More than 2,000 fans gathered on the shores of Sarasota Bay to watch the former Florida International University student belt out tunes, including the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic Proud Mary, which she sang on this week's episode.
During the performance, a fax came in from Idol judge Randy Jackson informing Mercado that she would be singing the Alicia Keys hit If I Ain't Got You on Tuesday.
Mercado, 21, auditioned for Idol in Miami at the American Airlines Arena in August, wowing producers with Aretha Franklin's Think.
Making it this far on the popular television show doesn't come as a surprise to those who know her.
''She's a very dynamic, industrious girl,'' said Phillip Church, director of FIU's theater department.
''She has this radiating energy,'' added Lesley-Ann Timlick, the department's co-chairman. ``She has this ability to connect truthfully to the other person. We don't see that happen a lot.''
Yet it hasn't been easy. In the 12 weeks of competition so far, she's finished five times in the bottom three. Idol bloggers predict that Wednesday's results show may be her last, and David Archuleta and David Cook will square off on the May 20 finale.
WOWED FANS
But on Friday morning, Mercado wowed fans that gathered to salute her in Bradenton. She arrived at City Hall in a black stretch limousine, accompanied by Manatee County sheriff's deputies. After stopping for fans to snap photos, Mercado walked along the riverfront where more than 1,000 fans were chanting ''Syesha! Syesha! Syesha!'' Later in the day, she received a proclamation from Manatee County proclaiming it ''Syesha Mercado Day'' and a key to the city of Bradenton. She performed at several other locations, including singing the National Anthem at a Tampa Bay Rays game.
She also visited her old elementary school in Bradenton and high school in Sarasota.
''I remember sitting in this theater and there was a speaker and thinking, I'm going to go to Hollywood and do singing and movies and stuff. Now I'm singing,'' Mercado said at Booker High. ``Dreams really do come true.''
FIU's Church says Mercado's earnestness comes through in her performances.
''She brings an incredible degree of honesty and truth to her work,'' Church said. 'Idol isn't about that. It's into production and selling and getting a song over and the judges kept saying, `We're not seeing you.' What they were saying is, 'Let your hair down and get wild.' And as an actor, Syesha brought that to her work [here.] There was a real consistency to her truth and honesty and in a theater program that's a No. 1 priority.''
Mercado hasn't yet graduated from FIU, but she is in regular contact with Church, he says.
''We were just on the phone. She said she cannot believe the pressure. They do not stop. The minute the show is over, they are choosing and rehearsing the next song,'' he said. ``She is a workaholic, but it really is beginning to be exhausting, like an Olympics -- a singing Olympics. It's about endurance.
FIRST IMPRESSION
Vaughn Johnson was Mercado's classmate at FIU a few years ago and says they have remained close. 'Even before Idol, I remember talking to my friends, saying, `This girl can sing!' We were both theater majors and ended up getting partnered up doing scenes. She's very genuine and sincere, has a very, very, very strong work ethic.''
Beyond her vocal ability, Church says Mercado's greatest gift is her humility. ``That's a rare thing in the music industry, but she has it -- and pray God she doesn't lose it.''
January Holmes and Grace Gagliano are staff writers at The Bradenton Herald.
