UPDATE: I just got an email from somebody who is in regular contact with Syesha Mercado, and according to this source she told him that she is NOT scheduled to perform on Idol.
Billboard Magazine interviewed a slew of Idols the day they taped performances for Fox Reality’s American Idol Extra. Each mini-interview gives a summary of where the Idols are in their careers at the moment. Also, each Idol gives advice to the new crop of Idols.:
- Blake Lewis – VIDEO – Blake is signed to Tommy Boy records and is working on his second album, which he describes as pop/electro/hip-hop and very danceable.
- Syesha Mercado – VIDEO – Syesha is working on her album with “amazing Grammy award-winning producers and songwriters.” Some folks she’s working with include the “Listen” writers, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven and one of Babyface’s producers. Plus, she’s reading some scripts. Note: According to Vote for the Worst, Syesha is set to perform on the Top 5 Results show.
- Kristy Lee Cook – VIDEO – Kristy Lee is working on some music and has some gigs coming up this summer. She bought a house and is working with her horse rescue foundation.
- Taylor Hicks – VIDEO – Taylor just finished his album The Distance. He thinks it’s his best work as an artist to date. Currently, he’s playing Teen Angel in the national touring company of Grease.
- Brooke White – VIDEO – Brooke is working on her new album High Hopes and Hearbreak due to be released June 2. Her single “Hold Up My Heart” hit the iTunes Top 10 after its release.
- Michael Johns – VIDEO – Michael is releasing a single and album, but the release dates have been pushed up since this interview. The album, Hold Back My Heart will drop June 23rd. The single, “Heart on My Sleeve” April 14. More HERE.
- Carly Smithson –VIDEO – Carly was just putting the finishing touches on her record. “Industry felt differently about a direction for me, ” says Carly, “I felt I needed to go away and finish songs I had already written to show them, ‘No, this is who Carly really is.'”
- Jason Castro –VIDEO – According to Jason, he’s been signed. “I found a home at Atlantic Records, ” he says. The plan is to release an album out by summer. There’s more about Jason’s upcoming album HERE.