Melanie Amaro

Melanie Ann Amaro (born June 26, 1992) is a U.S Virgin Islander 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.
Early life

Amaro was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,[1] and raised on St. Thomas, [[U.S> Virgin Islands]] since age 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 named 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 graduated from Plantation High School in 2010. In March 2012, her high school chorus teacher, Gary Rivenbark, whom Amaro credits with shaping her voice, died of lymphoma at age 48.[5]
Music career
2011: The X Factor

In June of 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.[7]

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.[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
Amaro will be releasing her debut album on March 12, 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», along side 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] Melanie recently reported that R&B artist Ciara will collaborate on the album.[20] On 19 October 2012 Amaro premiered the music video for Don’t Fail Me Now on her official VEVO account. She performed her new single Long Distance live on the The X Factor on December 6, 2012.[21] The song was released on December 3, 2012.