American Idol Syesha's Exit Interview: Even She Thought Happy Feet Song Was Weird

In her exit interview press conference after getting ejected from American Idol Wednesday, Sarasota native Syesha Mercado confirmed something this critic suspected from the moment she finished her performances Tuesday.

Producers' decision to have her sing a song from the animated film Happy Feet was awfully odd, indeed. (See it here)

"I was like, 'That's strange'...most of the song was backup singing," said Mercado, who faced reporters by telephone conference call Thursday. "It was weird, because most of the song, I wasn't supposed to sing."

After that performance, Mercado said she knew she was leaving Idol. "I got too many bad comments from the judges to keep me there. So I accepted what was, and I moved on. And I made peace with it."

Mercado insisted during the call that she and her family were fine with the turn of events, even as some reporters noted she seemed to embody the Idol ethic of flowering as a star during the competition and producers' seemed to sabotage her performance by forcing her to sing that awful song.

As she said during her Tampa Bay publicity tour, initial problems with her voice freaked her out a bit and kept her from getting comfortable on the show until later. But that became a lucky turn, allowing her to continually raise her game each week as other contestants burned out or crumbled under the strain.

What seems obvious: a big part of suceeding on Idol is dealing with the stress of the competition. "I separated that fine line, between overworking and doing so much to point you're unfocused, not enjoying yourself, and doing enough and trusting yourself and letting go and tasking it all in. So my goal every week was to feel satisfied after every show."

So what will her first album sound like? "I’m like a black Christina Aguilera/Alicia Keyes.  I definitely can see myself putting together a Christina Aguilera album, the one that she just recently did – and an Alicia Keyes album like The Diary of Alicia Keyes.  I’m definitely into a lot of the – I like pop, and I like R&B, and I like the old school/new school thing.  So I’m growing as an artist.  I’m evolving.  And I’m glad that I did do American Idol because people were able to see that transition that I went through, and I’m still learning more about myself everyday."

It's well known that Mercado's father struggled with addiction problems when she was a child, getting arrested multiple times: "Having my dad struggle through that, it really, really – it really made me sad a lot of my life.  It actually made me understand people more and be more….  I told myself that I’m not going to let this determine what my future is going to be.  I’m going to do something good.  And I’m going to help my dad and encourage him and be there for him.  And I’m going to make him proud, so that he wants to make me proud, and that’s exactly what he’s doing now."

How did the hard times define her? "The reason I even brought up my struggle in the beginning, at my first audition, is because my past doesn’t determine who I am.  And I don’t feel ashamed of telling encouraging uplifting stories to people because they’re going to – everybody’s going to find out eventually my story.  And some people are going to get the story wrong, and it already has been gotten wrong a lot.  People are like, “Oh, you’re homeless.”  I’m like, “What?  What are you talking about?”  Ask me what my story is."

Right now, her story is about rehearsing for the Idol tour and preparing for whatever opportunities may come next. Since past experience indicates Idols don't have much time to make their mark before fans move on to the next crop of contestants, she's got a serious challenge ahead. 
   

Comments

[Louise]

First i want to thank you for all the wonderful articles you post. Thanks again for let us spread the love we have for our's favorites one. Melinda Doolittle are really a talented singer with a big heart of Gold! Without website will be really difficult for any fans to share the great news about them. Thanks.
FREE SONG FROM AMERICAN IDOL'S MELINDA DOOLITTLE! GO TO www.melindadoolittle.com and get it NOW - FREE! New album released on February 3, 2009! Don't miss it!

[Louise]

First i want to thank you for all the wonderful articles you post. Thanks again for let us spread the love we have for our's favorites one. Melinda Doolittle are really a talented singer with a big heart of Gold! Without website will be really difficult for any fans to share the great news about them. Thanks.
FREE SONG FROM AMERICAN IDOL'S MELINDA DOOLITTLE! GO TO www.melindadoolittle.com and get it NOW - FREE! New album released on February 3, 2009! Don't miss it!

[Louise7]

Melinda Doolittle's Debut Album Coming Back to You Drops 2/3/2009 - Listen to her Single “It’s Your Love” at http://myspace.com/MelindaDoolittle

A release date has been set for her upcoming album. Coming Back To You will drop on February 3, and it promises to be an eclectic mix of blues, classic R&B and jazz.

The first single, “It’s Your Love” will be released to radio soon.
Keep updated about Melinda's career at http://www.melindasbackups.com

[Louise7]

Good news for you Melinda Doolittle fans! She’s set to release her debut album titled, Coming Back to You on Hi-Fi Recordings in January 09. Produced by Grammy-nominated producer Mike Mangini (Joss Stone, Run DMC, The Jonas Brothers), Coming Back to You was recorded with a team of live musicians in Nashville and New York City.

The first single, “It’s Your Love” will be released to radio in October.

Keep you update about Melinda career at www.melindasbackups.com

melindasbackups.com is a web site owned by Melinda Doolittle. Melinda’s Backups™ is a non-profit supportive association inspired by Melinda and authorized by her to operate this web site on behalf of her fans.

[Louise7]

This past week MelindaDoolittle finally finished the vocals on her CD! All of that happens quickly then we can expect to see her CD on shelves this Fall! Also, keep your eye out for her first official single that should be hitting airwaves in the coming weeks. Melinda is going to be throwing a lot of music at us in the coming months so get ready!
Come join us to support this amazing singer www.mdstreetteam.com and go to the forum to read Melinda what she have to share with us. "

[Louise7]

Hmmm same thing with Melinda Doolittle she was good from the beginning to the end and see what happen. Well Melinda she didn't need to win the tittle she will doing alot great appearance and she will released her first album in fall with a Holiday Cd. new website to support Melinda www.mdstreetteam.com So fans of her come join us

[Kelvin Childs]

I really don't understand why all three of the judges criticized Syesha's performance of that "Happy Feet" song on the ground that it didn't show her personality, knowing full well that she didn't select that song. I really think most of the criticism directed at her throughout the season was unfair.

For that matter, I don't understand why many of the judges criticize the choice of song or the song itself, and don't confine their comments to what's relevant: How well did the singer perform it? For example, Simon praised David Archuleta's performance of Dan Fogelberg's "Longer" and then went into a tirade over how sappy the song was -- again, knowing full well David didn't choose it.

[Eric Deggans]

Actually, Keys is biracial. Her mother is white and her father is black.

[former tampanian]

Ummm, isn't Alicia Keyes black? I think she'll do better than Fantasia.