Meet singing sensation Melanie Amaro; winner of XFactor and 2014 entertainment for CIFW 2014... Amaro was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and raised on Tortola, British Virgin Islands since age three. 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. Amaro would only see her parents during summer vacations and Christmas breaks. She also has two brothers named Mark and Mike, and a younger sister named Maya. Her mother Debra recalls that when her daughter was about six months old, she would get up at around two oclock in the morning and would start singing in her crib. Furthermore, from an early age, Amaro would sing around her house using a hairbrush as a microphone. 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. Amaro never entered any singing competitions as a child, but performed at weddings, churches, and other events. Melanie attended the Althea Scatliffe Primary School and later went on to Elmore Stout high school, formally known as BVI high school. Melanie moved to Florida at age 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. In June 2011, Amaro was persuaded by her mother 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 Bank United Center in Coral Gables, Florida. After becoming one of the Top 32 finalists, she performed Michael Jacksons Will You Be There in the judges house, in front of her mentor Cowell. Amaro was initially not chosen to be part of the Top 16 and was eliminated from the girls category. 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 Cowells 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. 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. 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. 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. In addition to the contract, Amaro also appeared in a Pepsi commercial alongside Sir Elton John, which aired during Super Bowl XLVI on NBC.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 01:08:16 +0000