Syesha Mercado, “I Will Always Love You”: 19
I gave this a high score because it was good, but I’m not sure what America will think.  I like that she leaned more toward the Dolly version for the beginning (per my advice), but she was clearly going for the Whitney at the end as I feared.  And Simon’s right.  It paled in comparison.  And I wonder if America will agree with Randy that they can’t hear anyone else sing the song (even Dolly).  She should’ve resisted the temptation.
