TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

'Idol' Backers Call For Local Support

ADVERTISEMENT

By CHRISTINE HAWES, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: February 17, 2008

SARASOTA - LaToya London. Tamyra Gray. Chris Daughtry.

Any loyal "American Idol" viewer recognizes these names as contestants voted off the show too early for their talent, great singers who put on stellar performances but did not get the telephone votes they needed to advance to the next round.

That is not going to happen to Syesha Mercado, a graduate of Sarasota's Booker High who was named Wednesday to the top 24 "American Idol" finalists this season, if her family, friends and mentors have their say.

As the show enters its first week of using phone and text votes rather than judges' opinions to winnow the field, supporters of Mercado, 21, are already hard at work building networks and campaigns to bring out the vote.

Mercado's sister, Xtavia Bailey, is about to hit area Ford dealerships to see if they will display posters of Mercado. Bailey's employer, the nonprofit Amer-I-Can Program founded by football legend Jim Brown, has pledged to spread the word about Mercado throughout the eight states where it has offices.

Mercado's mother, Zelda Mercado, who lives in North Port, already is in touch with relatives in Ohio, Illinois, California, Connecticut and Puerto Rico.

Brother-in-law Edward Bailey, president of the Manatee County NAACP, is reaching out with e-mails to NAACP organizations nationwide.

Zeldo Mercado said she already is getting calls from various groups offering to help support her daughter.

"Anything and everything will be helpful; it really will be," Mercado said. "It's still all very new."

Mercado also said that her daughter's colleagues on "The One," an "American Idol" copycat that appeared on ABC for two weeks in 2006 before being canceled because of low ratings, have vowed to support Syesha.

Syesha Mercado, who now lives in Miami, attended schools in Manatee and Sarasota counties. Friends and relatives say those school districts are also going to get behind her.

Booker High School, where Mercado graduated in 2005, is starting to circulate word about her on its in-house television show and in morning announcements.

Bailey said she will ask the Manatee County school district to circulate a districtwide e-mail notifying employees of her sister's shot at joining the show's top 10 singers.

In addition, Mercado is also the subject of a Web site in support of her "Idol" bid at www.syeshasfaneshas.com.

The site is designed by Tyler Graves, 17, an "American Idol" fan from New York who also built Web sites in support of previous "Idol" contestants Melinda Doolittle and Kimberley Locke.

Graves was going to skip doing an "American Idol" Web site this year to focus on school, but a friend showed him a tape of Mercado performing on "The One" and he was sold.

"Everything about her just screams, 'American Idol,' and I don't think we've seen that in a while," Graves said. "I don't think she's really like anybody else."

The site includes links to Mercado's My- Space pages and is intended to further Mercado's chances of earning enough votes each week to advance.

"We want to let people know why Syesha should be the next American Idol," Graves said.

The Amer-I-Can organization, which has a presence in four Manatee County schools, may prove to be an especially effective source of support.

The organization is already informally behind the Mercado family, and it would be happy to consider a more formal role if approached by the family, said president Dean Renfrow.

"We're very proud that one of our employees has a sister that is doing so well," Renfrow said.

"In all eight states where Amer-I-Can is, we'll support Syesha with our thoughts."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT