Syesha Mercado Wows with A Change Is Gonna Come

There's been no doubt during these last several weeks of American Idol that Syesha Mercado has a hell of a voice. She can certainly belt out ballads and show tunes and pop songs with the best of them. But she has been inconsistent and more importantly perhaps, she has failed to truly own the stage in any of her performances. That finally changed last night.

Her first performance, Tina Turner's "Proud Mary," was technically fine but a poor choice. By taking on Turner's signature song and basically mimicking Turner's performance of it, she just invited comparisons of herself to a music legend--not a good move. She claimed she just tried to have fun with the song, and clearly she did, rocking out in a long-legged, hair-flipping bit that was worthy of any cheerleader routine. Unfortunately, that's never enough.

Her second performance, however, moved her to a new level. Looking and sounding strong and resolute in a glowing golden evening gown, she sent shivers down my spine with her rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come." Her voice was powerful yet her style was quietly determined in a way that set those moving lyrics on fire. Everything was right about Mercado's performance, not the least of which was the timing. At the very moment she was singing that "a change is gonna come," Barack Obama was moving undeniably closer to capturing the Democratic nomination for president.

You often hear the American Idol judges talk about the need for the contestants to connect with the audience. To do that, they need to be able to read the people and the moment and translate it to song. Mercado did exactly that last night. I hope Obama hears her performance and I'd love to see the Obama campaign adopt this inspiring song, which so perfectly captures their message and the moment at hand.