A singer, dancer, and actress, Syesha Mercado is best known as the third place finalist on the seventh season of Fox's #American Idol competition. Born in Connecticut in 1987, Mercado actually grew up in Florida where she sang in her church choir. The daughter of a former Motown backup singer, Mercado began singing around age three and eventually attended both a performing arts junior high and high school. After graduating high school in 2005, she moved to Miami to pursue her performance career and enrolled at a local University. Prior to her time on #American Idol, she found work as an actress in commercials, and even appeared on the failed ABC television reality vocal competition #The One in 2006. Eventually citing such influences as Whitney Houston, Etta James, and Alicia Keys, Mercado performed Aretha Franklin's Think for her first audition for #American Idol. Despite her popularity on the show, she actually came close to getting voted off several times before finally making it into the Top Three. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi