Syesha Mercado
Proud Mary
Syesha dons a Tina Turner dress, minus the fringe, for a song that even she admits has been covered "over a hundred times before." The vocal's all right, but the stage moves aren't; she does sort of a half-hearted Tina impersonation, down to the hair-flipping move — although I suppose the lame impression only hurts her with people who've actually seen Tina Turner's act. Still, she falls back on the classic "I was having fun with it" defense in her interview, so I suspect she's not totally happy with the performance either.
— by James Poniewozik
| Mercado's second song: A Change Is Gonna Come |