Syesha goes bye-bye on 'Idol'

David Archuleta and David Cook have been so linked in fans' minds as the logical front-runners that they're known simply as "The Two Davids." The Two Davids will be back next week for the seventh season shootout on Wednesday night. And someone named David will win.

Syesha Mercado, born in Bridgeport, Conn., is a feisty, smart, gifted singer who emerged from the back of this season's pack to become a genuine contender. But her dream of "Idol" conquest is not to be.

Mercado's exit may have been preordained - she was in the bottom two twice and three times in the bottom three - but that didn't mean she didn't fight to the end. As much if not more than any contestant this season, Mercado underwent a near-miraculous on-screen conversion: From something of a shy wallflower in the early rounds (when she meekly and politely sang songs like "Me and Mr. Jones") to a go-for-broke belt-it-out crooner in a slinky dress and come-hither manner. Eliza Doolittle couldn't have done better.

In fact, Tuesday night she seemed to be particularly on her game, at first anyway. Judge Randy Jackson selected "If I Ain't Got You," by Alicia Keys, which she nailed. Then came the Peggy Lee standard, "Fever," and Syesha seemed to falter, as she wove her way around a chair and through the sinuous byways of this (very old) chestnut. Finally, Gia Farrell's up-tempo "Hit Me Up." Nice song, OK performance, but the judges decided to dump a bucket of ice on it anyway.

That's no way to end this run, perhaps, but then most "Idol" dreams do usually end in ice - not fire.

- Verne Gay