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Melanie Amaro

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Melanie Amaro
Amaro in Hollywood, California in June 2013
Amaro in Hollywood, California in June 2013
Background information
Birth nameMelanie Ann Amaro
Born (1992-06-26) June 26, 1992 (age 32)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
OriginTortola, British Virgin Islands
GenresPop, R&B, adult contemporary, soul, dance
OccupationSinger
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano
Years active2011–present
LabelsSyco, Epic
Websitewww.melanieamaroofficial.com

Melanie Ann Amaro (born June 26, 1992) is an American recording artist who won the first season of The X Factor USA in 2011, securing a $5 million recording contract with Syco Music and Epic Records. Amaro was also the youngest contestant to win the competition during the show's run (2011-2013).

Early life

Amaro was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,[1] and raised on Tortola, British Virgin Islands since the age of three.[2] Amaro was sent to the British Virgin Islands to live with her grandmother Catherine, after her parents Hipolito Amaro and Debra Sylvester Amaro felt they did not have the means to provide for her.[3] Amaro would only see her parents during summer vacations and Christmas breaks.[1] She also has two brothers, Mark and Mike, and a younger sister named Maya.[3] Her mother Debra recalls that when her daughter was about six months old, she would get up at around two o'clock in the morning and would start singing in her crib.[1][4] Furthermore, from an early age, Amaro would sing around her house using a hairbrush as a microphone.[3] Melanie realized she fell in love with singing and acting at around age eleven, and credits her mother for pushing her to follow her singing dreams.[1] Amaro never entered any singing competitions as a child, but performed at weddings, churches, and other events.[4] Melanie attended the Althea Scatliffe Primary School and later went on to Elmore Stout high school, formerly known as BVI high school. Melanie moved to Florida when she was 15, and graduated from Plantation High School in 2010. In March 2012, her high school chorus teacher, Gary Rivenbark, whom Amaro credits with the help of shaping her voice, died of lymphoma at age 48.[5]

Music career

2011: The X Factor

In June 2011, Amaro was persuaded by her mother[4] to audition for the first season of The X Factor USA. She auditioned in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and L.A. Reid, singing "Listen" by Beyoncé Knowles. She previously tried auditioning at her local Fox affiliate for a "fast pass", but was not well received by producers there and subsequently auditioned with the general public at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Florida.[1][3] After becoming one of the Top 32 finalists, she performed Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There" in the judges' house, in front of her mentor Cowell.[6] Amaro was initially not chosen to be part of the Top 16 and was eliminated from the girls' category.[7] However, after 2 weeks Cowell surprised her at her Florida home, inviting her back to the competition after deciding he had made "a huge mistake" in not including her.

Amaro progressed to the live shows in Cowell's girls' category, along with Rachel Crow, Drew, Tiah Tolliver and Simone Battle. The addition of Amaro took the total number of qualifiers for the first live show to 17.[7] On December 15, Amaro won a place in the final along with Chris Rene and Josh Krajcik. The following week, she was declared the winner. Amaro was also declared to be the show's youngest contestant to win at age 19.[8] Her prize was a $5 million recording contract with Syco Music and a Sony Music label, which is the largest guaranteed prize in television history.[9] Shortly after winning, Sony Music label Epic Records announced that they had officially signed Amaro, who will be working alongside L.A. Reid at the label.[10][11] In addition to the contract, Amaro also appeared in a Pepsi commercial alongside Sir Elton John, which aired during Super Bowl XLVI on NBC.[8]

Performances on The X Factor

Melanie Amaro performed the following songs on The X Factor:

Show Theme Song Original artist Order Result
Audition Free choice "Listen" Beyoncé N/A Through to bootcamp
Bootcamp 1 Group performance 1 "Run to You" Whitney Houston N/A Through to bootcamp 2
Bootcamp 2 Group performance 2 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" U2 N/A Through to bootcamp 3
Bootcamp 3 Solo performance Not aired N/A Through to judges' houses
Judges' houses Free choice "Will You Be There" Michael Jackson N/A Advanced via Wild Card 1
Live show 1 Free choice "I Have Nothing" Whitney Houston 17 Saved by Simon Cowell
Live show 2 Free choice "Desperado" Eagles 7 Safe (4th)
Live show 3 Songs from movies "Man in the Mirror" Michael Jackson 7 Safe (2nd)
Live show 4 Rock "Everybody Hurts" R.E.M. 5 Safe (2nd)
Live show 5 Giving thanks "The World's Greatest" R. Kelly 3 Safe (2nd)
Live show 6 Songs by Michael Jackson "Earth Song" Michael Jackson 7 Safe (1st)
Live show 7 Dance music hits "Someone Like You" Adele 1 Safe (1st)
Save me songs "When You Believe" Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston 6
Semi-final Pepsi challenge songs "Hero" Mariah Carey 3 Safe (1st)
"Get me to the final" songs "Feeling Good" Cy Grant 7
Final Celebrity duets Duet "I Believe I Can Fly" with R. Kelly R. Kelly 3 Winner (1st)
Winner's song "Listen" Beyoncé 6
Christmas songs "All I Want for Christmas Is You" Mariah Carey 1

^1 Amaro did not originally make it through to the live shows, but was later brought back as a wildcard.

2012–present: Truly, label conflict and broadway ventures

Amaro was scheduled to release her debut album in 2013.[12] It will feature music styles different from what people are used to her performing.[13] Amaro's Pepsi commercial aired during Super Bowl XLVI on NBC as part of her X Factor prize.[14] The commercial features Amaro singing a dance cover of "Respect", alongside Elton John, Flavor Flav, and Annie Ilonzeh.[15] The song was released as a music download on February 2, 2012,[16] although Amaro confirmed that the song does not serve as her debut single.[17] As of March 29, 2012, Melanie's cover of "Respect" has reached the #3 spot on the Billboard Dance/Club Chart.[18] On August 1, Amaro released her debut single "Don't Fail Me Now", written by Livvi Franc and produced by Rodney Jerkins.[19] Amaro's album was set for release on December 4, 2012.[20] On 19 October 2012 Amaro premiered the music video for "Don't Fail Me Now" on her official VEVO account. The song failed to chart and the album was pushed back to 2013. She performed a new single, "Long Distance", live on the The X Factor on December 6, 2012.[21] The song was released on December 3, 2012. Since then rumors began to circulate that Amaro had been dropped from Epic Records after it appeared that her name had been removed from the label's website, but a rep from the label confirmed that the website didn't always contain a full roster of artists and that Amaro was still part of Epic.[22] Truly was rescheduled for March 2013, but was never released. While season 2 winner Tate Stevens debut album was released in April 2013 under RCA Nashville, Amaro's label has stated that her album has no confirmed release date.[23]

In August 2013, Amaro performed in Indonesia for RCTI's 24th anniversary television special, X Factor Around the World along with Samantha Jade, Jahméne Douglas, The Collective, Novita Dewi and Fatin Shidqia.[24] Amaro performed her new single "Long Distance" and then "The World's Greatest" as a duet with Fatin Shidqia.[25]

On October 4, 2013, Amaro made her musical theater debut in the national tour of "You're Never Alone".[26]

On June 19, 2014 she premiered the lead single "Fuel My Fire" on Soundcloud from her upcoming EP of the same name. Amaro described the song as being about "her frustration with the lack of music released by her label." The song was released independently as a digital download on June 26, 2014, without Epic or Sony being credited.[27]

As of September 2014, Amaro's album is believed to have been scrapped and will not be released. Months later "Fuel My Fire" was taken off of iTunes for unknown reasons.

On May 6, 2015, Amaro released a new song Dust featuring American hip-hop recording artist, Fabolous. It is the second independent release of the artist ever since her departure from Syco & Epic Records. "Dust" was finally released to digital retail stores in September 2015, a solo version without Fabolous was also released.

On Feb 17, 2016, Amaro released a new song The One.

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Dance
"Don't Fail Me Now" 2012 8 Truly
"Long Distance" —
Fuel My Fire 2014 — Fuel My Fire
"Dust" 2015 — —
"The One" 2016 — —
Title Year Album
"Girl Code"
(Rocki Boulis featuring Melanie Amaro) 		2012 Girl Code
"Can't Wait"
(Konshens featuring Melanie Amaro) 		2015 —

Other charted songs

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
US
Dance 		US Adult R&B
2012 "Respect" 3 — Non-album song
"Love Me Now" — 27 Truly

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Work Result
2012 Teen Choice Awards 2012 Female Reality Star The X Factor Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Melanie Amaro (Contestant Wall Bio)". The X Factor (U.S.). Fox Broadcasting Company. 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  2. ^ "British Virgin Islands "Melanie Amaro" wins X Factor USA". Caribbean Entertainment Magazine. December 23, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d Jicha, Tom; Bryan, Susannah (December 22, 2011). "X Factor: Sunrise's Melanie Amaro wins $5 million deal". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c "UPDATE: "Singing baby" Melanie Amaro wins X Factor USA!". Virgin Islands News Online. December 23, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  5. ^ Lisa J. Huriash (March 23, 2011). "Gary Rivenbark, Plantation High School chorus teacher who taught "X Factor" winner, dead at 48". SunSentinel.com. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
  6. ^ Reiher, Andrea (October 16, 2011). "'X Factor': Melanie Amaro, Josh Krajcik wow on second Judges' Homes episode". Zap2it. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  7. ^ a b Gratereaux, Alexandra (October 19, 2011). "The X Factor: Melanie Amaro Becomes Top 17th Contestant Going to Live Shows". Fox News Channel. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Graham, Adam (December 22, 2011). "'X Factor' Crowns Melanie Amaro First US Winner - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  9. ^ Powers, Lindsay (February 7, 2011). "Simon Cowell's X Factor Announces Prize: $5 Million Sony Music Record Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  10. ^ Kennedy, Gerrick (January 3, 2012). "'X Factor' champ Melanie Amaro signs to Epic Records". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  11. ^ Elder, Sarah (January 4, 2012). "Sunrise's Melanie Amaro and winner of 'X Factor' signs with Epic Records". The Miami Herald. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  12. ^ "Truly, Melanie Amaro: R&B / Soul". Walmart.com. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  13. ^ Gallo, Phil (December 23, 2011). "'X Factor' Winner Melanie Amaro Has Producers Lining Up". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  14. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (January 30, 2012). "'X Factor' winner Melanie Amaro's Super Bowl ad prize has a twist". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  15. ^ Chazan, Sarah (February 1, 2012). "Melanie Amaro Pepsi Commercial: 'X Factor' Winner Takes Fans Behind the Scenes of Super Bowl Segment (VIDEO)". AOL. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
  16. ^ "iTunes - Music - Respect - Single by Melanie Amaro". Apple Inc. February 2, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  17. ^ Amaro, Melanie (February 4, 2012). "Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
  18. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/dance-club-play-songs
  19. ^ "Melanie Amaro: The X Factor Winner Debuts Uplifting First Single, "Don't Fail Me Now"" (Press release). Epic Records via MarketWatch. August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  20. ^ "News | X Factor Winner Melanie Amaro joins Ciara With Debut Release". Singersroom. September 13, 2012. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  21. ^ "Alum Melanie Amaro will be performing on The X Factor this Thursday!". The X Factor USA. December 3, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  22. ^ Kennedy, Gerrick D. (March 9, 2013). "'X Factor's' Melanie Amaro pledges album 'with or without' label". Los Angeles Times.
  23. ^ Schillaci, Sophie. "'X Factor': Melanie Amaro's Debut Still in Limbo as Tate Stevens, Emblem3 Release New Music". The Hollywood Reporter.
  24. ^ "RCTI 24 Tahun "X Factor Around The World" - YouTube".
  25. ^ "Fatin Shidqia Dipuji Melanie Amaro". Tempo (in Indonesian). August 24, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  26. ^ "Meet The Cast: Melanie Amaro". 2013. Zoe Stream Productions. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  27. ^ http://www.mjsbigblog.com/x-factor-winner-melanie-amaro-previews-new-song-audio.htm
Preceded by
N/A
 Winner of The X Factor
2011 		Succeeded by
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