‘The X Factor’ USA notes: Melanie Amaro, Fifth Harmony, Marcus Canty
After spending so much time as of late talking about the season 2 “X Factor” USA contestants, why not give the gang from season 1 a little bit of love? First and foremost, let’s put the focus on a question that a number of people have been wanting an answer to for some time: what in the world happened to the show’s original champion in Melanie Amaro?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amaro’s debut album “Truly” has been delayed yet again, and at the time of this writing there is no firm date announced for the disc’s release at all. This is particularly sad news given that she won her season of the show a year and a half ago, and initial expectations were that she was going to help bring back the diva sound to pop music. Unfortunately, most of her attempts at launching singles have been unsuccessful, and the labels have failed to really find her a sound that fully works for her.
Honestly, we’re not sure that a debut from Melanie will ever see the light of day.
Marcus’ new EP – Speaking of albums, you can listen to Marcus Canty’s entire seven-song EP “This … Is Marcus Canty” over at Billboard, which shows the sort of growth that he has made as an artist since making it to fourth place on the first season. We give this guy some serious credit for working as hard as he has over the past several years, and he’s proven himself to be a scrapper. The songs are pretty good, though we do wish that the backing tracks were a little less electronic.
For those curious, no alum from season 1 has released a full-fledged album as of this writing, although Chris Rene has released a similar EP containing such songs as “Trouble” and “Young Homie.”
Fifth Harmony’s current standing – We just wanted to spend a second pointing out the latest Shorty Awards standings, and just how much of an “X Factor” presence are in these rankings. In the category of band, One Direction (#2), District3 (#4), Fifth Harmony (#5), Emblem3 (#9), JLS (#14), and Little Mix (#16) are all a part of the top 20.
Meanwhile, Carly Rose Sonenclar (#5), Reed Deming (#6), and CeCe Frey (#13) are all a part of the singer category.
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If you want to hear some new music from Emblem3 as well as Demi Lovato’s “Heart Attack” lyric video, you can do so over here.
Chris Rene
Scott
March 6, 2013 @ 1:13 pm
Actually Tom you’re wrong. Leonard Cohen, who wrote the song, wrote it about love that has gone sour and makes a few biblical references in the song. Cohen, who is Jewish, has often said the word Hallelujah is Hebrew for Glory to The Lord….so just the name itself has a religious reference. But the song itself was written to affirm his faith in life with emotion, not in any specific religious formal way. It wasn’t until John Cale or Jeff Buckley, I can’t remember which one, sang it and referenced it to the “ultimate orgasm”. Cohen’s intention was to recognize there are many Hallelujah’s in life and considers them all equal, so to say specifically that it was about sexual ecstasy is flat out wrong. So for Carly, a Jewish girl, to be singing a song written by a Jewish guy who’s intention for the song to be whatever the person singing the song’s “Hallelujah” is in reference to…there’s nothing wrong with that. And even though only a couple of the people who have covered this song, which there have been hundreds, have sang it as a reference to sex the majority have used it as a reference to life, many specifically as a religious reference. Cohen, in all of his interviews, has been very clear on that.
Tom
March 6, 2013 @ 11:36 am
Btw scott, hallelujah is about sexual ecstasy. I can’t believe it’s made out to be a religious song. I still can’t believe they made a 13 yr old sing that song
Scott
March 5, 2013 @ 5:31 pm
Carly actually chose All I want for Christmas herself, she sang it before in a Christmas show for some kids…she has said it’s her favorite. I don’t think you really understand the Jewish faith if you think the song Hallelujah crossed any religious barriers. As it turned out her version of Biebers song turned out to be one of her best. Producers always have a say in all of those shows so that will never change. What’s done is done as far as the X Factor is concerned, it gave all the artists an excellent platform to launch their careers now they all have to hope they’re getting the right advice and not be afraid to voice their opinion when appropriate….stay true to themselves and they’ll have the success they seek.
Ophelia
March 5, 2013 @ 3:01 pm
I didn’t like that they made Carly sing hallelujah when she’s jewish. Or a christmas song. How rude of x factor. I wanted Carly to choose all her songs. It seemed like she didn’t enjoy performing a lot of the songs. I read somewhere that she prepared Whitney Houston’s ‘how will I know’ before producers changed it to justin bieber’s alaylm. I think producers made her too much of an adult when carly really likes contemporary songs that are age appropriate.
Scott
March 5, 2013 @ 1:15 pm
I disagree on who won the semi-final and final. Both of Carly’s songs, Feeling Good and Hallelujah, were leagues above anything 5th Harmony did on that show. And she only stumbled on her duet with Leann because of Leann, had nothing to do with Carly. As I was watching the performance I made the comment that I thought Leann was drunk….whatever was going on Leann was definitely on something, that was pretty clear. And, although I believe Hallelujah wasn’t the best song choice, she still delivered an incredible performance. Time will be the only true measuring stick that will show who has the most success. I prefer Carly’s style, her soulful spin on her music and her voice.
Ophelia
March 3, 2013 @ 2:58 pm
Yes I agree 5h will be huge. But for 2 or 3 yrs then that’s it. Vocally Lauren, Dinah, and Ally are great. Camila and Normani are the weak links vocally, though Camila compensates for that by having a fantastic, fun personality. Camila is the reason why there’s a fifth harmony. I thought a lot of their renditions were a mess vocally especially ‘hero’ and ‘we are never getting back together’. But 5h won the x factor semifinal and final. They were great while Carly Rose stumbled with her song choices and duet w Leann. Look I like Carly but she’s not great at reaching out to people her age or the teen fan base. As for Emblem 3, they aren’t great singers. I laughed when Drew said Wes was a vocalist. Ed Sheeran is a vocalist. Vocalist means you have a vocal range, you are able to have more than 2 octaves in your range. They’ll do fine with their teen girl fan base for maybe 2 albums then that’s it. When (yes it’ll happen, don’t derange yourself) 5H breaks up, Dinah will be the only one who will make it as a solo artist because Lauren has pretty eyes but she’s not likeable plus she and Amy Winehouse are twins.
Scott
March 3, 2013 @ 2:48 pm
Personally I think Carly will have the most success she has more vocal talent and has already captured a much larger worldwide audience. Fifth Harmony will do well, but they won’t last long together as a group and I don’t think all five are exceptional singers. There are two in that group who stand out above the rest of them and after a couple of years those two will be lured by offers for a solo career….case and point Destiny’s Child
brian
March 3, 2013 @ 2:22 pm
From season 1 the Big Winners IMO were Rachel Crow and Drew Ryniewicz. Drew’s EP debuted in the top 10 on Itunes. Unfortunetly looks like SYCO dropped her. She has a big following and will make it big soon enough. Rachel is already succesful. Melanie’s story is sad but I didn’t see her as marketable also.
Fifth HArmony will be X Factor’s biggest succes story. Most groups have 1 or 2 good singers, they have 5 exceptional singers. Can’t wait for the debut album.
Scott
March 3, 2013 @ 11:35 am
Ophelia…..You sound like a moron
Ophelia
March 3, 2013 @ 11:32 am
Fifth Harmony released their cover for free. Whenever Emblem 3 does a cover, its free. They upload it to youtube. Why does Carly Rose always delay her covers? Is it because she wants us to pay to see it? And why does she record her covers when u can’t hear her because of a shi*ty microphone or no microphone? Or her brother overpowering her with his loud guitar playing? And the studio she records in sounds like a phone booth. And stop it with your excessive runs in your covers, you aren’t on broadway anymore. Ever hear of a c6? incorporate that in your song.
Kenya
March 2, 2013 @ 11:43 pm
the problem with Melanie Amaro is she is not marketable. We already have Jordin Sparks and Jennifer Hudson, who are similar in appearance and sound to Melanie Amaro. truthfully, I knew no one from season one was going to make it big. Melanie had a great story but there was something off about her. she didn’t garner a ton of fans. Her singles are not that bad, she is just at a sh*t label and she doesn’t stand out in the music industry. Emblem 3 and Fifth harmony are about done with their debut albums and I see them being successful for maybe 2 years before they fade because girl groups don’t sell that well and Emblem 3 is not One direction. we are at the tail end of the boy band/ girl group era. Little Mix isn’t selling well. Carly Rose I can see impacting music when she’s a little older but in the meantime I have a feeling Disney will steal her.