Mary as the other judges. "I’m sorry to put a slight damper on things. For me I thought it was just a bad shrieky version. It was a bad impersonation of Tina Turner."


And when she protested, "Simon I’m just trying to have fun," he shot back, "Good. I didn’t."


But when she burst into tears after her stab at A Change Is Gonna Come, even Simon softened a little and threw a few kind words her way.


After Jason turned in a disastrous Tambourine Man (at least, the bits he could remember), Simon’s only had one piece of advice. "I’d pack your suitcase."

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