Hey, don’t forget about American Idol third place finalist Syesha Mercado! Here she is singing “If I Ain’t Got You” on the May 29 Live with Regis and Kelly (video).

Syesha Mercado and Seal sing “Waiting for You” in this 2008 American Idol 7 season finale video clip.

After 56 million votes, Syesha Mercado was eliminated on the May 14 American Idol results show. We all knew it would come down to a battle of the Davids (David Aruleta, David Cook) — didn’t we?

Syesha Mercado “Hit Me Up” by Gia Farrell (from “Happy Feet”) in this May 13 American Idol video clip. “Hit Me Up” was the producer’s choice for Syesha Mercado.
Randy said it was just okay for him; Paula said she did it well, but didn’t think it was a great song choice; Simon said it was […]

Syesha Mercado sings “Fever” by Peggy Lee in this May 13 American Idol video clip. “Fever” was Syesha Mercado’s song choice.
Randy said it was a great performance; Paula said she looks lovely, thought it was an interesting song choice but didn’t show her who Syesha is as an artist; Simon said it was a lame […]

Syesha Mercado sings “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys in this May 13 American Idol video clip. “If I Ain’t Got You” was Randy Jackson’s judges’ choice pick.
Randy said she did an amazing job on it; Paula said she’s very proud she’s the last woman standing; Simon said she sang it very well, […]

This week’s American Idol elimination wasn’t much of a surprise — Jason Castro was eliminated on the May 7 American Idol results show.
Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro landed in the bottom two, but as Jason Castro said, he shot the tambourine man.

Syesha Mercado sings “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke in this May 6 American idol video clip.
Randy didn’t love it as much as the first one, didn’t like the arrangement; Paula gave her a standing ovation and said she’s magnificent; Simon agreed with Paula.