She may have played second fiddler to the “David versus David” rivalry on American Idol’s seventh season, but second runner-up Syesha Mercado is confidently taking the spotlight now in a shiny new Dreamgirls, currently kicking off a national tour at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. … I met Jennifer Hudson when she was in New York for the Wizard of Oz concert, and I met Anika Noni Rose at New 42nd Street Studios, where we were rehearsing, in the elevator. …

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