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 SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - Syesha Mercado is one of those determined "American Idol" contestants who realized her gift early, jumped on the path to stardom and didn't stop trudging until she reached television's biggest stage.
The striking 21-year-old singer, dancer and actress grew up performing in the Sarasota area before moving to Miami for college. She's been singing since she was a toddler in a musical family that included three sisters and mother Zelda, a former Motown backup singer.
As a child, Syesha — it's pronounced "sigh-EE-sha" — sang in church and grew accustomed to performing in public — she once sang the "National Anthem" at a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game. Her turns in musicals such as "Pippin" and "Seussical: The Musical" at a Sarasota arts high school drew raves. She's acted in commercials, sang in a band, won a car in a statewide singing contest and even appeared briefly on a reality TV show.
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