What a week for season seven American Idol contestants.
The latest: Syesha Mercado is going to be a Dreamgirl.
The Apollo Theater Foundation and producer John Breglio announced a national tour of a new “Dreamgirls” musical today. The show will premiere at the Apollo in November, in conjunction with the theater’s 75th anniversary.
Syesha will play the role of Deena Jones, the part Beyonce had in the 2006 film version that made a star of former Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson.
Syesha was one of the most consistent and versatile performers during season seven of Idol, when she finished third.
But we’ve heard relatively little from her since last year’s Idol tour ended. For instance, she’s the only one of the top six finishers who hasn’t either released an album or announced a timetable for one.
There’s no update on that front, her publicist said Thursday. But the “Dreamgirls” press release indicates she has started work on a first record, “collaborating with a host of prominent writers and producers, including Grammy-winner Diane Warren, Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, Steve Diamond, Chris Rojas, and many more.”
And, like I said at the end of season seven, the 22-year-old definitely has the looks, the stage presence and the talent to succeed as an actress as well as a singer.
Just judge for yourself. Here’s Syesha singing “Fever” last year on American Idol.
And ignore the commentary from Paula and Simon. At this point in the competition, they were clearly rooting for a David Cook-David Archuleta finale when, in truth, Syesha deserved David A’s spot.
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